Summary
On October 8, 1871, a massive firestorm destroyed the small village of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, in the deadliest fire in US history. It engulfed far more than the village after which it is named: 2,400 square miles burned that night, killing families and livestock and burning whole communities to the ground. Local priest Peter Pernin witnessed the devastation. In 1874, Father Pernin first published this dramatic eyewitness account of what happened that day. In no other testimony is the Great Peshtigo Fire so vividly recounted. Pernin’s words offer an invaluable and enduring record for historians, scientists, and everyday citizens alike.
Author
Reverend Peter Pernin was the parish priest for Peshtigo and nearby Marinette, whose churches burned to the ground. He published his account of the fire in 1874. The late William Converse Haygood, who served as editor of the Wisconsin Magazine of History from 1957 to 1975, prepared this version of Father Pernin's account on the occasion of the Peshtigo Fire's centennial in 1971. Foreword writer Stephen J. Pyne authored numerous books on wildland fire, including Fire in America.
Details
- Paperback
- 64 pages
- 8 illustrations, 2 maps, 8 b&w photos
- Publication: 1999, Wisconsin Historical Society Press
- ISBN: 9780870203107
