A hundred and fifty two years ago, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow is blamed for starting the Great Chicago Fire. But farther north that same day, another cyclone-like firestorm raged as it destroyed seventeen towns and killed an estimate of 1,500 to 2,500 people, making it the deadliest fire in US history. Besides destroying the towns, over 2 billion trees and 2,400 square miles were burned in the Peshtigo fire,
This historical marker is near the mass grave of 350 victims of the fire, many too charred to identify or no family left alive to identify them.
Peshtigo Fire
