The Great Peshtigo Fire by Scott Knickelbine

Author:Scott Knickelbine
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-87020-499-9
Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society Press
Published: 2012-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

Charles Lamp saved himself from the fire by lying in this shallow creek in the woods near Peshtigo. His family died in the flames.

Photo by Mark Fay

Survivors of that night of death told many stories like these. There seemed to be no place to run from the fire, no place to hide from it. Most of those who lived in the woods around Peshtigo never lived to see the next morning.

“The End of the World Is Coming!”

The tornado of fire moved on to the northwest. It cut a path along the Bay of Green Bay and struck the west side of Marinette.

Five-year-old Amelia Desrochers (dee roh shay) heard her mother scream in the night. “Charles,” she cried to Amelia’s father, “the end of the world is coming! Everything’s on fire!” Her mother was standing by the tiny window in the little shack in Marinette where Amelia and her parents lived with Amelia’s four brothers and sisters.

“Go to bed, go to bed,” Amelia’s father called back. “You’re dreaming.”

Amelia’s mother begged him to come to the window. “Oh, Mother, you’re right,” he said. “Everything is on fire. I must be dreaming, too!”

But it was no dream. Already the little shack was lit up red inside from the flames that were getting nearer and nearer. “You’d better go to the river,” Amelia’s father said. “I’ll stay home and try to save the home.”

Amelia’s mother quickly got the children dressed. They left in such a hurry that Amelia didn’t even have time to put on her stockings. They ran down to the river, where a man at the bridge was telling people to get on a barge to escape. There wasn’t enough room on the barge for everyone, so only the women and children could get on board.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.