The great Chicago fire on October 8, 1871, was a terrible event. Three hundred people died in the fire. It burned an a rea of 3.3 square miles which included over 17,000 structures and left over 100,000 people homeless. The story goes that a cow belonging to a Mrs. O’Leary knocked over a lantern and started the fire. This has never been documented. However it has bee documented that this was the second largest fire on that date.
The largest and most damaging fire on that date is known as the Peshtigo fire. Peshtigo was a city in Wisconsin and was at the center of a large forest fire which included the southern half of Door County and part of the upper peninsula of Michigan. It burned a swath of land ten miles wide and forty miles long. An exact count of deaths has never been determined; however, it is believed to exceed more than twenty-two hundred. In addition to Peshtigo, sixteen other villages were destroyed. The exact cause has never been determined, although weather conditions and strong winds contributed to the extent.
The reason i know so much about this is the Rockford Illinois Scout Counsil used to have a camp called Northwoods in that area. It was a very rustic area with campsites quite a way from electricity and running water. Provisions were very carefully stored to prevent the local black bears from ravaging the campsite. Scouts were warned to not have candy or sweets in their tents. Sometimes they forgot, and the results were disastrous.
Cooking in this are was also a different experience. The campsites had Shepard stoves which was a cast iron plate on four legs with a fire box underneath. Normal campfires were a hazard as the whole are was secondary growth which could burn underground and cause another big fire.
I have many fond memories of taking scouts up there for a week of camping and fishing while the boys learned all kinds of scouting lore. My duties were to drive a carload of them up and back, and camp over night with them. My cost for this other than gas and time was $7. What a deal.
