Hey! I'm a curator at the Peshtigo Fire Museum and I know this an old video but I want to thank you for making it! While I was working the other day a gentleman came into the Museum all the way from Florida because of this video! It's sad that even to this day, 148 years on, the Peshtigo Fire still is less known and has little coverage (there are even Peshtigo natives who know nothing about it!), but it's because of people like you and all those who pass the story on that the memory of those lost can still live on. Again, thank you for telling the story in an accurate way and, if you've never been to our museum stop on by! We’d love to have you!

My great grandmother was 1 year old in 1871. Her father took the family to the river with a blanket. He went the blanket and put it over their heads. We were told that the air was so hot, they wouldn’t have survived without keeping the blanket wet over their heads. I have been to Pestigo. COVID kept me from returning this year. Do hope the museum can keep this history.

Thank you, History Guy, for acknowledging and remembering the poor souls at Peshtigo. May they be at peace. 🌹

In the book about the fire my family name's in it. 2 great uncle's were lost, by running into a swamp. 1 great grandpa and my great great grandma dropped into the well and survived the fire. Most folks have never heard of the peshtigo fire. Thx, history guy for reporting on it

Years ago in the fire academy we studied this fire a truly catastrophic event

Thank you for doing this! As a retired Firefighter i've read alot of fire history, this one always seem to be forgotten!

I've read books about this fire and watched videos. All these years later, it still breaks my heart.

Native of Peshtigo here. Awesome to see this on here, well done. Fun fact, the last day the Fire Museum is open every year is 10/8

Several viewers have noted that the locals pronounce the town name Pesh-ti-go rather than Pesh-tee-go. For exclusive content, join our community of fans and supporters at thehistoryguyguild.locals.com!

This one really did need to be remembered, History Guy. Thank you for bringing it to us.

As a native ‘Sconi, growing up around Wausaukee, and like all grade-schoolers in the region, I all made the pilgrimage to Peshtigo to learn about that horrible moment in history. Thanks for bringing it to wider audience. It deserves remembrance. (And it’s PESH -te- go, but many have called that out. It’s a minor thing and WI is full of befuddling town names)

"You can't take anything in this life for granted, that the world can change in one, terrible instant." I wish more people would realize that.

When I was in school I flunked every subject EXCEPT HISTORY! I CAN STILL NEVER GET ENOUGH AND YOUR PRESENTATIONS ARE SUPERB!

Of all your videos, this one hit me pretty deep. Not because of a connection to the fire nor the event itself, but for the moral or lesson you sum it up with in the end. Never take anything in this life for granted. That message is so very enormous. Thanks for your great videos.

Made me think of the 19 fire fighters who died fighting the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona back in 2013. Those guys were hot shot pros and they still got killed. Just shows that fire can kick your ass no matter how well you're trained to deal with it.

My grandmother still gets wildfire nightmares from the all the stories she heard as a little girl growing up in Peshtigo.

My girlfriend and I were through Pestigo to visit the cemetery just a few weeks ago. I recommend the visit; it's quite sobering.

As a Wisconsin wildland firefighter I appreciate your coverage of this event. I spent time in recent years staged to that area from southern Wisconsin to help protect that are when conditions were dry. It's an important story. Thank you

Puts my experience in the CampFire of 2018 in perspective. Access to automobiles and dedicated and maintained roadways while directed by trained emergency responders having modern communication gear and network. All did not go perfectly, and many lost their lives, but it could have been so much worse without those modern advantages, without the toil of hundreds of professionals while in extreme danger to save thousands... Everything gone in just four, five, hours... Always say something to those you love before you leave for the day. You may never get to return.

I grew up in Chicago, and in grade school we were all told of Mrs. O' Leary's cow who kicked over the kerosene lamp that (supposedly) started the fire. But until just now, I'd never heard of of the Peshtigo fire. Thanks for bringing out this bit of history to be remembered!

In addition to the Chicago and Peshtigo fires around a dozen fires occurred that night across the whole area. The interesting thing being that they all started about the same time, around 9:00 pm if memory serves. Although not known for sure, a good candidate for the cause is a meteor or small asteroid breaking up in the atmosphere, hitting the ground and igniting the various flames.

My narrowly escaped the Camp Fire in Paradise California. I was 10 miles away that morning and stuck in traffic for hours. Hearing about this fire brings back such bad memories. My mother's car was surrounded by flames. She gave up and resigned herself to die in the fire. She was going to get out of her car as to not suffer longer. Luckily she was on the phone with my sister. My sister screamed at my mother to STOP BEING A BABY AND STAY IN YOUR CAR AND SMASH THE GAS PEDAL AND DRIVE THROUGH THE FIRE. My mother did what she told her and she lived. The next week I replaced the air filter and cabin filter in my mother's car. They were both full of ashes and nearly 100% clogged up. Thank you for these videos History Guy. You really share some amazing things most have never heard of.

Great presentation. My great grandparents were survivors of the Peshtigo fire. One of the Hanson family survivors lived with my family until she died. Thanks much.

My parents grew up in this area, so I heard about this fire often. Have been to Peshtigo and have been to Goodman Park on the Peshtigo River. Beautiful area.

This story stuck with me when I watched this video. Today, I’ve written to two news organizations because they have been calling the Camp Fire in California the deadliest in American history and ask them to make the correction.

Thank you for educating about this! There’s a band called O’Death who made a song called Fire on Meshtigo as a tribute. The song is frightening and haunting, showing how frantic and horrified the people of the town were. It talks about those who passed, describing the feeling of breathing “breathless air,” and talking about frantically running, no matter who you stepped on, just to get to a river that you thought would be your savior, but in the end still actively killed people.

History Guy- thanks so much for this short docu! I've grown up hearing about this conflagration from my mom's northern Wisconsin family. My great-great-grandfather, Joseph Prudhomme, as a youth survived the Fire by going into the river with his sister and they splashed water on each other. It's a marvel of God's Grace anyone survived at all and I'm Very thankful my forefather made it through and my branch of the family exists today!

One of the things that I appreciate about your channel is that you don't hide your emotions. Several stories have demonstrated that even sad history deserves to be remembered. These are the stories that I need to know because they simply have happened. Thank you for bringing this story to me. I've never heard of it before.

Extra information, there were more fires that day. There were fires in Michigan in what is commonly called the thumb area. Holland, Manistee and Port Huron Michigan burned at the same time. The Northwoods was a rough and tumble area in those days. They use to wonder which was hotter on Friday night, hell, Hurley or Hayward. They wondered after the fires if it was aliens or maybe pieces of the Comet Biela. American and British military studied the firestorm of Peshtigo to create firestorm conditions from bombing. Like Dresden and Tokyo. Another side effect of the fire in Chicago is the change in building materials. One being brownstone quarried from the shores of Lake Superior. The Thumb fire of 1881 was partly do to the fire from Port Huron plus ecological effects of the logging of the time. The next day was called Yellow Day because of the smoke. Minnesota was not spared from the fires of the time period. The Great Hinkley Fire of 1894, the Baudette fire of 1910 and the Cloquet fire of October 1918.

As a student, I did not care for history lessons at all. Now as an adult I am very happy to have learned so much history from this channel. Thank you for making history interesting and enjoyable to learn. Your style and methods are very easy to understand. I wish my history teachers were as excited to share historic stories as you are. Thank you! Subscribed and beleive I have seen every one one your videos.

Wow. Reminds me of the huge blaze, or indeed blazes, we had here in Victoria in 2009. It was 48 degrees Celsius and 173 people died :-/

Having grown up around Chicago, I've heard about this event many times. But your telling puts a more "first hand" feel to it. Can you imagine the fear those helpless people felt in that situation? Wow!

4th grade 1968 western Wisconsin we learned about this disaster and I remember it was made clear the extent of the carnage and was mentioned a few times through the next couple grades. That was the last I’ve heard about it until this came up on the recommendations. Never forgot about it!!! Thanks for posting!

The locals (I live in Green Bay) pronounce the name PESH ti go. Aside from that, y' done good History Guy. To this day you can STILL find tree stumps from trees burned in that fire. The museum is worth the drive to see.

Thank you for remembering the Peshtigo Fire that was overshadowed by the Great Chicago Fire. You might also want take a look at another Great fire in Minnesota on or about the same time commonly known as the Hinkley Fire that was of the same magnitude. Thank you. Jim McLean

Excellent video, very moving. It's stunning to realize that such a horrific disaster is almost completely unknown.

Thank you for this video. I had never heard of this fire. Having been a witness to the much less dire but no less frightening Gatlinburg, TN of 2016, I can appreciate what can happen very quickly when multiple conditions converge to create disaster.

I learned about this fire when I was in fourth grade, as my history class was more focused on the history of Wisconsin. I lived in the South western part of the state. I thought this was well known at least in the state if not the country due to how wide spread it was.

Please , don't ever stop bringing your knowledge to us ! I didn't know I was a serious history fan until you.

Thank you. So well spoken. As for the solemn ending, always tell the ones you love that you love them every time you part because you never know......

Awww, that was so well presented, thank you. Lived in Michigan all my life and never heard of this. Visited Hardwick Pines where you can see just how huge those pines were cuz it's virgin forest. I cant imagine no rain for eleven weeks, that's just unheard of around here. Thanks for all you do, been living on these during 2020 when I'm not working.

Anyone who doesn't like this channel is no friend of mine.. period.

A member of my wife's family survived by jumping in the marsh area. One story says a train carried many to safety and that the train was on fire as it left the town. The tree shown at 1:41 looks more like a cedar than a white pine.

The scary thing is this kind of fire still happens and the only thing saving most of us is slightly more advanced warnings and the occasional lucky air lift.

As a Wisconsinite , I grew up in Antigo. A city not too far from Peshtigo. We were thought about this great tragedy in grade school. I visited the museum , although many years ago. It gave me a great feeling to have you do this memory justice. As only you could. Thank you , Sir.

Thank you for publishing this story as it really does need to be remembered. Another story I think needs to be remembered is the hanging of three innocent men in Duluth MN which took place about 100 years ago by a vigilante mob.

You are correct- the people and the Peshtigo fire needs to be remembered.

It seems inappropriate to give this video a thumbs up considering the content, but I did. The loss of so many many lives, the complete destruction of a town, and the burning of millions of acres...is worth remembering. Thank you for taking the time to make this history snippet. My father is a retired fireman, training officer and chief. This video gave me pause and I stopped a moment to be thankful for his safety during the many fires throughout his career. Love your channel, thanks.

How the hell is this not in history books 1500 dead dam

I've watched almost every episode you've posted and this is the first one I've commented on. My grandfather was a logger and self taught engineer. He worked in and around the coastal mountains of Oregon and fought in almost every one of the conflagrations in the area from the 30's thru the 50's. Since the lumber camps were generally deep in the woods the woodsmen were often times the first responders to a forest fire. Indeed a firestorm is quite a frightful sight to behold or hear about. My grandfather would tell stories of how a fire would crest a mountain and push 200 foot tall Douglas fir trees ahead of the main blaze like a bulldozer with the force of the firestorm winds. Trees would be uprooted in a fire tornado and end up hundreds of feet away. Many times the great conflagrations of the Tillmook forest area would see live embers fall as far away as Wyoming or Nebraska. This episode hit me hard and your point of never taking anything in life for granted is a lesson taught to me by my elders and bolstered mightily in this episode. Thank you and please do keep up the good work.

Mr HG, you are truly amazing. This is history I’ve never heard and definitely deserves to be remembered.

I'm a retired firefighter, I became interested in Conflagrations and fire storms, I read the book writren about this fire, thanks for making this video! To quote a famous saying Fire is a dangerous servant and a fearful master!

Thank you for the story. I grew up in N.E. Wisconsin and we learned about this fire in grade school. It actually burned on both sides of the bay (Green Bay).

I really enjoyed your closing comments. Life has risks, some real, some imagined, and some that never occur to us. I have watched over half your videos and the one thing that I can take away from all of them is that none of the players in these moments woke up that morning and said they were going to make history today. They did wake up and embrace the day and with that attitude, they made history. I try to embrace life every day as if it will be my last. Thanks for the great lessons, I really enjoy watching them.

I spent many summers in northern Wisconsin and knew about the fire, but people I mention it to are always skeptical that the Chicago Fire was the worst in history. Thanks for doing this piece.

I live where this happened . The southeast part of Marinette County is a gorgeous area with lots of wildlife . But I can't even imagine how miserable it must have been for those living here at that time AND for many years after . Nature gave us a beautiful land over time . I'm blessed to live in this region and wish everyone could experience this part of America . And thank you for this channel . Absolutely one of my favorite KZfaq channels .

Your channel teaches us so much more than history. I cannot express in words how much I appreciate your channel. God bless you, H.G.

So sad. Love learning history I've never known. But this made me cry. Even you had a hard time with it. History is sometimes sad but worth remembering. Love this channel.

In forestry we remember a hero from that fire. In those days men were hired off the street, from saloons, anyplace to get more bodies to help fight the forest fire. The man in charge of one crew found after a time, that they were trapped by fire. But Ed Pulaski knew of a cave. He took his men there. There was fear and panick among thise men. The inexperienced men were ready to run out of the cave, which would have meant death. Ed held the men in the cave at gunpoint, to save them. The night passed, and so did the fire front. In the morning the crew left. The crew owed their lives to Ed Pulaski. To this day we have an improved firefighting tool that was named after Ed. Every day we speak his name when we use a "Pulaski".

Thank you for telling this horrible event with such kindness and compassion. I stopped by Peshtigo once on my many trips thru WI. Never saw the museum but there was a plaque on the road I was on and I was horrified that so many people were trapped and died. I did not catch that it was bigger than the Chicago fire nor that it was on the same day. I agree with the other people here, you have a gift for making history interesting. It's stories about people and we all have them! Memorizing dates is useless for kids, tell them the stories. The dates can always be looked up. It was never fun in school but I look forward to your videos popping up! Thank you!

I love history too. Hated it school! Thank you Mr. Hanson!! This was in Wisconsin, yet I learned about this fire from my parents!

Wow...It IS utterly amazing, the happenings of history, that go unknown and for so long! I realize that at the time of the event, the town was kinda out in tha boonies. And, as was stated, technology wasn't at all what it is today and so the Peshtigo Fire was eclipsed by the fire in Chicago. But what I am disappointed in, is the fact that this story has been left out of the pages of history that we are taught as students in the public school system. True, I have learned many things, as I think we all have, by watching this channel, that I wasn't taught in school. But this story seems so devastating. Not only to the people it impacted, but to the environment, the economy...The number of towns and acreage involved are just mind boggling to me. Such terrible destruction. And not a word of it shared with the next couple of generations" who might could learn a thing or two" from such a catastrophe. Though, as THG said, there isn't a great deal to divine, as far as "lessons" go, from this tale. But that isn't what qualifies the educational value of a subject, is it? Some things just beckon to be learned of, highly worthy of our time and forever deserving remembrance. So, though there is no day of remembrance set aside or even a brief paragraph in our US History books to prove it happened, we do have something even better in THG, dare I say. A true teacher with a caring soul. Thank you once again sir, for all that you contribute to the world, your legacy is tremendous- but thank you also for what you do for them- the underdogs of history- be they people or sparrows, house cats or hats...thank you for the sheer revelation of truth in all it's historical splendor...

Whenever I get a chance through the seasons with my kids here in Minnesota I point out how life was incredibly rough 150 years ago, here we grew up with the great Hinckley fire which killed over 400, when I went to Chicago as a kid most folks didn't know anything about locations or such as so much time has passed, this was well done, hope you can cover the Hinckley fire someday

I want you to know you are doing an amazing job. Thanks for all the work and research you put into making these videos.

Thank you! This is a fact I didn’t know even though I’m a history nut. I got started when I was given the job writing the history of the installation where I was stationed in, in Germany. Once started I eventually found out that I was the 22 person given that job. Luckily I was multilingual.

You do a great job of this series. May you never run out of material. The vignette style is especially good allowing for short viewing and discussion or just a quick history lesson. Your delivery reminds me a bit of James Burke and I wish you equal success and recognition is you seek that. Thank you again. The great raft of the red river and captain Shreve is an interesting story. Good info can be had at the corps of engineers museum in shreveport.

The closing comments are SO appropriate for the world we are now living in. Wisconsin is my state of origin. As a little kid in the '60s we were taught about Peshtigo, as well as Chicago.

I love hearing about Wisconsin and midwestern history. Thanks much! You're doing a great service to youtube with this series.

My father was a forester for a railroad company in the Pacific Northwest. One of my first memories was of a forest fire in North Idaho known as the Sundance Burn. We lived in a small town just across the border in Washington state. On or about Labor Day, 1968, a lightning caused fire that had been contained jumped the fire line and exploded because of high winds blowing out of the south. It took off with such ferocity and heat that fire scientists later estimated that at its peak, it was equal to three Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs going off every minute. All people could do was get the hell out of the way. It blew out the Pack River Valley in hours. The heat melted the metal supports of a bridge. Two bulldozer operators were killed when the fire overwhelmed them. Lookout towers were evacuated as quickly as possible ahead of it. The lookout on Roman Nose Peak wasn't gotten to in time, but managed to survive by tucking himself into a narrow crevice of the peak with a portable radio. He gave a running account of what was happening until the radio batteries ran out. His tower, like many others, was destroyed. Bonners Ferry, a small town on the Kootenai River, was right in the fire's path. Burning embers from the fire miles away fell on the small community. The town was evacuated and left to fire firefighters to try and save. But just as quickly as it started, the fire blew out. The winds died down and the head of the fire got into a previously burned out area. Bonners Ferry was saved. In 36 hours, the Sundance Burn destroyed 54,000 acres of timber. In some areas, all vegetation was burned off completely. There is no accurate count as to how many animals were killed in the fire. The only human casualties were the two men working on the bulldozer. To this day, the Sundance Burn is considered one of the most violent forest fires in North America. Students of fire science study it. The image of the huge smoke plume that we watched from our front yard sticks in my mind to this day. The Sundance Burn is forgotten by all but a few now, but it taught everyone that witnessed it the frightful power of Mother Nature.

This hits close to home, as I live just a few miles from where the Marshall Fire was in Colorado. It happened the same way - major drought and hurricane-force winds. That was one terrifying day! I was actually between that and a smaller fire, freaking out and wondering if I would have to evacuate, then glued to the internet most of the night. It wiped out about nine square miles, nothing compared to the Peshtigo fire, but it was almost three times the size of the Great Chicago Fire. It sure traumatized our community. Seeing entire neighborhoods looking like they've been nuked is hard to wrap your head around. It's amazing that only two people died.

Thanks for this video. Growing up in a small Wisconsin town I learned of this fire in school. It is nice that this video exists to carry their story on. It got me thinking, perhaps you could do a story on Soldiers Grove, WI, the town that had to move because of constant flooding year after year. Thanks for the great videos!

You're an awesome guy. The way you told that bit of history shows that you really felt for these people as they died in this terrible tragedy. Life is precious and any moment could be our last. Thank you History Guy.

+The History Guy, I never heard of this until I found your excellent presentation. You are truly admired by your fellow history buffs. Thank you so much!

I love history. It is our only means of context.

Born & raised in WI, 2 hrs south of Peshtigo. A teacher in grade school was from Wrightstown, about an hour south of Peshtigo, and she had a book about the fire. Maybe it wasn't the best subject to read to kids ages 6 to 10, this was a two room school, but I've been aware of fire safety since then. Thanks History Guy & Gal!!!!

Amen, thanks for remembering those folks.

The summing up you did for the end of this video should be enshrined as the motto for 2020. Thanks for the videos history guy.

Congrats on that 1 million milestone Sir. Well deserved.

It's fascinating and sad to me how many incredibly tragic and heroic stories are out there waiting to be told, knowing most never will be.

To be burned alive is a horrible thought and to think of so many people going out this way is overwhelming.

Thank you, History Guy, for sharing this most important but awful account. I was ignorant of it, but from now on, upon hearing any mention of the Great Chicago Fire, I will be sure to inform folks of this terrible incident as well. *It most certainly deserves to be remembered!*

My grandma lives in Peshtigo, she is obsessed with the Peshtigo fire she even goes out at night to try to talk to the ghosts of the peshtigo fire I live in green Bay so I'm close. When I visit I usually go out there with her sometimes. Everyone thinks she's crazy

You are so heartfelt in telling this story. I really enjoy your lessons

Thank you!

I wish there something more than a thumbs to express my appreciation for some of your videos.

I live in the area. Please do another segment of this fire. You forgot to mention how it jumped the bay of Green Bay, and set fire to Door County, where the community of Brussels is. To give you an idea of the bay distance, I don’t believe you can see land from one side to the other. Also, people jumped in wells trying to survive. Horrible tragedy. BTY, area folk don’t say Pesh- TEE-go, but the TEE sounds like (sorry, tit.) So Pesh-ti-go. LOVE LOVE LOVE your history lessons. Son-in-law is a big history fan, and he keeps me on my toes. Thank you for all that you do.

Great video, you have a fantastic way of delivering the information. Well done sir

Thanks for the video. I grew up in Peshtigo. Lived there from 1970 to 1992 and my mother, sister and her family still live there. I attended high school just a block from the museum. My grandmother volunteered at the museum. The older I get, the more I understand the gravity of the Peshtigo fire. As noted in the comments, the pronunciation is PESH-tigo (emphasize first syllable and short i sound in the 2nd syllable)

I find the moments in history that you share to be most fascinating, and they elicit, in me, a broad spectrum of responses. This particular story was very moving, and i appreciate you sharing this epic tragedy that I had not known occurred. Your channel is superb, and your enthusiasm toward history is contagious.

Thank you for posting.

Catching up on old episodes...VERY powerful episode! Your cadence and delivery tone were outstanding for such a somber topic. I truly appreciated your summary and reminder of the fragility of life.

Amazing and sad history. Thank you

Thank you for this video!

As a life long Wisconsin resident, I grit my teeth every time I hear you say..Pesh-Tee-Go. It's Pesh-TA-go, Mr. History dude!

How terrible and sad,up until today I had not heard of the Peshtigo fire,your description was vivid and disturbing,I am glad to have been educated about this and feel so sad for those people at least they will not be forgotten through videos like yours,best wishes from chilly Liverpool England xx

Much love from Wisconsin

I love you, man. History guy I consume this stuff like potato chips. I go back and watch them again. Because sometimes I watch them. When I'm stressed. My memory isn't always good like that. But it gets me out of my head at the time. Keep them coming. You set him up. I'll knock them down.🇺🇸🦅🌆

I had never heard of this horrible fire until I subscribed to this channel. Thanks for remembering those who one day simply vanished in a fire along with all their records of their brief lives.

Another great, informative video, Sir !! Thank you very much !!

I don't recall where I heard this, it may have been on that "What On Earth?" show from the History Channel a few years ago, but apparently a pilot was flying over that area probably during the 1980's or 1990's and noticed some very long and straight scarring through there. Long story short, after studying the land, they're starting to think that it's possible that BOTH fires were started by some sort of meteor storm or other such catastrophe from space. Pretty wild, no matter what. Love your content, my dude! I am sorry if someone else has mentioned this, but I didn't have time to read a thousand comments!