Oddity Profile: The Peshtigo Fire’s Strange Object in the Sky.
On October 8, 1871, a fire raged through the young city of Chicago and tragically claimed the lives of approximately 300 people. According to the well-known legend, the mighty blaze was started when an ill-placed lantern was set within close proximity of a twitchy cow, and a well placed kick from said bovine resulted in the story we all know today. Regardless though of how it actually started, what we do know for a fact is that the flames consumed nearly 3.3 square miles of city, reduced over 17,000+ wooden structures to ash, and left more than 100,000+ Chicagoans without homes. But not long after the flames had ceased, the residents of The Windy City got to work rebuilding what was taken from them, and quickly passed new building codes which would help prevent such an occurrence from happening again.
Now, over 150+ years later, Chicago has been transformed into the third largest city in the United States, and the 53rd largest city in the world. It has been recognized as one of the best melting pots in the world for art, music, sports, and entertainment, and the draw the city has on those looking to make a name for themselves in the worlds of architecture, publishing, theatre, media, design, and sports (just to name a few) is unparalleled. From the moment the fire was brought under control, the citizens of Chicago have been able to step foot outside their doors and hold their heads up high knowing that they can achieve anything. And the only reason that is even possible, is because they somehow managed to survive the 2nd worst fire of October 8, 1871.
That’s right, the Great Chicago Fire was only the 2nd worst fire to take place in the Midwest on that day.
While Chicago may get to lay claim to a lot of great things and firsts of their kind, when it comes to deadliest fires in American history, the Great Chicago Fire doesn’t even make it on the list. In fact, in a very morbid sort of way, the undisputed champion and holder of the fire crown can actually be located roughly 250 miles North in what was once a small yet bustling logging town by the name of Peshtigo. A city that was known to have, prior to October 8th, a population of over 2,000 permanent residents, but by the end of October 9th, was reduced to roughly only 500.
Located within Marinette County, the 3 square mile city of Peshtigo sits roughly 5 miles away from Michigan’s U.P., and about roughly 6 miles from the shores of Green Bay. Also, for clarification purposes, when we say that, we are actually talking about the watery arm of Lake Michigan and not the city of the same name which is located further south at the base of the arm. Across the bay on Wisconsin’s thumb (aka peninsula) sits Door County and Death’s Door, an area of the Badger State well-known for its own strange and tragic history. But that is a topic best suited for another time, because for this story, we are focusing on fire, not water.
Officially settled in what many historians believe to be sometime around 1838 (10 years before Wisconsin would become an official state), although the exact date remains unknown due to the destruction of the official records, the city was first named Clarksville and remained as such until 20 years later, in 1858, it was renamed Peshtigo to match that of the Peshtigo River, the flowing water which lead to much of the town’s success as a lumber town. Recognizing just how vital the surrounding trees would be in quickly growing the settlement into an actual town, the first lumber mill was built in 1836, a full two years before the area even had an official name (again, from what historians can agree upon). Not long after the first mill was built, smaller family owned mills began to pop up throughout the thick woods which contained thousands of acres of dense white pine just ripe for chopping.
You see, in the early days of Clarksville, even before the first lumber mill was built, efforts were made by the U.S. government to bring people to the area with the promise of vast acres of land and bountiful farming, but even though the area had quite good soil, and there was plenty of water available for the crops because of Lake Michigan, a relatively short growing season and extremely harsh winters made it less than desirable for those looking to put down roots. Plus, to add to the headaches of new settlers, the overwhelming amount of white pine that would need to be completely removed prior to a field even even being established turned many hopeful farmers dreams into nightmares. But where some saw failure, others saw opportunity, and the area was quickly rebranded as the perfect area for those looking to get their hands into the exploding lumber industry pot.
Now, you may be asking yourself, what was the reason for this explosion of growth in the Wisconsin lumber industry? Well, that answer is historically simple to answer, but is also somewhat controversial. You see, on September 3, 1836, the Menominee Nation was forced to turn over roughly 4,000,000 acres of their land for the pitiful sum of $700,00 in what was known as the Treaty of the Cedars. After meeting for only four days to discuss the terms of the treaty thanks to Governor Henry Dodge wanting to get the deal done as quickly as possible, the dotted line was signed and the new Wisconsin Territory found itself with a lot of trees that it wanted cut down fast. The Menominee people though, they were forced to pack up and move out of the area they once called home, and the sum for which their homes were sold translated to little more than roughly 17 cents an acre. Tragic.
Ok, so, not long after the early history of the area was out of the way and the city was settled and the lumber industry there within was up and running, the new city experienced some relative massive growth. In 1856, the first mayor of Chicago, one William Butler Ogden, recognized the soon to be Peshtigo as a means in which to further expand his lumber and railroad fortune and decided to personally invest in the city, thus creating The Peshtigo Company. Going all in, Ogden built new railroad tracks and established new barge lines within Lake Michigan to move lumber. Along with these massive projects he also built one of the largest sawmills in the United States at the time, as well as the worlds largest woodenware factory (again, at the time). But these newly created business needed a great deal of people to work in them, and they couldn’t work if they didn’t have a place to stay, so Ogden’s company built multiple boarding houses to house them, and general stores to feed and clothe them.
Almost daily new buildings appeared within the boundaries of the city, and since the city itself existed because of the trees, these structures were made almost entirely of wood. The roofs were covered with wooden shingles, and the siding was comprised of wood planks. Hardly would a piece of stone be found within a building or structure found in Peshtigo. And it wasn’t just the homes and buildings where the lumber was used either, outside one could find sidewalks made of milled boards, and even the trails that extended out from town were converted from simple earth into split log roads. The city went so far as to cover the natural dirt streets with sawdust collected from the mill and factory as a way to limit dust and mud, and what they didn’t use for the streets, they used to stuff mattresses for the residents. Peshtigo, it seemed, took its status as a lumber town quite seriously, but unfortunately, the very thing they held on a high pedestal would be the very same thing to destroy them.
As with most boom towns of the day, it doesn’t take long before the temporary residents of the boarding houses wish to move out and purchase something of their own. Because of this, the construction of permanent houses were the next big project in the area, and following quickly behind those of course came schools, saloons, banks, hotels, brothels, and churches. And it is because of a specific church in Peshtigo and the Catholic priest who led it, one Father Peter Pernin, that we even know about the weird story we are about to tell.
Father Peter Pernin was born in France around 1825, and worked his way up through the priesthood before eventually coming to the United States sometime in the early 1860s and settling in Illinois. In 1870 he made the move to Wisconsin and served as a parish priest in Oconto in 1870. A year later in 1871, he arrived in Peshtigo and took up his new position as Priest of St. Mary’s parish. Not only was Father Pernin present on the night the fire consumed the city, but he was able to both survive the flames, and provide one of the most detailed and vivid accounts of what took place within the city at the time. Wanting everyone who read his account to know exactly what had happened that night, Father Pernin spoke his truth regarding the horror, the heroics, the drama, the sadness, and of course the unexplainable that he and others bore witness to that fateful night while in the thick ocean of Wisconsin’s white pine.
As mentioned above, the Peshtigo fire started on October 8, 1871, the same day as the “great” Chicago fire, and ended up consuming a section of Wisconsin forest that was 10 miles wide and 40 miles long. These numbers equate to over 2,400 square miles being destroyed by the flames, or 1.3 million acres. It is believed that well over 2 million trees were ultimately reduced to ash before the fire was finally controlled. And while many historians and researchers will tell you that nobody really knows how the other fire across the state line started on this day, they are all pretty well in agreement as to how the fire in Wisconsin started, and it wasn’t because of livestock too close to lanterns. It was because of people.
You see, while many people who hate the cold would more than welcome a snowless winter, it is always wanted and needed by nature to keep things in working order. Unfortunately though, as seen in historical weather data collected in 1870, Wisconsin did not receive its typical amount of snowfall for that winter season. This severely affected the water table in the area and caused the thick Wisconsin forest to begin to dry from the inside out. The new year of 1871 wasn’t any better to help correct this either, as both the summer and fall of that year were both dryer and hotter than anyone had expected. The plant life in the state had started to change from its usual green, into a brittle and lifeless brown. The forest was thirsty, and as anybody knows, when you want water, something hot is the last thing on your mind.
We as a people now know, that when you are living in an area that is currently undergoing a drought, the best thing you can do is limit your personal water uses, and keep all sources of flame away from the dry surrounding landscape. The people of Peshtigo though, at the time, apparently didn’t know this, and continued to use small “controlled” fires as a means to help clear newly cut trees. Farmers were burning trees they had cut for the expansion of their fields. Railroad men were burning large piles of logs to help clear a path for new track. Lumberjacks kept both kitchen and campfires burning all day and all night. And new property owners were using fire to clear any natural debris that they deemed “unsightly” and unwelcome on their new piece of land in the middle of the woods. Add all this into the fact that the town was still consistently putting countless amounts of sawdust into the air and onto the ground, and it is easy to see both how Peshtigo turned into a powder keg and burned as quickly as it did.
Some residents of the city though understood what was happening and were starting to see the signs that disaster was just around the bend. These concerned citizens urged others in the area to cease their use of fire for the time being and prepare for a possible coming firestorm. The woodenware factory began to take notice and removed a lot of its combustible material from inside the interior of the building and began placing full water barrels around the perimeter just in case they were needed. Apparently some residents thought this was a good idea also because water barrels quickly began popping up throughout Peshtigo as a means to help control any small flames that dared try to come down their streets. Some people even went so far as to bury their keepsakes and valuables deep underground to prevent them from being destroyed by what they felt was a long overdue fire. Outside of these precautionary steps though, nothing else really changed in Peshtigo, and residents simply went about their days without a worry in the world.
On the 8th of October, as the sun was beginning to ready itself to go down, a railroad crew was chopping and burning trees as they had done for so many days before. The process was simple and the fires they were starting were managed by eagle eyed workers, so as far as everyone knew, everything was under control. What they didn’t know though, was that a strong fall storm was forming in the southwest plains of the United States, and the dry wind would soon start to pick up in Wisconsin, thus turning what was originally under control, into something that nobody could contain. Winds swept into the area and fanned the flames of the railroads burn pile with force, and within an instant, an out of control inferno was born. Workers tried their best to put out the flames, but the fire had already started to eat the surrounding forest, and unlucky for everyone in its path, it was insatiably hungry.
The inferno quickly spread throughout the surrounding forest and destroyed anything and everything in its path. In an instant, those in its direct path needed to make a decision, they can either run from the blaze and try to save themselves, or they can run towards it in an attempt to help vanquish it. More often than not, the former was the preferred choice. The downside of this decision though meant that many of the smaller controlled fires dotted throughout the surrounding area were left behind without anyone to put them out, and because of this, they were quickly kicked up by the dry, hot wind as well and sent forth to consume and destroy as they pleased. Eventually, these fires met up with the already giant inferno and combined into one massive super fire that was, by all outward appearances, unstoppable.
This fire, which was consuming anything and everything around it at a speed which nobody had seen before, acted as if it was called up from the depths of hell itself, and it wanted nothing more than to destroy Peshtigo and all those who lived within. Walls of fire circled the town and quickly moved in. The sky went black from the thick cloud of ash and smoke. For those caught of guard, it was nothing short of the end of the world. Later reports from those who survived stated that the fire made a sound like that of a giant freight train hurdling towards them, and it was said to have moved as fast as a tornado. And these descriptions aren’t exaggerations either, as researchers now know that a fire of this magnitude can create its own wind that can reach speeds of upwards of 100mph, and burn hotter than 2,000 degrees, or roughly one-fifth that of the surface of the sun.
First hand accounts state that the winds produced by the firestorm were so strong, that many people were picked up and thrown through the air as they tried to run towards the river. Those fleeing their homes were said to have items ripped out of their arms and flung into the fire. Wagons, fallen trees, sections of buildings, and other large items scattered throughout the town were tossed around as if they weighed nothing at all, and even more horrific, some survivors report seeing small children and infants sucked out of their parents arms by the devils wind and thrown into the raging wall of fire, never to be seen again. When this happened, many made the decision to lay down and die right there, rather than go on without their children a moment longer.
At the apex of the fire, the flames and wind were no longer the only things the terrified residents of Peshtigo had to fear. Within the circle of death, some pockets of air were super heated to the point where it instantly burned the lungs of those who found themselves unfortunate enough to breath in, and as a result, they quickly died of asphyxiation, their bodies never having been touched by the actual flames. Others went blind from the heated ash and burning cinders that were careening through the air and made contact with their eyes. But even though they were newly blind, the desire to make it to the river was stronger than the pain. Unfortunately though, without being able to see their way or find their family, many ran directionless and died lost and alone.
Even those who were lucky enough to make it to the river though faced continued danger. Many people were drowned in the chaos of the crowd, while others found themselves unable to hold on to any sort of anchored object and were tragically carried away, never to be seen again. Worse yet, those who had found themselves in the water close to the flames had to make the decision of trying to stay under and avoid drowning, or attempt to keep their head above the waterline and continue to burn due to the super heated air and swirling, flaming debris. Still though, given the choice between possible death by water, and almost certain death by fire, the answer is easy, and many residents made the conscious decision to remain in the 40 degree water until the fire had died. Unfortunately though, this lead to many dying at the hands of hypothermia. A much more merciful death given the options presented.
Around three in the morning, the flames which had kept them in the water had ceased. The survivors of the inferno began to emerge from the river and quickly proceeded to fall flat upon the scorched earth as the ground was still hot, and the need to warm up was strong. Those who found their eyes were not burned or damaged in any way were left to gaze upon nothing but a smoldering heap where their city once stood. Their homes, farms, businesses, and memories, reduced to nothing but ash in a matter of hours. Peshtigo, in that moment, was burned away from the face of the earth, and those who were unfortunate enough to be caught in the flames, suffered the same fate.
Accounts from survivors state that the search for a majority of the bodies the morning after the fire was a fruitless effort. Many of those who fell were naturally cremated and blew away in the wind, all proof of their existence having been destroyed. Others were reduced to nothing more than a few pieces of bone and a melted belt buckle or lump of melted coins. Still those, these left behind objects did little to help identify the person they once belonged too. The bodies that were discovered though, 350 in total and almost all unrecognizable, they were carefully gathered up and buried together in a mass grave. An act that reminded everyone that even though their lives had been destroyed, their humanity was still very much alive, and if they wanted to make it through this and rebuild, they would have to do it together. And that is exactly what they did.
Almost immediately, both survivors and those from around the area began to rebuild. Multiple relief organizations were established in the state to help provide aid to those who were displaced. Emergency hospitals were built to nurse the injured back to health, and the United States government donated supplies originally designated for army use. Historical records indicate that over 200,000 rations of food were given to the people of Peshtigo to help get them back on their feet. Along with this, over 1,500 coats, 100 wagons and 4,000 blankets were also given towards the effort. Even William Ogden, the original investor in the town, pledged to rebuild the city into what it once was and work in the area began almost immediately. By 1872, the rebuild project was nearly complete, and by 1873, the city of Peshtigo was back on the map.
While the Peshtigo fire of 1871 was a major event in both Wisconsin and overall United States history, the account we gave above barely scratches the surface of what actually went down that night. We do feel though that we have provided a fairly accurate account of the horrors the residents of Peshtigo faced over the course of the night. What we haven’t fully touched on though were the weird and bizarre occurrences that were said to have taken place that night, specifically the one in which this entire article is based around, so let’s do that now.
Almost immediately after the sun rose over Peshtigo on October 9th, survivors of the fire noticed things that left them both baffled and unsettled. While many of these occurrences can be easily explained today through our understanding of what happens during extreme fires, for a common citizen without a scientific background in the late 19th century, these events were nothing short of supernatural. My reports were made of giant holes dotting the surrounding landscape where trees once stood, but had been so completely consumed by fire down to their roots, that nothing remained except pits in the earth. Large sections of sand that ran alongside the Peshtigo river had been melted into massive plates of glass due to the intense heat, large solid stones were cracked completely in half as if by a stonemason’s hand, and some survivors even report seeing train cars scattered throughout the burned out forest which had been picked up by the fire tornado itself and sent flying.
Stanger still were the few bodies which had been found dead, yet were completely untouched by flame, although all the items in their pockets had been melted into unrecognizable clumps of metal as if they were standing in the center of the blaze itself. To those at the time, this may have appeared as proof that the devil had a hand in the destruction of Peshtigo, but as we mentioned earlier, we now know that fire can do some pretty incredible and unbelievable things when it burns hot enough. What we have a harder time explaining though, are the reports that a strange looking “black balloon” which floated leisurely across the sky spewing fire was witnessed in the sky above the city as the fire raged below. And this report isn’t something that came about years later after the events had already taken place with no way to verify them, no. This account was given directly to Father Pernin himself from people that he knew and interacted with on a daily basis, and had enough authenticity behind it that he felt it necessary to include in his retelling of the events.
According to Father Pernin, as the fire was making its way towards the city, but had not yet surrounded it, many individuals ran out of their homes in an attempt to figure out what the commotion was coming from the surrounding forest. They knew not at that moment that complete destruction would soon be upon them, and because of that, many people were in their homes enjoying what they thought was just a normal evening. But when they ran outside to see what was the matter, and heard the ever-growing roar steadily moving closer towards them, they also caught sight of a strange object both rotating and moving through the sky above the trees. Father Pernin states that what these people witnessed was a “phenomenon which may be classed with the marvelous.”
The object was said to be extremely large in size and resembled a black balloon without a pilot. This mystery thing apparently spun in the air with great speed, and rose high above the treetops while moving in a set direction, almost as if it was on a mission. Those who watched from the ground said that the “balloon,” while continuing to spin, moved steadily towards a single house that it “seemed to single out for destruction.” Not long after reaching it, the strange thing made contact with the home and immediately began streaming fire out in all directions onto the house. Moments later, the object burst and created a noise “like that of a bombshell,” and almost instantaneously, the house which it singled out was fully consumed in flames. Unfortunately for those inside the dwelling, the bizarre occurrence happened so fast that nobody had time to either react or flee, and everyone tragically perished.
What was this strange object that accompanied the fire and appeared to have one metaphorical foot in the supernatural? By what we know from Father Pernin’s account of that night, this strange flying object was only witnessed once, and it didn’t exist in our world very long before it self-destructed. But even though it could technically be classified as a “UFO” since it does meet the three requirements to use term (it was flying, it was on object, and it was unidentified), is that actually what it was? Or could it have been something grounded in reality, but rarely seen? While many people would love for this to be an actual UFO hellbent on destruction and spewing fire, we are going to attempt to provide a more grounded explanation as to what this “black balloon” could have been.
Now, right off the bat, let us remind everyone that the possible explanation we are going to give is completely our own, and we are not saying that this is the 100% answer. Remember, this event took place over 150+ years ago, and the only report we have of it comes from a very brief mention in Father Pernin’s report which he wrote all the way back in 1874, so we don’t have a whole lot to work with. What we do have though, is a very detailed description of how the fire “operated” during that tragic night. Combine this with a modern understanding of what type of firestorm this actually was, and we think we have a pretty good attempt at explaining what was being seen in the sky on the night of October 8, 1871.
So, as we mentioned up above earlier, researchers now know that the Peshtigo fire was large enough that it was able to generate its own wind which could have moved at speeds upwards of 100mph, and the heat it was generating was more than likely burning hotter than 2,000 degrees, which again, is absolutely insane. But when all of these things are in motion, the fire begins to generate what is known as a convection column, and that is essentially a column of gas, smoke, ash, and various other debris which is all caught up and thrown together by the winds produced by the fire. This collection of stuff then rides the newly created column upwards until it is completely above the fire in the sky.
Normally, any debris that is collected in this way would rise up the column, be thrown out into the air, and slowly fall back down to the ground below. This is a common occurrence which can be witnessed during something as simple as a bonfire. But, if said fire is big enough and hot enough, which the Peshtigo fire was, and the winds it is generating are moving fast enough, this debris can remain spinning in the air unable to fall back down until there is a break in the cycle. During this time, more and more burning debris is being pulled up into this slowly growing superheated mass, which has no choice but to move through the sky in whatever direction the fire is already going. Eventually, whenever that large mass of black smoke, ash, and burning debris does have an opportunity to fall back down into the firestorm below, it is no longer going to hold itself together and will quickly rupture, thus throwing everything it once held together back into the landscape around it.
While this explanation may offer a possibility as to what happened, again, it is not the only one. We were not there, we did not witness this event. All we can do is offer some insight gathered through modern eyes, but even then, there are far weirder things out there that our eyes will never see, and we will never understand. Besides, if someone were to explain exactly what the “black balloon” seen during the Peshtigo fire was, that would only be solving one mystery out of many, because the strange object in the sky wasn’t the only thing said to be seen in the area that night. There are stories of spontaneous combustion, godly miracles, and even one about a fire demon riding a giant stag while spreading the flames. Are there any truth to these tales, or could there be scientific explanations for all of them? Could be, yeah, but again, we weren’t there, so all we can do is take the words of those who survived the deadliest fire in American history, and be thankful that they survived to tell them at all.
Oh yeah, one more thing before we go, modern Peshtigo is said to be extremely haunted by what witnesses describe as “shadow people.” These ghostly forms are said to be seen throughout the area, and are typically accompanied by the smell of smoke, even though no smoke is present or in close proximity. While these shadowy spirits can be seen almost anywhere in the rebuilt city, they are most often described as hanging out around the mass grave containing the bodies of the 350 unidentified former residents. Spooky.
-The Pine Barrens Institute
Image Credit: The Wisconsin DNR
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“…many people were in their homes enjoying what they thought was just a normal evening. But when they ran outside to see what was the matter, and heard the ever-growing roar steadily moving closer towards them, they also caught sight of a strange object both rotating and moving through the sky above the trees.”