The Chicago Fire caused heart ache to the people at that time and people today but when you look at the facts, it is so clear that the Peshtigo fire caused more damage and caused more deaths than the Chicago fire. All of northeast Wisconsin was wiped out, while just one city here was.
To some the Peshtigo Fire was the most devastating fire to hit America. Taking 1200 lives and destroying 1.25 million acres of land I would have to say that the fire did a lot of damage, but things touch people in different ways. The fire burned rapidly to 16 other towns, but the damage in Peshtigo was the worst. The city was gone in an hour. In Peshtigo alone, 800 lives were lost. Yet most people have never heard of the Great Peshtigo Fire because, strangely, it occurred at the exact same time as The Chicago Fire. The fire in Chicago that may or may not have been started by Mrs. O'Leary's ornery cow grabbed every headline in America.
Both of the cities before the fires were pretty much the same in every way. You had your hardworking people trying to make money to support their families, and young children eager to go off to school to learn more about the world, but the day the fires broke out it changed not only the cities but the people vision on life. Imagine running out of your house that you built that took so much time and effort that was built to protect you and your loved ones only to see it being burned down. One story of a man in Peshtigo reportedly carrying a woman to safety that he though was his wife, when he found out that it wasn't the man went crazy with fear trying to find her. Another story from a 13-year old immigrant said that she had to hold on to the horns of a cow all night just to survive. People from all over fled to the river in Peshtigo, as it was said to be the only safe haven from the fire, as flames where everywhere. One lawyer Jonas Hutchinson writes to his mother as he was experiencing the Chicago fire first hand "This has been an eventful day.