The Forgotten Fire - The Last Witness

On the night of October 8, 1871, the deadliest wildfire in American history killed up to twenty-five hundred people in northeastern Wisconsin. That same night, a fire broke out in Chicago. Chicago got the front page. Chicago got the relief funds. Chicago got the place in history. Peshtigo got a mass grave, a wooden cross, and a footno This is the story of the people in that grave — the farmers, the children, the priest who stood in a river all night holding a tabernacle above the water while his town burned behind him. And it's a question history never bothered to answer: How many other Peshtigoes are there? The Last Witness tells the stories history forgot to keep. New episodes every Tuesday and Friday at 2pm Eastern. 🎵 Original song featured in this episode: "The Names in the River]" — Chapters: 0:00 Introduction — #TheLastWitness #ForgottenHistory