[screams] [bell ringing]
- Narrator: My very dear friends,
the papers tell all that can be said about it,
but to see it is much, much worse.
Can you believe that persons standing in the water
up to their chins had their heads burned
so that they died there in the water?
One man who was very badly burned
got up his wagon and team when he saw the fire coming,
put his wife and three children in,
and ran his horses to try to reach the water.
He had not gone far when a burning tree fell on his horses,
killing one at once.
He jumped out to try and cut loose,
turned to look at his family; they were all dead, burned.
One cannot imagine anything so quick.
The devouring flames came upon them in a tornado.
The whole town of Peshtigo was burned clean off in 20 hours.
Elizabeth Baird, October 23, 1871.
[dreamy music]