Relief Efforts
What happened after the
fire?
When news of the tragedy at Peshtigo finally reached Madison (Wisconsin's
capital) on October 10, 1871, Governor Lucius Fairchild and other state officials
were away at Chicago, helping the victims of that fire. The
governor's wife Frances commandeered a boxcar of blankets and
other supplies that was bound for Chicago and had it sent to
Peshtigo instead.
The collections of the Area Research
Center in Green Bay contain many telegrams and letters sent to
Gov. Fairchild in the first weeks after the fire. In "The
Great Fire of 1871: A Nation Responds" Kris Beisser Olson
has compiled a selection of these messages. See the Bibliography
for more information.
