I was actually halfway through with another Tuesday post when it dawned on me to share the memorial for the mass grave from the Peshtigo Fire. I know that my posts were "technically" done for this year on Peshtigo, but as I was scrolling through my iPhoto I saw the photos I had taken at the Peshtigo Museum and graveyard this summer. It would have been wrong to ignore them and not share.
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| At the foot of the mass grave a sign to explain the necessity of a mass grave. |
A transcription of the mass grave marker only because of the glare. I think most can read it, but just in case:
"Mass Grave
This mass grave contains the ashes, bones, and bodies of some three hundred and fifty people who perished in the Peshtigo Fire. Approximately seventy-five of these lost their lives in the Peshtigo Company's boarding house on the east side of the river. They were so completely consumed by the fire that one could not tell man from woman or child from adult. All, however, in the mass grave were not ashes. Many of the dead were found bearing no trace of burns and those unidentified bodies are also buried here."
Many had no trace of burns but died anyway. It seems incredible, but for some the fire spared them, only to have the smoke do what the fire did not.
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| The mass grave from a distance. A peaceful sitting area for reflection. |
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