The Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 2, number 2, December 1918

              the finger of god is there1 reverend p pernin chapter i before the catastrophe a glance at the country a country covered with dense forests in the midst of which are to be met with here and there along newly opened roads clearings of more or less extent sometimes a half league in width to afford space for an infant town or perhaps three or four acres intended for a farm with the exception of these isolated spots where the trees have been cut down and burned all is a wild but majestic forest trees trees every where nothing else but trees as far as you can travel from the bay either towards the north or west these immense forests are bounded on the east by green bay of lake michigan and by the lake itself the face of the country is in general undulating diversi fied by valleys overgrown with cedars and spruce trees sandy 1the terrible forest fire which has recently devastated northeastern minne sota lends peculiar timeliness to this thrilling account of the fiery hurricane which swept over the counties of northeastern wisconsin in october 1871 coming so close to the chicago fire of october 9 1871 the wisconsin fire failed to attract the degree of attention of the outside world which the magnitude of the disaster merited over a thousand persons were burned to death almost as many more were painfully wounded and three thousand were rendered destitute but the mere statement of these figures conveys little or no impression of the real character of the fiery ordeal to which the people of northeastern wisconsin were subjected for this we can only look to the narratives of those who went through it too often such witnesses lack the inclination or the ability to record their story in enduring form fortunately for us the peshtigo fire produced a capable historian in the person of father pernin the village priest the first half of whose narrative is presented in this issue of the magazine the little book from which it is taken was published at montreal in 1874 with the approba tion of the bishop of montreal and sold for the benefit of the church of our lady of lourdes in marinette state of wisconsin which father pernin was then building although many copies of the book must have been printed and distributed not until three years ago did the state historical library learn of its publication and the copy then secured is the only one of whose present existence we have knowledge it is a small paper-covered volume of 102 pages and contains in addition to the narrative proper the first installment of which is before the reader an introduction and an appendix dealing largely with matters of catholic faith which we omit to reprint