Wildfires in Oregon, California and Washington State this previous summer made spectacular headlines. The media took their leads from press releases issued by officials in the respective state capitals. They blamed drought, allegedly induced by man-caused climate change, that affected habitually dry terrain where the fires broke out. But is it appropriate to label changing climate as the primary cause with precedents recorded much earlier? Peshtigo today is a small, peaceful city in northeastern Wisconsin that once was the site of the largest (areal) and deadliest single wildfire in North American history. On October 8, 1871, a great wildfire destroyed...