Just after four in the afternoon, a massive tornado hit the the village of Viroqua, Wisconsin destroying most of its structures and killing at least seventeen of its inhabitants. The dead included eight of the twenty-four students and their teacher in a one room school on the edge of town. Sixteen children there survived. One of the deadliest in Wisconsin history, the tornado was on the ground for thirty miles, cutting a path three hundred yards wide. Later reports suggest more of the 100 injured died bringing the final death toll to twenty-two. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
"Awful Calamity: Terrible Tornado at Viroqua, Wisconsin," New York Times, July 9, 1865
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Crime/Disasters
