In Wisconsin, at least seventeen people die as a killer tornado devastates the village of Viroqua in Vernon County

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  
How to Cite This Page: "In Wisconsin, at least seventeen people die as a killer tornado devastates the village of Viroqua in Vernon County," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/44137.