October 8, 1871, is a date burned into American memory—but for the wrong reason. While the world watched the Great Chicago Fire, a far more terrifying monster was waking up 250 miles to the north.

In this episode of Weird Americana, we uncover the tragedy of the Great Peshtigo Fire, the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history. We explore how a "fire tornado" with temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees literally erased a Wisconsin logging town in less than sixty minutes, claiming over 1,200 lives. Why has this massive disaster been overshadowed for over 150 years?

From boiling rivers to the terrifying physics of a firestorm, we look at the forgotten history of the night the Midwest stood still.

Before the Civil War, the US military had a wild idea: swap horses for humps. In this episode of Weird Americana, we uncover the true story of the US Camel Corps.

In 1856, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis imported dozens of camels from the Middle East to the American Southwest, believing they were the key to conquering the "Great American Desert." We’ll explore the trek across Texas and Arizona, the soldiers who hated their new mounts, and why the project ultimately collapsed.

But the weirdest part? The "Red Ghost" and the feral camels that were spotted wandering the American desert for nearly a century afterward. It’s a 10-minute look at the most unusual military unit in U.S. history.

Beneath the sun-scorched dirt of Fresno, California, lies a sprawling, subterranean masterpiece that defies logic. In this episode of Weird Americana, we explore the Forestiere Underground Gardens—a 10-acre labyrinth of tunnels, courtyards, and bedrooms hand-carved by one man over the course of 40 years. Discover the story of Baldassare Forestiere, a Sicilian immigrant who used nothing but a pickaxe and a shovel to escape the California heat, eventually creating a "resort" with skylights and underground fruit trees that still produce today. Is it a monument to madness or a stroke of architectural genius? We take a 10-minute tour of the most incredible hidden world in the American West.