The Little Sioux Fire was first detected on 14 May 1971. During the next three days the fire burned approximately 5900 ha (14,600 acres). A large portion (about 40%) of the burned area was virgin forest. Maps were constructed of fire intensities, forest cover types in 1970, and soils of the Little Sioux Burn Area (LSBA). These three maps, a 1948 U.S. Forest Service cover type map and a U.S. Geological Survey topographic map for the area were randomly sampled by 997 points and thirteen classifications was analyzed using chi-squares and measures of association. Highest association was found between 1948 and 1970 cover types, with relationships between soil units, soil groups, topographic classes, and cover types also being relatively high. Fire intensity was most closely related to topographic class. Analysis of vegetation change from 1948 to 1970 showed an 80% decrease in balsam-fir cover types. This decrease was accompanied by a nearly equal increase in aspen cover types. This balsam-fir to aspen cover type reversal was attributed primarily to the spruce budworm epidemic, which occurred from about 1955 to the mid-1960's. Decreases in jack pine, red pine, and white pine cover types were attributed to commercial logging. Soils in the LSBA are diverse, due to a wide range of parent materials and rugged topography. Clayey lacustrine sediments located in the northwestern portion of the burn area appear to have been deposited during a high stage of glacial Lake Agassiz. Soils developed in varying thicknesses of Rainy Lobe till occupy the majority of the LSBA, and bedrock ridges are common. Surface horizons of many till and lacustrine soils are high in silt-sized material, presumably of aeolian origin. Well-drained water-lain soils are infrequent, with alluvial soils more frequent than soils developed in glacial outwash. Hemists of varying depths occur throughout the burn area.