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This short video overview of the Chicago Fire could be viewed as an inquiry into the many possible causes of the spread of the fire.

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The Chicago Fire of 1871: Disaster & Destruction in the Windy City | History

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Video that could also be used to find possible reasons for the spread of the Chicago Fire.

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Weather History: The Great Chicago Fire 1871

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Lessons from History: The Chicago Fire of 1871

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Lessons from History: The Chicago Fire of 1871

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Video with Lauren Tarshis of I Surived: The Great Chicago Fire

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Lessons from History:  The Chicago Fire of 1871

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The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory

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The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory

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Articles, Artifacts and Link

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The Great Chicago Fire & The Web of Memory

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The Great Chicago Fire & the Web of Memory consists of two main parts. The first part, titled The Great Chicago Fire, includes five chronologically organized sections that together present a

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The Great Chicago Fire Wasn't Started By a Cow

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The Great Chicago Fire Wasn't Started By a Cow

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Myth: The Great Chicago Fire was started by a cow.

The Great Chicago Fire destroyed 3.3 square miles of Chicago, Illinois, burning for two days in 1871-between October 8th and October 10th. It killed hundreds of people, left more than 100,000 homeless (nearly one third of Chicago's residents at the time), destroyed roughly 17,000 buildings, and caused a couple hundred million of dollars in damage (about $4-$5 billion today).

A popular story often told about how of the Great Chicago Fire started is that a cow owned by Kate O'Leary kicked a lit lantern over and that started the flames. The story has even been the subject of a children's song:

Late one night, when we were all in bed,
Mrs. O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed.
Her cow kicked it over,
Then winked her eye and said,
"There'll be a hot time in the
old town tonight!"

It may come as a disappoint to some to learn that the cow story isn't true-the man who wrote the O'Leary story for the Chicago Republican, Michael Ahern, later admitted that he had made the cow angle up in order to create a more interesting tale. But the fire certainly did start in the vicinity of a barn owned by the O'Learys. However, the exact cause of the fire was never determined, though Catherine O'Leary was used as a scapegoat of sorts. O'Leary was an Irish Catholic immigrant-despised by many people at the time-so she made an easy target. In addition to Ahern's retraction of his cow story, the O'Learys claimed to have been asleep by the time the fire started, so there would have been no lantern in the barn for a cow to kick.

There has been a lot of speculation about the cause of the fire, but, as stated, little is known for certain. One of the other popular theories that is also likely false is that the fire was caused by a meteor shower- specifically, the theory goes that it was caused by fragments from the broken up Beila's Comet. (Incidentally, about a year later, on November 27, 1872, fragments from Beila's Comet resulted in a meteor shower that had an astounding 3,000 meteors per hour visible!) Three other large fires started around Lake Michigan on the same day, which some people argue is too much of a coincidence not to have a common cause. However, meteorites that actually make it to the ground are usually cool when they hit and thus generally don't start fires. (One did once strike a woman while she was napping in her living room making her the first known person to be struck by an extraterrestrial object, but it wasn't hot.) Further, given the prevalence of flames at night and the extremely dry and windy conditions at the time, it's thought by most historians that the other fires were merely coincidence and not from a common source like a meteor shower.

Despite not knowing the exact cause of the Chicago fire, it is easy to see just how the fire spread once it started. Chicago in 1871 was not like the skyscrapers-and-concrete Chicago that we know today. Around two-thirds of the buildings in Chicago were made of wood at the time. Most of the buildings had tar or shingle roofs, which would only serve to feed the flames. The roads and sidewalks were also made from wood products. The conditions were dry, with a drought plaguing the city not long before the fire started-that summer, they received only about a quarter of their average rainfall. And let's not forget Chicago's nickname: it isn't called "the Windy City" for nothing. At the time, it's believed that a strong south-westerly wind blew hot embers from the fire toward the heart of the city, landing on the highly flammable roofs and starting up additional fires.

Another big issue was that the people did not act quickly enough. The fire department was alerted to the growing problem around forty minutes after the fire started, after an alarm was pulled in a pharmacy. People didn't realize how fast the fire would spread due to the bad conditions.

The fire finally went out when the winds died down and a light drizzle helped the fire fighters with their efforts. Only three large buildings in the affected area survived enough to be repaired: the Chicago Water Tower, St. Michael's Church, and the Chicago Avenue Pumping Station. The latter two only had their exterior walls to rebuild from, as their insides were eaten away by the fire. In the aftermath, Chicago received donations of money, food, clothing, and other supplies from cities across the United States to help them rebuild. Surprisingly, much of Chicago's infrastructure-such as mass transportation-remained intact. The fire had destroyed nearly 73 miles of road, but it hadn't touched the harbors. Railroad tracks were also largely undamaged, which allowed so many of the donated goods to pour in.

After the fire, legislation was passed requiring buildings to be constructed from brick, stone, and other fireproof materials. It wasn't fully effective because most of the poorer residents couldn't afford the materials or the skilled labourers required to rebuild. In addition, some businesses simply ignored the laws to save money.

Ironically, it was Chicago's fiery destruction which led to it becoming one of the United States' most important economic cities, as well as one of the most populous. The rebuilding effort required an army of people to be hired as labourers, which boosted both the economy and population of the city. At the time of the fire in 1871, Chicago boasted about 300,000 residents. By 1890, Chicago was home to over a million people, making it second in population only to New York City.

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show ( iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Feed), as well as:

Bonus Facts:

Funny enough, the winds changed in time to save the O'Learys' house. Their barn went up in flames, but their house wasn't touched by the fire.

A new Chicago Fire Academy was built in 1956 on the site of the O'Learys' burnt-down barn. It is still in operation today.

In contrast to the Chicago fire actually helping Chicago become one of the major cities in the United States, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that resulted in about 80% of the city destroyed ended up ending San Francisco's reign as the dominate city in California, with a large percentage of the residents moving to Los Angeles.

A large amount of timber used to rebuild Chicago came from Singapore, Michigan, and led to extreme deforestation. Without the trees to protect the town from the elements, sand blew in from Lake Michigan's shoreline and eroded the town in just four years. It is still one of Michigan's ghost towns and lies beneath the sand dunes on the shore of the lake.

Though a majority of buildings in Chicago were made of wood, many designers would attempt to disguise the fact by making the wood look like a different material, thus more aesthetically appealing.

The donations that originated from all across the United States served as a sign to some that any wounds left over from the Civil War had been healed, and the nation had become whole once more.

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The Great Chicago Fire Wasn't Started by a Cow

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Myth: The Great Chicago Fire was started by a cow. The Great Chicago Fire destroyed 3.3 square miles of Chicago, Illinois, burning for two days in 1871-between October 8th and October 10th. It killed hundreds of people, left more than 100,000 homeless (nearly one third of Chicago's residents at the time), destroyed roughly 17,000 buildings, and caused a couple hundred [...]

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The Great Chicago Fire & The Web of Memory

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Did Mrs. O'Leary's cow start the Great Chicago Fire? It's possible. The conflagration almost surely began in the vicinity of the crowded barn, where Kate O'Leary kept the five cows she milked twice a

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One of the largest U.S. disasters was blamed on a cow. Unfortunately this cow was framed.
One of the most infamous cows in U.S. history is Mrs. O'Leary's cow who is commonly known to have started the Great Chicago fire of 1871. According to the story, Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern setting the barn ablaze. The fire quickly spread from the barn throughout the city of Chicago, causing a great deal of damage.

The event was considered one of the largest U.S. disasters of the 19 th century. The fire killed up to 300 people, destroyed roughly 4 square miles of property, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The fire damaged 17,500 buildings, and caused $222 million in property damage (a third of the cities valuation, or about $4.2 trillion in 2014 dollars)

Catherine O'Leary's (aka Mrs. O'Leary) cow was blamed for the fire, and newspapers ran with the story. Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Ahern was the first to publish the story that the fire started when a cow kicked over a lantern while a woman was milking it. The story didn't mention Mrs. O'Leary specifically, but reporter's soon identified her as the probable woman as reports wildly proclaimed that it was her cow that started the fire. The story was denied by the O'Leary household stating that they were already in bed before the fire started, but stories of the cow continued to spread across the city.

Anthony DeBartolo reported in the Chicago Tribune that Louis M. Cohn was the one who started the fire. Cohn was allegedly gambling with one of the O'Leary boys, and some of the other neighborhood boys. When Mrs. O'Leary came out to the barn to chase the kids away, they knocked over a lantern in their flight which ended up starting the fire. In 1942, upon his death, Cohn left his full confession. Interestingly though, the gambling continued. Mrs. O'Leary's son became one of the biggest gangsters in Chicago. James 'Big Jim' O'Leary became a powerful Irish mob boss in Chicago, controlling gambling in the city with an "iron fist."

The original reporter Michael Ahern retracted the "cow-and-lantern" story, admitted he made it up. The Chicago City Council eventually decided to exonerated Mrs. O'Leary of all guilt in 1997, but it was too late. The urban legend of Mrs. O'Leary's cow continues to this day. Mrs. O'Leary's cow was framed, and as a result, became one of the most notorious cows in U.S. history.
Mrs. O'Leary's cow was framed, and as a result, became one of the most notorious cows in U.S. history Read More about the Great Chicago Fire here.

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Mrs. O'Leary's cow was Framed | Dairy Moos

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One of the largest U.S. disasters was blamed on a cow. Unfortunately this cow was framed. One of the most infamous cows in U.S. history is Mrs. O'Leary's cow who is commonly known to have started the Great Chicago fire of 1871. According to the story, Mrs.

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We Still Don't Know How the Great Chicago Fire Was Started

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We Still Don't Know How the Great Chicago Fire Was Started

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We Still Don't Know How the Great Chicago Fire Started

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Oct. 8, 1871: The Great Chicago Fire begins

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Could a Comet Have Started the Great Chicago Fire?

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Could a Comet Have Started the Great Chicago Fire?

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Could a comet have caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871? For three days, October 8-10, 1871, Chicago was burning. It was a rain of fire and terror as the wood buildings burned to the ground.

Ironically, the O'Leary house (Mrs. O'Leary of the famous cow and lantern theory) was left standing on DeKoven Street. The Water Tower also remained. Most of what was then Chicago was in ruins.

At the same time, there were fires burning in other parts of llinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. The Great Peshtigo Fire (in Peshtigo, Wisconsin) is still considered one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.

There were also fires in Urbana, Illinois and Holland, Michigan.

Could they all be attributed to weather conditions? It had been a hot, dry summer throughout the Midwest. It was a hot, dry and windy autumn day. One spark could have started a fire!

Is there a possible extraterrestrial explanation?

According to Wikipedia there is the comet theory. The fragments of Comet Biela breaking up in the atmosphere may have caused a meteor shower along Lake Michigan, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

While this theory is also highly contested, it sounds alot like Tunguska to me!

One must be careful, however, to examine the evidence. Further research is needed. But this has, as they say, sparked my interest......
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Could a comet have caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871?

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Could a comet have caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871? For three days, October 8-10, 1871, Chicago was burning. It was a rain of fire and terror as the wood buildings burned to the ground. Ironically, the O'Leary house (Mrs. O'Leary of the famous cow and lantern theory) was left standing on DeKoven Street....

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What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?

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What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?

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Late one night, when we were all in bed, Mrs. O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. Her cow kicked it over, then winked her eye and said, "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!" - Chicago folksong
There is no known photograph of Catherine O'Leary, and who could blame her for shunning the cameras? After those two catastrophic days in October 1871, when more than 2,000 acres of Chicago burned, reporters continually appeared on Mrs. O'Leary's doorstep, calling her "shiftless and worthless" and a "drunken old hag with dirty hands." Her husband sicced dogs at their ankles and hurled bricks at their heads. P.T. Barnum came knocking to ask her to tour with his circus; she reportedly chased him away with a broomstick. Her dubious role in one of the greatest disasters in American history brought her fame she never wanted and couldn't deflect. When she died 24 years later of acute pneumonia, neighbors insisted the true cause was a broken heart.

Mrs. O'Leary claimed to be asleep on the night of Sunday, October 8, when flames first sparked in the barn next to the family cottage on DeKoven Street. The blaze traveled in northeast, tearing through shanties and sheds and leaping across Taylor Street, the heat so fierce that fireman Charles Anderson could hold his hose to the flames only when shielded by a door. His hat curdled on his head. All spare engines were called to the growing conflagration, prompting one fire marshal to ask another: "Where has this fire gone to?" The answer was swift and apt: "She has gone to hell and gone." Residents noticed that a freakish wind whipped the flames into great walls of fire more than 100 feet high, a meteorological phenomenon called "convection whirls"-masses of overheated air rising from the flames and began spinning violently upon contact with cooler surrounding air. "The wind, blowing like a hurricane, howling like myriads of evil spirits," one witness later wrote, "drove the flames before it with a force and fierceness which could never be described or imagined."

Although the wind never exceeded 30 miles per hour, these "fire devils," as they were dubbed, pushed the flames forward and across the city. By early morning on Tuesday, October 10, when rain extinguished the last meekly glowing ember, the city was ravaged: $200 million worth of property destroyed, 300 lives lost and 100,000 people-one third of the city's population-left homeless. The Chicago Tribune likened the damage to that in Moscow after Napoleon's siege in 1812. In a peculiar twist of fate, and one that would not go unnoticed by the city's press, the fire spared the O'Leary family's home.

Before the Great Chicago Fire, no one took notice of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary, two Irish immigrants who lived with their five children on the city's West Side. Patrick was a laborer and Catherine sold milk from door to door, keeping her five cows in the barn. Even before the fire died out on the city's northern edges, the Chicago Evening Journal implicated her, reporting that it began "on the corner of DeKoven and Twelfth Streets, at about 9 o'clock on Sunday evening, being caused by a cow kicking over a lamp in a stable in which a woman was milking"-a scenario that originated with children in the neighborhood. Similar articles followed, many perpetuating ethnic stereotypes and underscoring nativist fears about the city's growing immigrant population. The Chicago Times, for one, depicted the 44-year-old Catherine as "an old Irish woman" who was "bent almost double with the weight of many years of toil, trouble and privation" and concluded that she deliberately set fire to her barn out of bitterness: "The old hag swore she would be revenged on a city that would deny her a bit of wood or a pound of bacon."

During an inquiry held by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners to determine the cause of the blaze, Catherine testified that she went to bed sometime between eight o'clock and eight-thirty, and was sleeping when her husband roused her with the words, "Cate, the barn is afire!" She ran outside to see it for herself, and watched as dozens of neighbors worked to save adjacent homes, fixing two washtubs to fire hydrants and running back and forth with buckets of water. One of them had thrown a party that night-Catherine recalled hearing fiddle music as she prepared for bed-and a woman named Mrs. White told her that someone had wandered away from the gathering and slipped into her barn. "She mentioned a man was in my barn milking my cows," Catherine said. "I could not tell, for I didn't see it."

The board also questioned a suspect named Daniel Sullivan, who lived directly across from the O'Leary's on DeKoven Street, and who had first alerted Patrick O'Leary to the fire. Sullivan, known as "Peg Leg" for his wooden limb, said he had attended the party and left about half past nine. As he stepped out into the night, he said, he saw a fire in the O'Learys' barn. He ran across the street hollering, "Fire, fire, fire!" and headed straight to the source of the flames, reasoning that he might be able to save the cows. "I knew a horse could not be got out of a fire unless he be blinded," Sullivan testified, "but I didn't know but cows could. I turned to the left-hand side. I knew there was four cows tied to that end. I made at the cows and loosened them as quick as I could. I got two of them loose, but the place was too hot. I had to run when I saw the cows were not getting out."

After nine days of questioning 50 people-testimony that made up more than 1,100 handwritten pages-the board members issued an inconclusive report about the fire's cause. "Whether it originated from a spark blown from a chimney on that windy night," it read, "or was set on fire by human agency, we are unable to determine." Nevertheless Catherine O'Leary remained culpable in the public's eye. None of her contemporaries bothered to ask the obvious questions that indicate her innocence: Why would she leave the barn after setting the fire-even accidentally-and go back into her home? Why would she not scream for help? Why would she risk losing her cows, her barn, and possibly her home without trying to save them?

One of Catherine's sons, James, was two years old at the time of the fire, and would grow up to become "Big Jim" O'Leary, notorious saloon proprietor and gambling kingpin. Over the years he granted numerous newspaper interviews, complaining that, "That musty old fake about the cow kicking over the lamp gets me hot under the collar." He insisted that the fire was caused by the spontaneous combustion of "green" (or newly harvested) hay, large quantities of which had been delivered to the barn on the eve of the fire. But the summer of 1871 had been one long and merciless heat wave in Chicago, with scorching temperatures extending into the fall, making it likely that the hay was thoroughly dry before being stored in the barn.

Patrick and Catherine O'Leary sold their cottage on DeKoven Street in 1879 and moved many times, eventually settling in on South Halstead Street on what was then the far South Side. In 1894, the year before Catherine died, her physician did what she'd always refused to do and gave a comment to the press:

"It would be impossible for me to describe to you the grief and indignation with which Mrs. O'Leary views the place that has been assigned her in history. That she is regarded as the cause, even accidentally, of the Great Chicago Fire is the grief of her life. She is shocked at the levity with which the subject is treated and at the satirical use of her name in connection with it.... She admits no reporters to her presence, and she is determined that whatever ridicule history may heap on her it will have to do it without the aid of her likeness. Many are the devices that have been tried to procure a picture of her, but she has been too sharp for any of them. No cartoon will ever make any sport of her features. She has not a likeness in the world and will never have one."

Patrick and Catherine O'Leary are buried in Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Chicago, next to their son James and his wife. In 1997, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution exonerating Catherine-and her cow-from all blame.

Richard F. Bales, The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2002; Owen J. Hurd, After the Fact: The Surprising Fates of American History's Heroes, Villains, and Supporting Characters. New York: Penguin Group, 2012; Carl Smith, Urban Disorder and the Shape of Belief. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

"Fire and Death in Chicago." New York Herald, October 10, 1871; "The Chicago Fire: Vivid Accounts by Eyewitnesses." Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October, 11, 1871; "The Chicago Fire! The Flames Checked At Last." Richmond Whig, October 13, 1871; "The Great Fire That Wiped Out Chicago." Chicago Inter-Ocean, October 9, 1892; "Lesson of the O'Leary Cow." Biloxi Daily Herald, July 5, 1899; "Mrs. O'Leary Is Dead." Baltimore Sun, July 6, 1895; "O'Leary Defends His Mother's Cow." Trenton Evening Times, December 1, 1909; "Alderman Tries to Exonerate Mrs. O'Leary and Her Cow." Rockford (IL) Register Star, September 12, 1997.

About Karen Abbott

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What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?

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Late one night, when we were all in bed, Mrs. O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. Her cow kicked it over, then winked her eye and said, "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!" - Chicago folksong There is no known photograph of Catherine O'Leary, and who could blame her for shunning the cameras?

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Did the Chicago Fire Really Start with Mrs. O'Leary's Cow?

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Did the Chicago Fire Really Start with Mrs. O'Leary's Cow?

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In all of history, no cow is more infamous than Mrs. O'Leary's. The farm animal was accused of kicking over a lantern and starting the Great Chicago Fire on Oct. 8, 1871. The fire, despite its humble origins in a barn, was ferocious. It destroyed 3.5 square miles of the city and left 120 people dead and thousands more homeless. Losses were estimated at $200 million [source: Gove].

Mrs. O'Leary lived with her husband and five children at 137 DeKoven Street in Chicago. The O'Learys were a poor family; Mr. O'Leary worked as a laborer, and Mrs. O'Leary kept her infamous cows in a backyard barn and sold their milk to the neighbors.

After the fire, newspapers immediately pointed fingers at Mrs. O'Leary. The Chicago Tribune claimed that Mrs. O'Leary had a motive for starting the fire. She'd been on welfare, but when the city learned that she sold milk on the side, it cut her off. In response, the peeved Mrs. O'Leary swore her vengeance on the city, the paper claimed. And now she'd had her retribution.

Other newspapers were a bit more gracious. They reported that the fire was an accident -- that a kerosene lamp was knocked over during milking, either by the cow or by Mrs. O'Leary.

Mrs. O'Leary maintained, however, that her entire family was asleep in the house when the fire started. The official inquiry into the fire -- despite its over one thousand pages of testimony -- did not determine the exact cause of the fire. But the damage to Mrs. O'Leary was done, and she and her cow have lived on in Chicago legend.

Historians generally agree that the fire started in the barn behind the O'Leary home. But did the cow really kick over a lantern? Was someone besides Mrs. O'Leary to blame? Several other characters lurk on the edges of this crime scene. Let's take a look at these possible culprits on the next page.

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Did the Great Chicago Fire really start with Mrs. O'Leary's cow?

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In all of history, no cow is more infamous than Mrs. O'Leary's. The farm animal was accused of kicking over a lantern and starting the Great Chicago Fire on Oct. 8, 1871. The fire, despite its humble origins in a barn, was ferocious.

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Go to Epic! and Search for these titles about the Chicago Fire

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Go to Epic! and Search for these titles about the Chicago Fire

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https://www.getepic.com/app/user-collection/2035141

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 35,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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The Chicago Fire of 1871, also called the Great Chicago Fire, burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, and destroyed thousands of buildings, killed an estimated 300 people and caused an estimated $200 million in damages. Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn and started the fire…

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