Great Chicago Fire

“Voices screamed out. “Fire! Fire! Fire!” Alarm bells clanged. Firefighters readied their horses and raced their pumpers through the streets. But it was too late. The flames blasted a shower of fiery sparks into the windy sky. Like a swarm of flaming wasps, they flew through the air, starting fires wherever they landed. Shops and homes erupted in flames. Warehouses exploded. Mansions burned.” Lauren Tarshis, “I Survived the Great Chicago Fire”

In Chicago 149 years ago, according to legend, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow knocked over a lantern and started a conflagration that burned down a third of the city, destroyed over 17,000 buildings, killed over 300 people, and left a hundred thousand residents homeless. The cow story was a fabrication invented by a newspaper; the proximate cause remains unknown although some have blamed gamblers playing cards in the barn, others speculate someone started it on purpose as a diversion from a crime he was committing. Adverse weather conditions – a severe draught, heat wave, and high winds – were a key factor as well as the wooden structures and primitive fire prevention measures in place. Fires also destroyed numerous villages in Wisconsin and the town of Peshtigo, killing thousands; and similar tragedies occurred in several area of Michigan.

Chicago’s elite feared the influx of Irish working-class immigrants, so it was not surprising that Mrs. O’Leary, a hardworking, law-abiding woman, was scapegoated. As Jim Murphy wrote in “The Great Fire,” “Simply calling the Great Fire an accident did not satisfy some people, most notably the local newspapers. They demanded a culprit.” The press also spread exaggerated rumors of looting and other mayhem. Self-appointed vigilantes carried out summary executions of suspected thieves. At Mayor Moswell B. Mason’s request, martial law was declared, and federal troops under the command of former Union General Philip Sheridan patrolled the streets, meting out harsh penalties.

 

Not unlike the present, when rightwing conspiracy dupes are blaming the West Coast wildfires that have caused unprecedented damages on Antifa radicals, so in Chicago some believed that anarchists or communists were responsible for the catastrophe. While Trump has not yet embraced a conspiracy theory, he cavalierly has blamed poor forest management even though most acres burned are under federal, not state control.

 

In 1996, the 125th anniversary of the traumatic event, the Chicago Historical Society produced an interactive website titled “The Great Fire and the Web of Memory” that included a wealth of memoirs from descendants of Chicagoans whose lives were affected by the conflagration. Because of the “Windy City’s” importance as a transportation hub, Chicago recovered and grew rapidly to an industrial behemoth whose population grew by six-fold within 30 years.