The Great Chicago Fire: America At Its Best

October 8, 2019 marks the 148^th anniversary of one of the most devastating events in the history of the USA known as The Great Chicago Fire. The fire is claimed to have started at around 9 PM on October 8, 1871 in or near a small barn owned by the O’Leary family bordering an alley behind 137 DeKoven Street on the west side of Chicago. The shed next to the barn was the first structure to be burned by the fire.

The exact cause of the fire was never determined, but the fire spread rapidly due to a long drought during the prior summer months, strong winds coming out of the southwest, the rapid destruction of the water pumping system, and the fact that most of the city’s structures were made mainly of wood along with highly flammable tar or shingle roofing materials. All of the city’s sidewalks and main roads were also made of wood. Adding to the problem was the fact the Chicago had received only 1 inch of rain from July 4 to October 9, causing severe drought conditions before the fire started. And the strong southwest winds carried flying embers toward the heart of the city.

The city had 185 firefighters with only 17 horse-drawn engines to protect the entire city. The initial response by the fire department was quick, but due to an error by the watchman, the fire fighters were initially sent to the wrong location which allowed the fire to grow unchecked. In addition, the fire fighters were tired from having fought several small fires and one large fire the week before. All these factors combined to create perfect conditions to turn a small barn fire into a major conflagration.

While the exact cause of the fire was never established, there has been much speculation about how the fire started. The most popular story about how the fire started is that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow knocked over a lantern in the barn. This legend has been immortalized in both song and verse. For example, there is the children’s song ’Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow’.

And the poem ’The Great Chicago Fire’ by Julia Ann Moore:

The great Chicago Fire, friends,
Will never be forgot;
In the history of Chicago
It will remain a darken spot.
It was a dreadful horrid sight
To see that City in flames;
But no human aid could save it,
For all skill was tried in vain.

In the year of 1871,
In October on the 8th,
The people in that City, then
Was full of life, and great.
Less than four days it lay in ruins,
That garden City, so great
Lay smouldering in ashes,
In a sad and pitiful state.

It was a sad, sad scene indeed,
To see the fire arise,
And hear the crackling of the flames
As it almost reached the skies,
And sadder still, to hear the moans,
Of people in the flames
Cry for help, and none could get,
Ah, die where they remained.

To see the people run for life;
Up and down the blazing streets,
To find then, their escape cut off
By the fiery flaming sheets,
And others hunting for some friend
That perhaps they never found,
Such weeping, wailing, never was known,
For a thousands miles around.

Some people were very wealthy
On the morning of the 10th.
But at the close of the evening,
Was poor, but felt content,
Glad to escape from harm with life
With friends they loved so well,
Some will try to gain more wisdom,
By the sad sight they beheld.

Five thousand people were homeless,
Sad wanderers in the streets,
With no shelter to cover them,
And no food had they to eat.
They wandered down by the lake side,
Lay down on the cold damp ground,
So tired and weary and homeless,
So the rich, the poor, was found.

Mothers with dear little infants,
Some clinging to the breast.
People of every description
All laid down there to rest,
With the sky as their covering,
Ah, pillows they had none.
Sad, oh sad, it must have been,
For those poor homeless ones.

Neighboring Cities sent comfort,
To the poor lone helpless ones,
And God will not forget them
In all the years to come.
Now the City of Chicago
Is built up anew once more,
And may it never be visited
With such a great fire no more.

Others claim that a group of men were gambling inside the barn and knocked over a lantern, while some suggest that the fire was related to other fires that burned in the area that day.

This video from Prager University tells the story of the fire but also presents a unique and inspiring perspective of the fire and its aftermath that is not often emphasized and is important to note in light of our current political environment.

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