City On Fire

For years, legends blamed Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, Daisy, for starting Chicago’s Great Fire of 1871.

- Barbara Brooks Simons

The story was that Daisy kicked over a lantern in her stall, setting the straw on fire and starting the tremendous blaze. No proof exists of Daisy’s involvement, but the fire did break out near the O’Learys’ barn on Sunday night, October 8, 1871. The O’Leary’s lived in the southwestern quarter of Chicago, divided by the North and South branches of the Chicago River.

Cow or no cow, the city was all too vulnerable to fire. Beginning in the 1830s, Chicago had grown quickly into a rough and bustling metropolis. The buildings in the city were built hastily and carelessly. While the more prosperous residents had built a few brick homes, most of the structures were wooden cottages, sheds, barns, and crowded slums. The city was filled with wooden sidewalks, and many of the streets also were paved with wood. To make things worse, the summer of 1871 had been very, very dry.

Many things came together to turn a small fire into a