The Chicago Fire was real...right?

Question

im sorry.... go ahead and call me dumb (not literally though!) but was the Chiago Fire real and was it like big? and there is a story that mrs. o'leary's cow kicked over a lantern that might have started it right?

Answer 1

The Chicago Fire was very real. The story about the cow starting the fire was a rumor the reporter who wrote that it was later retracted the story saying that he did so because it would make for good press. The reporter didn't make it up the cow bit, but he printed it. The cow story was part of a rumor circulating (the cow of a female, immigrant is the perfect place to throw blame).

Amazingly the Great Chicago fire was not the only major fire that night. In fact, in Peshtigo, WI (near Green Bay) there was also a major fire that killed more people (approx. 1,200-2,500) and to this day is the greatest mass casualty due to fire (9/11 had more casualties, but this was due more to the building collapse than burning to death) is the Peshtigo Fire. The fire almost completely wiped out Peshtigo taking it from 1,700 citizens to somewhere around 500. The Peshtigo fire received less publicity because Chicago was a city and so the news was spread much more easily. Peshtigo is in rural Wisconsin and so the word did not spread quickly.

So both Chicago and Peshtigo (and surrounding cities) burned the same night. No cow did it. A theory that is coming into more popularity is from the science community believing it both fires were caused by a meteor shower. Some meteors came crashing into the Midwest and started the fires during an exceptionally dry fall.

Answer 2

The Great Chicago Fire, was big and real.... the exact reason of how and why it started is still vague... but many agree it may have been started by a cow kicking over a lantern into a haystack

Answer 3

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday October 8 to early Tuesday October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about four square miles in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S. disasters of the 19th century, the rebuilding that began almost immediately spurred Chicago's development into one of the most populous and economically important American and international cities.

Answer 4

Yes, the Chicago Fire was real and so is the story that Mrs. O'Leary's cow started it. If you go to Chicago you can see where it started.

Answer 5

julz, yes, summer of 1871. it was just dry. mrs. o'leary?---lol

Answer 6

yeah why ask are you real? i have my doubts