The Great Fire
The Great Fire

Author: Jim Murphy

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Published: 2016-08-30

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1338113534

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The Great Fire of 1871 was one of most colossal disasters in American history. Overnight, the flourshing city of Chicago was transformed into a smoldering wasteland. The damage was so profound that few people believed the city could ever rise again.By weaving personal accounts of actual survivors together with the carefully researched history of Chicago and the disaster, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the event with drama and immediacy. And finally, he reveals how, even in a time of deepest dispair, the human spirit triumphed, as the people of Chicago found the courage and strength to build their city once again.

Smoldering City
Smoldering City

Author: Karen Sawislak

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1995-12-15

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 0226735486

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Examines the various debates the city faced after the Chicago fire in dealing with homelessness, the care and feeding of much of the population and the problem of rebuilding amidst political chaos and people working at cross purposes. Explains the events that led up to the Chicago fire: intensely dry conditions, a 20-m.p.h. southwest wind, and an unfortunate spark at 10 o"clock on the night of Oct. 8 all combined to turn Chicago into a "vast ocean of flame". The rift between the immigrant working class and the wealthy 'native-born' Chicagoans made Catherine O'Leary (and her famous cow) a perfect scapegoat for anti-Irish, anti-working class invective. Provides historical maps, plates and engravings, with an epilogue and notes.

History of the Great Fires in Chicago and the West
History of the Great Fires in Chicago and the West

Author: Rev. E. J. Goodspeed

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2023-02-25

Total Pages: 726

ISBN-13: 3382123290

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Reprint of the original, first published in 1871. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

History of the Great Fires in Chicago and the West With a History of the Rise and Progress of Chicago, the Young Giant, to Which Is Appended a Record of the Great Fires in the Past (Classic Reprint)
History of the Great Fires in Chicago and the West With a History of the Rise and Progress of Chicago, the Young Giant, to Which Is Appended a Record of the Great Fires in the Past (Classic Reprint)

Author: E. J. Goodspeed

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-07

Total Pages: 728

ISBN-13: 9781330866061

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Excerpt from History of the Great Fires in Chicago and the West With a History of the Rise and Progress of Chicago, the Young Giant, to Which Is Appended a Record of the Great Fires in the Past About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow
The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow

Author: Richard F. Bales

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-09-01

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 1476604762

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The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 swallowed up more than three square miles in two days, leaving thousands homeless and 300 dead. Throughout history, the fire has been attributed to Mrs. O'Leary, an immigrant Irish milkmaid, and her cow. On one level, the tale of Mrs. O'Leary's cow is merely the quintessential urban legend. But the story also represents a means by which the upper classes of Chicago could blame the fire's chaos on a member of the working poor. Although that fire destroyed the official county documents, some land tract records were saved. Using this and other primary source information, Richard F. Bales created a scale drawing that reconstructed the O'Leary neighborhood. Next he turned to the transcripts--more than 1,100 handwritten pages--from an investigation conducted by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, which interviewed 50 people over the course of 12 days. The board's final report, published in the Chicago newspapers on December 12, 1871, indicates that commissioners were unable to determine the cause of the fire. And yet, by analyzing the 50 witnesses' testimonies, the author concludes that the commissioners could have determined the cause of the fire had they desired to do so. Being more concerned with saving their own reputation from post-fire reports of incompetence, drunkenness and bribery, the commissioners failed to press forward for an answer. The author has uncovered solid evidence as to what really caused the Great Chicago Fire.