The Great Chicago Fire

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On Sunday, October 18, 1871 the largest fire Chicago has ever seen broke out. Hundreds died and thousands of homes were annihilated. Devistation towered over the city, ashes floated gracefully through the air as bodies, houses and cherished items burned. People ran in fear, holding their young, crying for the gone, searching for saftey. Searching for life. Searching for hope.
The past few weeks had been hot, dry, and rainless. A drought. Rain had not fallen for three months. Though, despite the drought, the O’Leary family had been having an exceptional October. The O’Leary family consisted of Mrs. O’Leary, her husband and 5 children. Mr. O’Leary worked as a laborer, as Mrs. O’Leary kept with the cows and the children. The family was on welfare, but were livng pretty fair lives, and Mrs. O’Leary was selling fresh milk on the side. A small way to make some more money for her family.
Later in the night, Lady O’Leary had been milking her cows and decided to come in and call it a night. She left the barn and headed into her home and began getting ready for her slumber. As the family slept peacefully a fire broke out. It broke out in the barn of their home. Caused by Mrs. O’Leary and her cow. The cow had kicked over an oil lantern left in the barn by the woman. The fire would be her fault, and the fault would come with many deaths and hate.
People around the city went to bed, everything seemed relatively normal. Smoke dwindling into the dark night sky, the faint smell of burning wood. All normal for Chicago. Fires were a daily part of life for this wooden city. Near the time of 2 a.m. the fire didn’t seem so normal and average anymore. A mean flame was being born, it was blazing to life.
This fire would burn ...

... middle of paper ...

...on dollars in damage. This showed the people of Chicago that what really mattered wasn’t the buildings or the items the city held, but the people. If it hadn’t been for them then Chicago would still be in ruins from that terrible day.

Works Cited

"Did the Great Chicago Fire Really Start with Mrs. O'Leary's Cow?" HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"The Great Chicago Fire: Chicago Is Burning!" Http://chicagohistory.org/mychicago/pdf/lesson3.pdf. N.p., n.d. Web.
"The Great Chicago Fire: Chicago Is Burning!" N.p., n.d. Web.
"The Great Chicago Fire." The Great Chicago Fire. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.
"The Great Chicago Fire." The Great Chicago Fire. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
McHugh, Janet. The Great Chicago Fire. New York: Bearport, 2007. Print.
Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Print.
PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.

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