Bad cow

October 8, 1871 –
Mrs O’Leary’s cow started The Great Chicago Fire that destroyed more than 17,000 buildings, killed more than 300 people and left 90,000 homeless, on this date.

Catherine O’Leary seemed the perfect scapegoat: she was a woman, immigrant, and Catholic – a combination which did not fare well in the political climate of the time in Chicago. This story was circulating in Chicago even before the flames had died out and was noted in the Chicago Tribune’s first post-fire issue. Michael Ahern, the reporter that came with the story would retract it in 1893, admitting that it was fabricated.

In 1997, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution exonerating Mrs. O’Leary – and her cow – from all blame.

Occurring the same day as the Great Chicago fire, a forest fire broke out at Peshtigo, Wisconsin, eventually killing about 2,500 people while burning some 850 square miles including, Holland, Michigan, and Manistee, Michigan (making it the largest lost of life by fire in the United States.)

And so it goes