Catherine O'Leary was an Irish immigrant living in Chicago, Illinois, who became famous when it was alleged that an accident involving her cow had started the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Born Catherine Donegan, she and her husband, Patrick O'Leary, had three children, one of whom, James Patrick O'Leary, ran a well-known Chicago saloon and gambling hall.
1871 illustration from Harper's Magazine depicting a shocked Mrs. O'Leary seeing her cow kicking over the lantern while she is milking.
O'Leary's grave at Mount Olivet Cemetery
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2) of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The fire began in a neighborhood southwest of the city center. A long period of hot, dry, windy conditions, and the wooden construction prevalent in the city, led to the conflagration. The fire leapt the south branch of the Chicago River and destroyed much of central Chicago and then leapt the main stem of the river, consuming the Near North Side.
An artist's rendering of the fire, by Currier and Ives. The view faces northeast across the Randolph Street Bridge
1871 Chicago view before the 'Great Conflagration'
Aftermath of the fire, corner of Dearborn and Monroe Streets, 1871
General Philip H. Sheridan, who saved Chicago three times: the Great Fire in October 1871, when he used explosives to stop the spread; again after the Great Fire, protecting the city; and lastly in 1877 during the "communist riots", riding in from 1,000 mi (1,600 km) away to restore order.
