The Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire book cover — TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 CHICAGO BEFORE THE FIRE 4 Chapter 2 A WOODEN CITY 12 Chapter 3 SPARKS FLY 20 Chapter 4 FROM THE ASHES 28 GLOSSARY 38 SOURCE NOTES 38 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 39 FURTHER INFORMATION 39 INDEX 40

The Great Chicago Fire — page 1 — 1 CHICAGO BEFORE THE FIRE Today Chicago Illinois is a city known for its gleaming skyscrapers But the city has a dark past Those tall buildings might never have been built if not for a terrible disaster The 1871 Great Chicago Fire was one of the worst city fires in American history Chicago’s roots can be traced to 1803 That year the US Army built Fort Dearborn on the south bank of the Chicago River American Indians had already lived in the area for hundreds of years Some of them had conflicts with the newly arriving settlers By 1832 the army had driven most of the American Indians out American Indians were the first people to live in the area that became Chicago 4

The Great Chicago Fire — page 2 — But some families and individuals stayed behind They lived near and among the new settlers Chicago became a town in 1833 The population grew In 1837 it became a city At that time the main branch of the Chicago River flowed east It drained into Lake Michigan The north and south branches flowed into the main branch The city grew along the branches of the river Buildings sprang up on the shores of Lake Michigan The branching river divided Chicago into three divisions the North South and West divisions Fort Dearborn shown here in an 1856 illustration was one of the first structures that settlers built in the Chicago area 5

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