Editing Great Chicago Fire (section)

==Precise start==
[[File:Mrs OLeary's cow.jpg|thumb|An 1871 illustration from ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' depicting Mrs. O'Leary milking the cow]]
Almost from the moment the fire broke out, various theories about its cause began to circulate.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/recollectionsaf00critgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/recollectionsaf00critgoog/page/n92 81] |quote=Milk Punch. |title=Recollections of a Fire Insurance Man: Including His Experience in U.S. Navy (Mississippi Squadron) During the Civil War |first=Robert Siderfin |last=Critchell |year=1909 |publisher=The author |access-date=April 4, 2018 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDc5AQAAMAAJ&q=Milk+Punch&pg=PA50 |title=The Great Chicago Fire: What Part Did the Celebrated O'Leary Cow Play in Disaster? |journal=Fire Protection Service |number=82 |publisher=National Underwriter Company |page=10 |date=October 8, 1921 |access-date=April 4, 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED257108.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED257108.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Mrs. O'Leary's Cow and Other Newspaper Tales about the 1871 Great Chicago Fire |last=Fedler |first=Fred |date=August 1985 |publisher=Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication}}</ref><ref name=BalesSchwartz />{{rp|56, 90, 232}} The most popular and enduring legend maintains that the fire began in the O'Leary barn as Mrs. O'Leary was milking her cow. The cow kicked over a lantern (or an oil lamp in some versions), setting fire to the barn. The O'Leary family denied this, stating that they were in bed before the fire started, but stories of the cow began to spread across the city. [[Catherine O'Leary]] seemed the perfect [[scapegoat]]: she was a poor, Irish Catholic immigrant. During the latter half of the 19th century, [[anti-Irish sentiment]] was strong in Chicago and throughout the United States. This was intensified as a result of the growing political power of the city's Irish population.<ref name="DonaldMiller"/>{{rp|442}}

Furthermore, the United States had been distrustful of Catholics (or [[papists]], as they were often called) since its beginning, carrying over attitudes in England in the 17th century;<ref>{{cite book|last=Mannard |first=Joseph G. |title=American Anti-Catholicism and its Literature |year=1981 |url=http://www.geocities.com/chiniquy/Literature.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021021221720/http://www.geocities.com/chiniquy/Literature.html |archive-date=October 21, 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=John P. |last=Kaminski |title=Religion and the Founding Fathers  |journal=Annotation (National Historical Publications and Records Commission) |date=March 2002 |volume=30 |number=1 |issn=0160-8460 |url=http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/annotation/march-2002/religion-founding-fathers.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327032730/http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/annotation/march-2002/religion-founding-fathers.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-03-27 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/america-history-of-hating-catholics |title=America's Dark and Not-Very-Distant History of Hating Catholics |last=Carroll |first=Rory |date=September 12, 2015 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=September 25, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Robert Emmett |last=Curran |title=Papist Devils: Catholics in British America, 1574–1783 |year=2014 |pages=201–202 |publisher=Catholic University of America Press |isbn= 978-0813225838}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=John Tracy |last=Ellis |title=American Catholicism |url=https://archive.org/details/americancatholic00john |url-access=registration |orig-year=1956 |year=1969 |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref> as an Irish Catholic, Mrs. O'Leary was a target of both anti-Catholic and anti-Irish sentiment. This story was circulating in Chicago even before the flames had died out, and it was noted in the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'''s first post-fire issue. In 1893 the reporter Michael Ahern retracted the "cow-and-lantern" story, admitting it was fabricated, but even his confession was unable to put the legend to rest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cromie |first=Robert |title=The Great Chicago Fire |publisher=Rutledge Hill Press |year=1994 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-55853-264-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/greatchicagofire0000crom }}</ref> Although the O'Learys were never officially charged with starting the fire, the story became so engrained in local lore that Chicago's city council officially exonerated them—and the cow—in 1997.<ref name=Mills1997>{{Cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-10-06-9710070022-story.html |title=Mrs. O'Leary, Cow Cleared by City Council Committee |last=Mills |first=Steve |date=October 6, 1997 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=September 25, 2018}}</ref>

Amateur historian Richard Bales has suggested the fire started when Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan, who first reported the fire, ignited hay in the barn while trying to steal milk.<ref name=BalesSchwartz>{{Cite book |last1=Bales |first1=Richard F. |contributor-first=Thomas F. |contributor-last=Schwartz |contribution=Foreword |title=The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow |publisher=McFarland |year=2005 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-2358-3}}</ref>{{rp|127–130}} Part of Bales's evidence includes an account by Sullivan, who claimed in an inquiry before the Fire Department of Chicago on November 25, 1871, that he saw the fire coming through the side of the barn and ran across [[DeKoven Street (Chicago)|DeKoven Street]] to free the animals from the barn, one of which included a cow owned by Sullivan's mother.<ref name=Bales2004>{{cite web |title=Was Daniel "Peg Leg" Sullivan the Real Culprit? {{!}} the Cause of the Great Chicago Fire |date=May 12, 2004 |last=Bales |first=Richard |url=http://www.thechicagofire.com/pegleg.php |website=thechicagofire.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223092044/http://www.thechicagofire.com/pegleg.php|archive-date=February 23, 2007}}</ref> Bales's account does not have consensus. The Chicago Public Library staff criticized his account in their web page on the fire.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Chicago Fire |publisher=Chicago Public Library |year=2009 |url=http://www.thechicagofire.com/ |access-date=September 30, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505073618/http://www.thechicagofire.com/ |archive-date=May 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Despite this, the Chicago city council was convinced of Bales's argument and stated that the actions of Sullivan on that day should be scrutinized after the O'Leary family was exonerated in 1997.<ref name=Mills1997 /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/12864/did-cow-really-cause-great-chicago-fire |title=Did a Cow Really Cause the Great Chicago Fire? |last=Soniak |first=Matt |date=June 23, 2014 |website=[[Mental Floss]] |access-date=April 4, 2018}}</ref>

Anthony DeBartolo reported evidence in two articles of the ''Chicago Tribune'' (October 8, 1997, and March 3, 1998, reprinted in ''Hyde Park Media'') suggesting that Louis M. Cohn may have started the fire during a craps game.<ref name=DeBartoloHydePark>{{cite web |url=http://www.hydeparkmedia.com/cohn.html |title=Who Caused The Great Chicago Fire: The Cow? Or Louis M. Cohn? |first=Anthony |last=DeBartolo |work=Hyde Park Media |url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124132959/http://www.hydeparkmedia.com/cohn.html |archive-date=November 24, 2005}}</ref><ref name=DeBartoloOct1997>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-10-08-9710080167-story.html |title=Col. Mustard with A Bic? |last=DeBartolo |first=Anthony |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=October 8, 1997 |access-date=September 25, 2018}}</ref><ref name=DeBartoloMar1998>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-03-03-9803030082-story.html |title=Odds Improve That A Hot Game of Craps in Mrs. O'Leary's Barn Touched Off Chicago Fire |last=DeBartolo |first=Anthony |date=March 3, 1998 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=September 25, 2018}}</ref> Following his death in 1942, Cohn bequeathed $35,000 which was assigned by his executors to the [[Medill School of Journalism]] at [[Northwestern University]]. The bequest was given to the school on September 28, 1944,<ref name=DeBartoloOct1997 /> and the dedication contained a claim by Cohn to have been present at the start of the fire. According to Cohn, on the night of the fire, he was gambling in the O'Learys' barn with [[James Patrick O'Leary|one of their sons]] and some other neighborhood boys. When Mrs. O'Leary came out to the barn to chase the gamblers away at around 9:00, they knocked over a lantern in their flight, although Cohn states that he paused long enough to scoop up the money. The argument is not universally accepted.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-10-06-0610060372-story.html# |title=The Great Debate over the Great Fire |last=Potash |first=Larry |date=October 6, 2006 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=September 25, 2018}}</ref>

An alternative theory, first suggested in 1882 by [[Ignatius L. Donnelly]] in ''[[Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel]]'', is that the fire was caused by a [[meteor shower]]. This was described as a "fringe theory" concerning [[Biela's Comet#Meteoric impacts|Biela's Comet]]. At a 2004 conference of the Aerospace Corporation and the [[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]], engineer and physicist Robert Wood suggested that the fire began when a fragment of [[Biela's Comet]] impacted the Midwest. Biela's Comet had broken apart in 1845 and had not been observed since. Wood argued that four large fires took place, all on the same day, all on the shores of [[Lake Michigan]] (see [[#Related events|related events]]), suggesting a common root cause. Eyewitnesses reported sighting spontaneous ignitions, lack of smoke, "balls of fire" falling from the sky, and blue flames. According to Wood, these accounts suggest that the fires were caused by the [[methane]] that is commonly found in comets.<ref>{{cite web |first=Robert |last=Wood |title=Did Biela's Comet Cause the Chicago and Midwest Fires? |date=February 3, 2004 |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |url=http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/CDReadyMPDC04_865/PV2004_1419.pdf |access-date=November 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325065110/http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/CDReadyMPDC04_865/PV2004_1419.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

[[Meteorite]]s are not known to start or spread fires and are cool to the touch after reaching the ground, so this theory has not found favor in the scientific community.<ref name="Calfee">{{cite journal |last=Calfee |first=Mica |title=Was It A Cow Or A Meteorite? |journal=Meteorite Magazine |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=February 2003 |url=http://www.fireserviceinfo.com/cow-comet.html |access-date=November 10, 2011}}</ref><ref name = "NASA">{{cite web |title=Meteorites Don't Pop Corn |publisher=[[NASA]] |date=July 27, 2001 |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast27jul_1/ |access-date=November 10, 2011 |archive-date=October 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027151027/http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast27jul_1/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Methane-air mixtures become flammable only when the methane concentration exceeds 5%, at which point the mixtures also become explosive, a situation unlikely to occur from meteorites.<ref name="ToolBox">{{cite web |title =Gases – Explosive and Flammability Concentration Limits |publisher=Engineering Tool Box |url=http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/explosive-concentration-limits-d_423.html |access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref><ref name="FactSheet">{{cite web |title=Landfill Gas |work=Environmental Health Fact Sheet |publisher=[[Illinois Department of Public Health]] |url=http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/factsheets/landfillgas.htm |access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref> Methane gas is lighter than air and thus does not accumulate near the ground;<ref name="FactSheet"/> any localized pockets of methane in the open air rapidly dissipate. Moreover, if a fragment of an icy comet were to strike the Earth, the most likely outcome, due to the low [[tensile strength]] of such bodies, would be for it to disintegrate in the upper atmosphere, leading to a [[meteor air burst]] like the [[Tunguska event]].<ref name = "Beech">{{cite journal |last=Beech |first=M. |title=The Problem of Ice Meteorites |journal=Meteorite Quarterly |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=17–19 |date=November 2006 |url=http://hyperion.cc.uregina.ca/~astro/Ice_Mets.pdf |access-date=November 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927074403/http://hyperion.cc.uregina.ca/~astro/Ice_Mets.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The specific choice of Biela's Comet does not match with the dates in question, as the 6-year period of the comet's orbit did not intersect that of the Earth until 1872, one full year after the fire, when a large meteor shower was observed. A common cause for the fires in the Midwest in late 1871 is that the area had had a dry summer, so that winds from the front that moved in that evening were capable of generating rapidly expanding blazes from available ignition sources, which were plentiful in the region.<ref name="Gess">{{cite book |last1=Gess |first1=Denise |last2=Lutz |first2=William |title=Firestorm at Peshtigo: A Town, Its People, and the Deadliest Fire in American History |publisher=Macmillan |year=2003 |location= New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ALzHG4sRmAC&pg=PA1 |isbn=978-0-8050-7293-8 |oclc=52421495}}</ref><ref name=BalesSchwartz />{{rp|111}}