An extraordinary event happened in Chicago on a calm night in 1871 that left an impression on thousands of people then, and millions of people still to this day. Between the early evening of Sunday, October 8, 1871 and the early morning of Tuesday October 10, fire destroyed practically every building in the heart of Chicago. Property valued at 200,000,000 was turned into rubble, 90,000 people were left homeless, and 300 lost their lives. Some people would say the common designation the "Great Chicago Fire" is an understatement, and that it was the most destructive fire in all of American history. But who is to say that the Chicago fire was the most devastating. On October 8 1871, people from Northeast Wisconsin begged to differ. The most devastating fire in their eyes was the Peshtigo forest fire that swept through all of northeast Wisconsin claiming 1200 lives. It was said that the fire started from natural reasons, and it was a wildfire that rapidly pushed its was all over Wisconsin. The purpose of this paper is to exam why the Chicago fire was past down through generations as a great tale, and why the Peshtigo fire receives just small mentions if any in history books, and by people throughout the nation. The Chicago Fire that is known by many people across the nation as a horrific tragedy grabbed more people's attention due to two reasons, one that Chicago was and still is today a bigger and more popular city, and two, it was the famous legend of Mrs. O"Leary's cow knocking over the lantern that turned everyone's head. I believe that due to the population of Chicago at that time, the fire brought tragedy to everyone's eyes and no one to time out to look at what else was going on around them. Bigger and more tragic things happened that same night, but people neglected to realize that because Chicago was the "bigger" city. Both cities have great importance to the people that live there and to hardly mention a great devastation is beyond me.
