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Smiths work on the Chicago fire of 1871 looks deeper into the “fire literature” that came from the disaster and how the views of the act were discerned. Over all Smith states that the immediate thought to come from the fire were those of a religious ideal and showed the fire, for a smaller portion, as a punishment from the divine for the sins committed and represented within the boundaries of the city. However this perspective was over shadowed by the idea, as Smith states, that the fire was a clear indication of Chicago’s singular importance and individuality. Of course the written pieces on the fire range away from the ideas of Christianity and religion leading to the considered glory of the Chicagoan’s as they valiantly and stoically reacted to the burning. Smith gives quite a few individual statements of the time in regards to the abilities and bravery of the Chicago people. This sense of disaster bringing out the best of us extended to the rest of the country as articles defined the immense relief effort done in order to help the city of Chicago.  However with such a disastrous event there comes a need to blame someone or something and this is not abandoned in this disaster. Smith continues his work with the description of works that told of satanism, hidden societies, and other such things that could have played a part in the cause and destruction of the fire. This effectively as Smith stated showed Chicago as an innocent bystander hurt by a much more nefarious plot. A bleaker outlook on the events also took hold with the statements of looting and alcoholism ravaging the town as the people fled the fire. This was also coupled with other maladies coming from the fire including the release of convicts into the populace as an escape from the raging inferno. Smith gives credence to the less then appealing articles as a coping mechanism of the populace by scapegoating those that they had already had a fear and dislike of, similarly seen in the story of Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.