Archived edition
Published 2026-09-18 · Chicago fire decade, 1871–1885 · 20 stories
The Cairo Bulletin · July 11, 1873
A mother-in-law's blacksnake whip and a forced marriage collide in this small but colorful Indiana courtroom item — a vivid slice of everyday violence long since forgotten.
The Cairo Bulletin · July 20, 1873
A federal notice orders the Detroit River bridge company to keep lights burning through the night to mark the draw span for river traffic — a small window into 19th-century navigation safety rules.
The Cairo Bulletin · July 11, 1873
A vivid eyewitness account of a violent windstorm that tore through Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, on the eve of the Fourth of July 1873, flattening barns, uprooting thousands of trees, and lifting houses from their foundations — a forgotten local disaster preserved only in a country editor's report.
The Cairo Bulletin · July 18, 1873
Police seize a large cache of smuggled glassware and arrest two sailors from a transatlantic steamer.
The Cairo Bulletin · July 18, 1873
A wealthy passenger bound for Algeria is robbed of a fortune in diamonds before her voyage.
The Cairo Bulletin · July 18, 1873
A railroad contractor vanishes from Ladoga, Indiana with money entrusted to him the night before.
The Cairo Bulletin · July 18, 1873
A Fourth of July brawl in St. Louis turns fatal days later, leading to a murder arrest.
The Cairo Bulletin · July 18, 1873
A wage dispute at a Cincinnati hotel ends in a razor attack on the chief clerk, a small but violent episode from the city's daily life.
The Cairo Bulletin · July 20, 1873
A coroner's jury finds that a United States deputy marshal died of stab wounds, sending his accused killer back to jail — a brief courtroom notice from the period's violent frontier justice.
