THE BLIZZARDS OF YESTERYEAR

Ever since a personal adventure which led to being snowbound for three days in a mountain cabin, I have been an avid collector of winter survival stories, and weather phenomena from out of our national past.  And I am not alone.

Somewhere in the remembered past of nearly all of our northern tier of states, is the story of a blizzard or two, and many of us who grew up with grandparents who were story tellers, have heard them. 

Folks who were attentive to nature’s warnings might have noticed that the autumn of 1886 in much of the West was filled with such omens.  The birds which ordinarily stayed through winter headed south.  Hibernating animals fortified their lairs with extra care, and sought shelter early.  From November 1886 through February 1887, blizzards followed each other across the western plains, from Montana on the north to Texas on the south.  Howling winds and sub-zero temperatures accompanied heavy snow.  Following on the heels of a summer-long drought, the unrelenting winter storms took a heavy toll:  nearly 90% of the West’s free-ranging cattle were wiped out in what the day’s ranchers forever after knew as “The Great Die-Up”.  So devastating was this winter of blizzards that it was the death knell of free-ranging.  Never again would the great herds wander unfettered across the vastness of the American West.

Those of us who grew up on the knees of Eastern grandparents and great-aunts and uncles who were around during those last decades of the nineteenth century have heard our share of tales about “The Great Blizzard of 1888”.  It struck on March 12th, bringing unprecedented snowfall to the East Coast, where cities like New York were paralyzed, and hundreds of thousands of citizens were trapped in their homes, barns and places of employment.  In that great city alone, 400 people died and millions of dollars in damages were recorded.  For 36 hours the storm pounded the area, virtually isolating the city from the rest of the world.  Firefighters were unable to respond to blazes which broke out as citizens tried to survive the cold.  Those who lived through it never forgot “The Great Blizzard of 1888”.

Just two months previous to that event, another century-type storm hit the mid-west.  Because of the time of day the blizzard exploded over Nebraska and South Dakota, it became known as “The Schoolchildren’s Storm”, so many children were marooned in school houses on the northern plains.  Out of that storm came a national heroine whose name, Minnie Freeman, became a household word.  When the storm blew out first the windows, then the roof of the tiny sod schoolhouse in which she and her children were trapped, she decided to lead her charges to safety.  Lashing them together with whatever ropes and pieces of clothing were at hand, she started out in the teeth of the gale, for a house she knew stood about a mile away. Her exploit was heralded widely by a fascinated press, and she eventually received 80 marriage proposals along with her adoring mail.  A song “Thirteen Were Saved” or “Nebraska’s Fearless Maid” became The Song of The Great Blizzard of 1888.

Weather statistics suggest that if you live long enough, and happen to be in the right place at the right time, you stand a good chance of experiencing a blizzard of your own.  With that thought before us, it’s a good idea to equip your home and your family car with “The Big One” in mind.