THE GREAT BLIZZARD- Nebraska 1888

The morning of January 12, 1888 was warm and the sun was shining in most parts of the State. Early in the afternoon the wind suddenly changed to the northwest with a roar. As it wasimpossible to see in the blinding snow, many persons lost their way and perished. Great heroismwas displayed by many a teacher in saving the children.

COLUMBUS MAN LED PUPILS TO SAFETY

John Ratterman of Columbus, who taught a rural school in Cedar County, tells how he led thirty-five pupils between the ages of ten and eighteen to safety. Calling the boys and girls together, Mr. Ratterman informed them of the dangerous situation. Some of the boys tried to leave the school for home, but the teacher succeeded in persuadingthem to remain with the group. He formed a hand-to-hand chain of the pupils with the older boysin the lead and himself at the end. The group left the building and started south of the school. The boys failed to lead due south as instructed and the chain arrived at the southeast corner of theschool grounds. They were forced to turn directly west facing the blizzard. With great difficultythey managed to reach their destination just as two girls dropped exhausted in the snow. Mr. and Mrs. Ratterman kept the fires burning all night to keep the children warm. Next morning only the tops of the fence posts were visible through the drifts, yet the parents, who had spent a restless night, arrived early and were grateful and happy to find their children safe in the teacher's home.

SPENT NIGHT UNDER SLED

One of the most remarkable escapes was due to the ingenuity of a sixteen-year-old farm hand, Devoice, whose given name is unknown. While the storm was raging furiously, Devoice, who was employed by J. C. Malloy of Saunders County, started with a sled and team of mules for the school house after the children. He placed the six Malloy children and a daughter of M. K. Dixon in the sled, and had proceeded some distance towards home when the mules became blinded by the storm and refused to go any farther against it. The driver unhitched the mules and left them to find their own way home. Then he turned over the sled box and placed the children under it, covered them with robes, and prepared to await the recession of the storms. When he ventured out the next morning, he found that one of the mules had refused to go home and was frozen to death.

THE WESTPHALEN CHILDREN

One of the most touching tragedies of the blizzard was the death of the two Westphalen girls, ages eight and thirteen. Although advised by their teacher to go home with her, the older girl, Ida, insisted that they should go to their mother who was a widow living a mile north across the fields from the school. They lost their way and wandered around in circles. After three day's search, their frozen bodies were found a few feet from one another about two miles east of their home.

The noble self-sacrifice of the thirteen-year-old girl in caring for her younger sister was a case of remarkable heroism. She took her heavy wraps and put them around the younger one and doubtless helped her along until they both became completely exhausted and slumped down in the snow.

PRISONER IN A HAYSTACK

Miss Ettie Shattuck, who taught school four miles southeast of Emmet, met with an experience during the storm which reads like a tale of fiction.

After wandering aimlessly around in the storm for some time seeking shelter, she stumbled against a haystack. With her hands she dug a hole in the stack and crawled into it, pulling hay into the hole after her. The snow drifted over the spot and partially protected her from the cold. She sang hymns until she fell asleep.

When Miss Shattuck tried to get out the next morning, she found that the snow had frozen so hard that she could not budge it. She lay helpless and hungry all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The neighborhood turned out in search of her, but on Sunday night they gave up andreturned to their homes.

The farmer, into whose stack Miss Shattuck had burrowed, needed some feed after the storm, and drove to this particular stack among several on his farm. While scooping away the snow, he noticed that the hay had been disturbed and that there was a funnel-shaped hole through the snow. Reaching his hand down into the hole, he felt an overshoed foot. Though hungry and weak from her 78 hours of imprisonment, Miss Shattuck was able to respond when he called, "Ettie, is that you?"

Miss Shattuck's legs were so badly frozen that it was necessary to amputate them. She died from the effects of the operation in February.

EXPERIENCE OF MISS ROYCE

Another Nebraska teacher, Miss Royce, had an experience similar to Miss Shattuck's. When the blizzard struck, she formed a chain of children and started for home. She found no house, but finally bumped into a haystack. With her hands she dug a tunnel in the hay, crammed the children into it, and sat at the opening herself. The next day frantic parents found her there, unable to speak. The children were all safe, though some were frostbitten. Miss Royce underwent several operations to remove frozen parts from her hands and feet. Eventually, she died from the effects of the operations and exposure.

CURIOUS REUNION ON SNOWY PRAIRIE

The element of coincidence in the dramatic story of the 1888 blizzard as told my Mrs. John Rudder of Cortland is amazing. Mrs. Rudder, who was a little girl at the time, attended a rural school near Pickrell. Her home was nearly a mile northwest of the school. The teacher dismissed the children as soon as the storm struck. The child and her two little friends lost their way as they tried to face the fury of the storm. They came to a drift so deep that they could not go through it, and while they stood, not knowing what to do, a neighbor who had started to school after his children came up. He too was lost. Fortunately there was a haystack nearby in which they took refuge.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Rudder's father, who was caring for his stock when the blizzard struck, started to the school with more wraps for the children. He reached the school in safety, but became confused when he was forced to face the storm on the way home. By some strange coincidence, his wanderings brought him to the same haystack that sheltered his children.

An older brother was in Pickrell three miles west of home when the storm broke. He rode his pony toward the school where he thought the teacher would keep the children. On his way he was joined by a neighbor who was riding a work horse. When the two found the school empty, they started for home. In the deep snow the brother's pony rode out from under him. Fearing that his companion would ride over him, the boy called out. The father recognized his son's voice and yelled to him. Mrs. Rudder said, "Brother and neighbor came to us, making seven in all. We huddled together, trying to keep warm. Because we knew it would be the end for anyone who went to sleep, mybrother and I sang songs and talked all night. I think it was God's will that we should be saved orwe surely would have perished."

All were badly frozen, especially Mrs. Rudder's father and one of the other men, but the nextmorning each member of the party was able to find his way home. All recovered from the effectsof the exposure.

SPENT NIGHT IN THE SCHOOL HOUSE

Joe Holt, who was a fifteen-year-old boy at the time of the 1888 blizzard recalls how he andseveral companions spent the night in the school house on Logan Creek about one mile northwestof Laurel, Nebraska. Mr. Holt says: "The weather was so warm in the morning that I came to school too poorly clad toface the storm. When the storm struck about three o'clock in the afternoon, I realized that wemust have plenty of coal in for the night. Being the oldest boy in the school, I took the lead andwe succeeded in getting sufficient coal from the shed which was about ten rods north of theschool house. About the time the coal was in, Mr. L. C. Tolles came for his children. He wantedto take us all home with him but we were afraid to go, so he left us. About an hour later hereturned with our suppers. I shall never forget how kind and strong he was. He came on a sorrelmule and carried a three-tine fork with the handle cut off short. When he left, he warned us notto leave the building. All night we kept the fire burning. We had no light--just opened the stovedoor for light. By eight o'clock the next morning we could see quite well and soon my fathercame for us. He greeted us with, 'I never expected to see you boys alive again.'"