|
The Blizzard of 1892 and other stories
Printed in the Benkelman, NE Post, “Down Thru The Years”, by Pat Ketler
Mrs. Wheeler Tells About The Blizzard of 1892
(Researcher note: Mrs. Wheeler is Bell Virginia, the wife of Harlow
Benton Wheeler.)
“Parks, Nebraska. Mr. Editor:
As I was thinking of the years gone by, I remember particularly the
blizzard of 1892. We were up early and since the weather outlook did
not appear good father said 'it looks like a blizzard is coming,' and
began to prepare for it. He got a measure of corn and put some in the
bottom of the manger and in feed boxes, filling the manger with cane
hay to the ceiling. Then he tied the team and our two cows to the
manger and put some more corn on the floor and got a trough and put
some slop in it, since slop doesn't freeze easily, and then drove the
sow into the stable and then herded the chickens in and he had a time
of it since chickens don’t like to go to roost in the morning. I think
that there were about three dozen.
“He then locked the barn door and propped it good. He then went into
the house, opened the window and began scooping coal. After scooping
quite some time, be went into the house to check it and said that he
thought that ought to be enough to carry us thru any storm but I will
scoop some more for good measure. He then got some water. We had our
potatoes in the house as well as everything else we had to eat.
“It began to snow almost immediately and lasted for three days and
three nights and at the end of the third night the coal had all been
used and in looking out of the window, we could see that the snow was
piled up to the eaves of the house. Father didn't know what to do as
the house soon got cold. Mother told us to get off the cold floor and
on to the bed. Then she took all the blankets we had and put around us
but we were still cold. There were five of us children. Father and
mother just looked at each other, fearful that we were trapped and
would freeze.
“Finally father said, I believe I have quite a pile of corn at the
southeast corner of the house if I can only get to it. He went to the
door and imagine his surprise when it opened up easily. The wind had
swept the snow away from that end of the house. He took two buckets and
went to the corner of the house to get some corn but there was a crust
of snow so hard that it would hold a man up. Yes, it would even hold a
team of horses up. Even with the aid of an ax he had a hard time
breaking thru it. The wind was blowing so hard and was so cold that he
crawled in the snow.
“The corn pile was farther than he thought but he finally found it and
with the help of mother, they carried some of it into the house. He got
a big pile of it but each time the snow would fall down and cover both
father and the corn so he finally had to give up as he figured that the
snow would finally bury him completely and he couldn't get out.
“We soon had a nice, warm fire as corn really makes a hot blaze. He
kept the fire going all night. The next morning was clear and cold.
Father walked on the snow to the barn and found all the stock fine but
some of the chickens were frozen. The stock not alone ate all of the
feed but part of the stable as it was a straw stable.
“Here was our menu year after year. Breakfast: biscuits, butter and
molasses. The folks drank coffee and the children drank water. The
dinner menu was the same except that a kettle of boiled potatoes was
added. For supper mother fried what was left of the potatoes from
dinner which she served with the usual biscuits and molasses. Rabbits
were scarce but father occasionally got a young jack. He liked to fish,
so caught a mess sometimes. He likewise liked to trap and caught 500
furs one winter, most of which were muskrats. He strung them on a
strong cord and put them in the cellar so they would not freeze. He
heard someone trying to get the door open as he always kept it locked.
When he got there he heard some one run. The thief had pulled the
string and it broke about in half and the thief got away with about
half of the furs.
“This is the way that we got our meat when we had any. Some big rancher
would give father a scrub pig or two but they didn't stay scrubs very
long as we had plenty of milk to feed them. But father generally sold
them and the calves or whatever we raised to buy coal, clothing and the
groceries we had to have. We burned cow chips in the summer and until
late fall.
“For recreation they had dances and pie suppers and, about midnight,
literaries and taffy pullings. My folks had eleven children and raised
all of us but a little brother. He died when he was two years old.
There were quite a few rattlesnakes. We children ran over the prairie
and would sometimes step on a bunch of cactus. Mother would bring a
sack, wrap it around the cactus and pull all of them at once and my,
how it would hurt, but we would soon forget it. We children wore wool
stockings with the pretty stripe around them.
The Kerndt Brothers were Germans.They died years ago and Mrs. Ed Kerndt
married Ed Dobbs who was one of their clerks and a brother to Earl
Dobbs, Benkelman's one-time barber. Some one in our family has been
taking the Benkelman Post for about 29 years. Sincerely, Mrs. H. B.
Wheeler."
*****
Amusing Echoes and Reactions from "Down Thru the Years"
Mrs. Wheeler's story about her father burning corn to keep the family
from freezing one blizzardy night in 1892 recalled to my mind a little
incident I experienced over at Wauneta several years ago when I
happened over there to visit my brother Carl and family during the time
that he was serving as Burlington station agent there and I drifted out
on the street and became engaged in conversation with some of the old
timers whom I happened to know when Sinclair Stock came along and
inquired of the elevator man as to the price of corn and when he found
the price ridiculously low, made the remark concerning a year in the
past when he raised a big crop of corn and the price was so low that it
was cheaper to burn corn than it was to buy coal and that he could do
it again if the corn price didn't raise. I had met Sinclair on
different occasions and knew him pretty well although he never
remembered who I was so when he got thru with the corn story I asked
him if a year or so after he resorted to burning corn for fuel if he
was not back on the job again burning cow chips, and after casting a
quick glance over at me, he said, "you're no newcomer in this
country—where do you hail from?"
* * * * *
Household Furniture Not Too Elaborate In Homestead Days
Mrs. H. B. Wheeler, Parks, who has already contributed some interesting
articles to "Down Thru the Years," added a few lines recently,
apparently for the purpose of giving the modern-day housewife some idea
of the equipment the housewives of the pioneer days in Dundy county had
to do with, as follows:
"I thought I would write you a few lines and tell you what mother, like
a lot of other pioneer women, had to keep house with during the '80's
when they were young and the country was young. Here are some of the
items: Two bed ticks, one of feathers and the other of straw, one for
company and the other for everyday use. Both rested on slats, no
springs. In connection with this there were two trundle beds which
during the day she would wheel under the big beds. For daylight comfort
we had a rocking chair and three plain chairs, and we kids sat on dry
goods boxes.
“In addition to this our furniture consisted of a table, a sewing
machine, a small cook stove with four lids and a cradle for the baby.
We had no curtains for the windows, not even shades, and when the sun
shone too hot mother would take an old newspaper and pin it to the
window frame. We had no tacks as they cost too much but she didn't
mind. She kept everything as clean as soap, water and muscle could make
it. Mother was born in Missouri and father was born and reared in
Richmond, Virginia, and was in the Civil war. Both father and mother
passed away many years ago.
“Now that snake stories seem to be an important part of Dundy county
history, maybe I should submit mine. In reading the history it would
seem that the snakes today do not grow so large as they did in 'ye
olden times.' The little snake I am going to tell you about looked to
be about 16 inches long and as big around as a piece of chalk and it
was really pretty. Here are its colors: Head black, back red and black
stripes for the full length of its body. The under side of its 'tummy'
was light yellow. When I teased him he would lie flat and still and
when I quit he would go on his way. He seemed to be harmless so I let
him go. I looked in our natural history of snakes but could find
nothing that met its description and now I am wondering if some one
could tell me what kind of a snake it was.
-Mrs. H. B. Wheeler."
|
|
