In All Its Fury: A History of the Blizzard of January 12, 1888

by W.H. O'Gara, Ora A. Clement (Editor)

The morning of January 12, 1888, walm and warm. School children played outdoors in shirt sleeves. Then literally without warning, the storm roared down from Canada at 50 miles per hour. Temperatures dropped 36 degrees. Snow up to 8 inches covered the Great Plains. Furious winds swirled the snow into a blinding, life-threatening blizzard. More than 1,000 people died.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

343 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1988

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

What bravery and selflessness detailed in these letters! Pioneersmen and women had many hardships. Facing the fury of the Great Blizzard, for many, was right at the top of the list.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1947, this book is a compilation of hundres of stories of survivors of the blizzard of 1888 and was used as a resource for "The Children's Blizzard".

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

While doing some research on my family history in Nebraska and South Dakota I came across a reference to this book, which contains reminiscences about the January 12, 1888 blizzard that affected the greater part of the Great Plains and later moved on to immobilize the east coast. The book has served as an original resource by authors of related books, such as The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin. Survivors of the storm, mostly from Nebraska, formed the "Blizzard Club," and it was these folks who began the compilation. The book itself was published for the 100-year anniversary of the storm in 1988.

The stories are by necessity repetitive since the subjects all experienced the same storm, but this only serves to reinforce the terrible effects of it. I found the reminiscences fairly factual and straightforward, which isn't too surprising since the rural midwesterner of the day tended to downplay emotion (and we still do...). I did read them all, especially when I started to see stories from the rural areas where my mother and father were raised, like Neligh, O'Neill, and Ord, with references to the Niobrara River and the Nebraska sandhills. Most of the children lived on small farms, often in dugouts or soddies. The day of the storm they were often inadequately dressed because the previous day had been unusually warm. Gripping stories.

[Dave E · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific collection of people's reminiscences of the Great Blizzard of January 1888 that struck the central Plains states (and at the time territories). There are a couple of chapters at the beginning of the book that add some perspective, but overall the focus of the book is on the experiences of each of the many short recollections included. Many of the memories are remarkably similar, which helps to paint not just a vivid sense of the storm, but also of everyday life for people living and homesteading on the prairie. This is enjoyable reading of raw history.

[Gerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remembrances of people in the storm. Different names from other books.

[Kathy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very engaging and well written. The stories are told in such an authentic manner. I have great respect for the pioneers that experienced this event.

[Maddy Barone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of stories told by the people who lived through the historic blizzard of January 12, 1888. It is an invaluable primary source for life on the prairie during homesteading days. People wrote down their memories in mostly brief, matter-of-fact style, and mailed them to the history minded group who wanted to preserve the history. Most of the stories are from Nebraska, but some are from other areas of the Midwest. These accounts are written by survivors some 50 or more years after the storm, but they are amazingly similar. I would expect 50 years to dull the memory, but it doesn't look like it. I bought this book thinking to do some research for a future story: pretty young school ma'am leads her students through a storm to safety at a nearby bachelor's soddy. After reading this, I don't think that would actually be very romantic.

Anyone living on the northern plains (I live in North Dakota, USA) knows that a blizzard can be deadly. We haven't had a really bad storm for several years. Since 1997 I think. They can still be deadly today. Cars are just as likely to get stuck in snow as horses and leave their drivers stranded to face the elements. Nowadays, the weather forecasts are far more accurate and easily available. We have smart phones and laptops and tablets to see the weather report, and to help us notify the authorities that we are stranded on County Road X outside of this town. But blizzards are still deadly.

Back in 1996 a friend of mine was stranded in his car overnight during a blizzard in south central ND. Cell phones were still pretty new then and he didn't have one. The wind literally pushed his car off the icy road and he couldn't get it back out of the ditch. He knew there wasn't a house nearby behind him, and he didn't know what was ahead, so he decided staying with his car was his best bet. He tried to conserve gas by not running the car and the heater continually, but he ran out of gas. All in all, he considers himself lucky. He only lost most of his toes and three finger tips.

I guess the purpose of telling that story is to remind myself that even today with all our modern conveniences blizzards are killers.

[Gay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is full of the individual reports by folks who had survived the Blizzard of 1888. It is very repetitive, but the overall effect on the reader is one of being there in the deadly blizzard. The storm came on fast on a warm day and caused many to perish due to limited visibility and the relentless cold and high winds. It is difficult to imagine how bad it was... and how little these folks had to protect themselves. Tough people settled Canada and the Midwest USA.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compiliation of personal accounts by people who were in the Schoolchildren's Blizzard of 1888. There are remarkable first hand accounts.

[Amber Hughey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an extremely interesting book! I loved the personal stories of the "Long Winter".