The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-01-26
CAUGHT IN A DAKOTA BLIZZARD.
Personal Experience 10 the Great
Storm That Ragged in 1878.
From he Ncto York Press.

Storm That Ragged in 1878,
From he Nctc York Press
81 see they have been having an old time
blizzard in Dakota said an old Minneso-
tian to reporter at the Grand Central De
pot yesterday, looking sadly at a withered
left arm and a tiugerless hand, land pity
the people who were caught by it."
"Were you ever caught in oneN
Eyes / was in the blizzard of 1873, and
nearly lost my life as well as the use of my
arm and haudn hesaid, holding the manned
member up to view
Tell us about it," chimed in half dozen
men, who had been drawn together by the
mans remark
The preceding summer | had located
claim some seven miles out from the present
city Of Sioux Falls, my nearest neighbor be-
ing about three miles distant Early ln the
morning he came TO my dugout, and we de-
cided 20 90 TO the Falls for supplies. The
day broke particularly clear and bright,
the mercury at sunrise not being more than
| lO' below zero, a very mild state of the at
mosphere for that Territory and season.
| Nothing loath, ! mounted my horse and we
started on our journey. We soon reached
the Falls and concluded our business, but as
! we were there we concluded to make day
| of It. As the day advanced the sun came
out clear and bright, and a decided thaw
set in; in fact had never seen brighter
or more agreeable winters day in the North
west. The day was so pleasant that the
! farmers all over the country were induced
to leave their homes to visit the settlements
or go to distant timber belts for fuel. In
this case it was indeed the calm which pre-
cedes the storm"
"How does blizzard introduce itselfp
at comes on as quickly and rapidly as
summer shower II was about o'clock in
|
cloud began to make itself visible in the
northwest, and the same time the wind be-
gan to rise and SHIFT around and whistle
about the shantieS and trees at Sioux Falls.
| We FASTENED to the picket pole to which our
horses were htched as did several others,
and started on our return. In ten minutes
| the blizzard was on us. The mercury APP
! peared to go down a degree a minute. The
| storm cloud shut out the sun and the air
became full of falling snow, and the wind,
! too. began to moan and whistle over the
| prairie
"Not a very cheerful outlook, certainly
remarked one,
"Those who have never been on Dakota
prairie III mldwinter, when it is covered
with six or eight feet of ice and snow, can
have no conception of the utter desolation
of the scene. The storm, however, had
only begun to show its teeth. In half an
hour darkness appeared to settle over the
earth, the path could no longer be distln-
gushed, the wind fairly howled past us,
picking up and dashing into our faces great
clouds of the loose snow that lay every
where upon the ground The horses refused
to face the blasts, left the path, and were
soon laundering in the drifts To make the
matter worse. my companion became Sc
parated from me in the storm and darkness,
and when my calls failed to bring forth
| a response | realized | was lost in the biz
zard."
How did you escape"
alt was through the instinct of the horse.
| had buttoned my thick buffalo OvercOat
about me, and my face and head had been
well protected by my fur cap, but | was
! now stiff and numb from head to foot. The
! last | remembered / was trying unsuccess-
fully to change by bride from the left into
my right hand The next | knew of my
| Surroundings | was in a log cabin at the
Falls receiving the best attention the place
could command. They afterward told me
the horse had come into the town some three
| hours after we left, bringing me to the
| door, cold and stiff and covered with ice
and snow, upon its back. That" he said,
''is the remains of my bride hand and arm
after a three hours experience with Da-
! kOta blizzard"
what became of your companions"
"His body was found the following sum-
mer about three miles from the town, in
side the carcass OF his horse, which he had
| killed, cut open and crawled into to escape
the fury of the blizzard. They had evil
IDENTIFY been lost in the darkness and trav-
eled in a circle. ] have seen many Billiards
since" he added, "but none TO equal in fury
the one of 1878. They say, however, the
one of last week was more severe, but there
are ten time as many people there now, and
hundred fold more opportunities to OBJ
tain information. The characteristics of
the blizzard never change, and | have no
doubt, when the facts are known, this will
prove to have been storm coming after
an unusually warm day and out of a clear
sky, resembling in these respects a summer
cyclone"