The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1909-12-16
Present Blizzard Recalls
Weather of 20 Years Auo

VI ~ IedTS ago.
The fall OF 1889 was very much like
the present weather only the bad spelI
came a month earlisr. The Anchor
D's were shipping from the old Tyrone
pens and the boys had to hold the herd
in weather similar to the presen,
nights. Their camp was at the old
"Shade" well, formerly the Rock Is.
land watering place before loading at
Tyrone. Down on the Beaver the Kra.
mer boys, Bob Mcfarland and John
George we're camped just prior tn the
storm. Mcfarland and George round.
ed up and cut out their cattle and
moved down to "Rt dblufl' near Bea-
yer. The Krsmer's camped at the
mouth of ''Dry" creek near old Har-
desty and the storm struck them at
that point. With them were Frank
and Lou Kramer, Rube Chilcott, Joe
Howenstine, and Wallace and Dick
Quinn, with Boss Neff a daily visitor.
as his cattle mixed with Kramer's.
Bill Jay, Tom Hungate, Marion Eld-
ridge, and numerous others, of the old
time boys were occasional visitors.
The storm that struck them was a
month earlier than the present time.
but 1t was no less severe. The last
ten days of October were cold and raw.
and, November was ushered in with a
cold rain, soon turning to sleet and
snow. The Kramer outfit was camped
in tent on Dry creek with no shelter
whatever for the cattle except the
sand hills on the north side of the
Beaver The matter of feeding cattle
during the winter, in those days was
deemed waste of time and money.
When the storm developed into bliz-
zard and the wind whizzed in from the
north the cattle drifted out of the
sand hills and started south. The
Kramers at that time had not found
suitable place for winter so they de
termined to hold the herd Early the
next morning after the drift started
the boys we're out after them heading
the leaders over on the Palo Duro ten
or twelve miles south Then came the
hard work of drifting the cattle back
against the storm, and often the men
would not get into camp after throw
ing the cattle north Of the Beaver
,,,t. ha hill, ,,nt1 rsnlDnly NJ
night. There would pe fair day then
a bad one causing the cattle to drift.
This kind of weather continued for two
weeks till finally the weather faired
up, and the chuck wagon Vas sent out
for couple of days, camping the night
out with Jim Williamson, on Hack
berry and about all of the cattle that
drifted were caught and returned to
the main herd. Before the next spell
Of weather the Kramers moved and
established headquarters IN a sod
house in the Beaver valley north of
old Grand Valley. Later on they
moved to the mouth of Fulton creek
and built several very good houses for
those days and times. In the early
9O's the Kramers rounded up their
stock and moved to Montana, taking
along an outfit OF kids" consisting OF
Will Ewing, Jim Shorb, Wallace
Quinn ard one or two Others whose
names the writer does not now remem-
ber. Ira Neff also drifted out OF the
country with the Kramers. After 60
ing to northern Colorado the 'kid"
outfit returned and the Kramers drift
ed on north, and it is related that all
of them prospered. Horses advanced
in price and Ira Nef also got rich.
Before leaving here Ira Neff had suff-
cred many privations, the most severe
being the loss of both feet in bliz-
zard. The few days above mentioned
were about as tough as any set of cow
punchers ever experienced in holding
a herd together, but they won out over
the elements. All of the men who
were camped together at the time,
twenty years ago, are still alive ex-
cept Frank Kramer, who dropped dead
in Chicago. several y ears ago.-Guy-
mon Herald.