The "Long Winter" of 1880/81

The winter of 1880/81, popularized by author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 1940 novel “The Long Winter,” was variously described as “the hard winter,” “the black winter,” the “long winter,” the “starvation winter,” or the “snow winter.” Journalist J. Mark Powell wrote in January 2018: “Think you’ve seen severe winter weather? No matter how bad it is where you are, it can’t hold a candle to this, the Mother of All Bad Winters.” The History Guy remembers The Long Winter of 1880-1881.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by THG
#ushistory #thehistoryguy #Longwinter

[@thejudgmentalcat]

We had a blizzard in 1976...we lived on a farm (in 2 cheap mobile homes) in a sparsely populated area. My folks were keen on preparing for the worst, so we didn't need anything, but locals used snowmobiles to check on families and make sure they were okay. As a kid, I thought that was the coolest job ever.

[@LollieVox]

That is a cool job!!!

[@angelalong6740]

My family lived in Indiana during that time and we were snowed in.❤

[@wholeNwon]

When I was little there were people alive who had lived through the blizzards of '80 and '88. They all had harrowing tales to tell.

[@holyhex6520]

Do tell! :)

[@bb22602]

Mrs. Wilder's was pretty darn harrowing too.

[@leftnutt6717]

My dad always used to talk about the BLIZZARD OF '76, in Massachusetts

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

I miss the people who grew up before broadcast advertising made everybody crazy. The ones I knew were confident of the fact that they were right where God wanted them to be and feared nothing except TB.

[@wholeNwon]

@@nonyadamnbusiness9887 I remember those times well and, on the whole, they weren't all that great. It's fun to remember riding bikes, unlocked doors, safer streets, neighbors who knew you, etc. But beneath all that there was also a lot of social rot and decay that brave people had to attack and root out "in order to make a more perfect union, establish justice..." etc. I would love to return to parts of that world but, on the whole, much prefer where we are now. Wonder what the future holds. Invicta.

[@JSCRocketScientist]

Your timing is perfect with this story. Even here in Houston we had a week of 20 degree temperatures that we were not prepared for. Our infrastructure is hardened against HEAT, not cold. I am happy that we had, what is normally an attractive nuisance, a fireplace. We had to boil water for a week and over 1/4 of a MILLION people need plumbers.All our citrus trees are dead. The lone fig tree survived. Your comment about neighbors helping neighbors rang very true.

[@picklerix6162]

Yeah, it looks like my orange tree died but my little grapefruit tree and hibiscus are in large pots so I wheeled those into my insulated garage so I was able to save them.

[@grondhero]

I live in DFW and we broke a 3-day record from 1899. I have a digital, outdoor thermometer that sits in the window that stopped working at 9 degrees. I live in an old neighborhood (built in 1960's) and our house is the only one on the street without a fireplace. :( A pastor from a previous church I went to (in a different city) put up Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska's temperatures and we were _below_ them. I ended up driving from Dallas to Fort Worth because we had no power for two days and weren't expected to get it back for another day or two. My parents happen to live in a newer neighborhood that's on the same grid as a hospital, so my family stayed there.

[@janethartwig774]

My cousin lives outside of Austin, Texas and she was without electricity for 4 days and without water for one week. Even when the water came back on, she had to boil it for 2 more weeks.

[@JSCRocketScientist]

@@janethartwig774 That’s much worse than us. I think we had to boil for a week. It wasn’t a burden for us. Not only do we have a large family so large cooking pots (I do a lot of canning) but we regularly boil water and boil our face masks for 20 minutes. The hard part we’re the days with no electricity. We have an all electric house. After a couple of days a friend with a gas stove lent us her propane gas camp stove.

[@ghostlyrose8946]

Only 20°? Where I live we got down to -20° that week. My pipes thawed out at 22°.

[@phillipstoltzfus3014]

I love the little house series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

[@maxon1672]

THIS, is history worth being remembered. In the context of the winter storm here in Texas it’s especially poignant. Excellent work!

[@johnmc4186]

I enjoyed this episode more than most & I always enjoy them. My family, to be specific, my Great Grandparents are mentioned in Laura Ingells the long winter. They were the Wilmarth's who owned the Wilmarth Grocery. In fact, my father was born in 1921 & his mother died in 1922. He was bounced around for a while, but ended up being raised by his grandmother, Margaret Wilmarth, who was the wife of George Wilmarth who owned the grocery. George enlisted in the 57th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in 1861 & reenlisted 3 times serving for the entirety of the Civil War, before settling in De Smet after getting married & buying the store. I'm currently trying to find more information on his unit. Again, thank you very much, my dad is gone now, but this episode reminded me of him & I loved it!

[@DrStrangeLemon]

"Times can be tough, but good times will come again" ... wise words and optimism of an earlier age. Many thanks Mr History Guy for sharing these uplifting sentiments.

[@PrairieDog21]

I have to say I have truly enjoyed dozens of your presentations ! Its a joy to listen to someone who speaks well, articulates wonderfully and your enthusiasm for history is contagious to me and a great many others ! Thank you !

[@nameinvalid69]

"Spring has come..." I cannot describe how profound that sounds, after being through such long period of hardship. 😥

[@dariusanderton3760]

off topic, but reminds me of Shakespeare " Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York"

[@truthandfreedom885]

My Great Grandfather homesteaded in ND in 1879 and lived in a sod hut. Tuff Scandinavian ancestry is why I'm still here.

[@hoffmanaeronautics6192]

I grew up on the prairie and watched the crazy weather in all seasons. Never has a storm analysis been read with such urgency as we heard at 4:05. Well done!

[@johnready630]

"People worked together" , this was key to survival back then. Not so much now.

[@duybear4023]

Maybe stimulus checks weren't invented yet. All our problems can now be fixed with government spending.

[@johnready630]

@@duybear4023 That's part of the problem but only one of many now.

[@lwb8149]

Hope can spring from hardship.

[@stephaniewilson3955]

It still is. People working together can sort out problems faster than 'government assistance' which can take months.

[@bearcubdaycare]

Not so sure. When someone's rented house burns down here, there are lots of people donating needed requested items quickly, from furniture to toys. Offers a day or two later are turned down, no, thanks, I've got everything now.

[@khfan4life365]

I remember reading about this when I read the Little House series. I find myself in awe and admiration of the people who survived this when there was no central heating or houses that weren’t as insulated as they are now. The pioneers were hardy people.

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

Nowadays such people are vilified in so many ways by more recent arrivals who know nothing and contribute even less . . .

[@glenmartin2437]

Just watched your video again. Again thanks. I was in Iowa as a small boy during the blizzard in the late 1940's. As a young teenager, I was with the US Marines in a blizzard in the Sierra Nevada. If you have food and keep warm, a blizzard is no big deal. It is terrible if cold and without food. My adult friends who survived the Battle of the Bulge told me unforgettable stories.

[@lfurches]

The Long Winter is one of my favorite books of all time. Well at least out of my 52 years of reading. Good video. Cheers from North Carolina

[@ThatBobGuy850]

Fascinating! One of the better THG stories! We pampered modern folk can probably not even imagine how hard it would be to live for...months?...when the trains can't get through to bring supplies. No interstate highways? No big tractor-trailers delivering truckloads to the various Walmarts in town? Then, the snow *finally* begins to melt...but wait...here come the floods! Thank you, Jesus! Holy cow, I would not have survived. It's a miracle that anyone did.

[@timothyhines7845]

The quote I will never forget. "Winter is coming"

[@goodun2974]

Timothy Hines, Winter would be easier to tolerate if we had dragons that could melt the snow when and where we directed them to.

[@jameshickok2349]

I heard that countless times on the farm. My dad had lived through the wildly fluctuating weather on the 1930's and his parents and grandparents lived through similar weather in the 1890s and into the 1900s. "Always be ready for winter by November 1st" was the motto. I ignored that one time and got caught in a blizzard on Nov.8th. Never blew off winter preparation again!

[@bearcubdaycare]

@@goodun2974 No, then you get the flooding, an unintended consequence of dragons.

[@timboslice1979]

I remember my father telling me about the winters of the late 1970s. Only way to get through town in Rockford was using snow mobiles or huge 4 wheel-drive trucks with chains on the tires. He had to shovel his roof off several times due to area roof collapses. Later my parents moved to Davenport, IA where ironically the winters were more tame, although still very cold. Christmas of 1984 had a HIGH of -9. Eventually my parents split and my father moved to south-central Texas where he enjoys the weather and telling me about it. Great video! Kudos!

[@adelechicken6356]

I remember reading 'The Long Winter on a 80 degree July day and shivering.

[@crewcrewdin6891]

Thank you for your constant approach to educating. God Bless you and yours stay strong join me in praying for our fellow citizens.

[@jimscott1172]

I so enjoy this channel... I only wish my grandmother was alive to witness all this. Thank you again!

[@oldschoolman1444]

My dad grew up in Yankton SD as a kid we would go there on vacation in the van all the way from California. He said he moved to California because he never wanted to shovel snow again.

[@russwoodward8251]

Thank you Mr and Mrs History Guy.

[@davidlathrop9360]

Well, that ending was just what I needed right about now. I think I'll take that to heart.

[@AuroraMills]

In Oregon, we just survived an ice storm of particular ferocity. We were without power, water or transportation for 10 days. Your video put things in perspective.

[@gaslitworldf.melissab2897]

Yep. I have a Facebook friend living there: Oz D du Soleil. Luckily, he was able to stay with a friend. In times like this, its hard to avoid contact even knowing COVID might be lying in wait in a host's home. What can we do?

[@kojak99100]

This reminded me of one of the great storms of our modern era. The “White Death” of 1977. The entire Niagara peninsula was covered as if by an avalanche. Houses completely buried. There are pictures of people walking at the level of street signs and of Police delivering medicines by snowmobile.

[@K_Tech64]

I remember that. That was an insane winter. Lake Erie froze over before Christmas. Fortunately we never lost power, but we did get quite a bit of snow. I remember drifts blocking the garage and the doors of the house.

[@greggsachs7]

The white death of 1977

[@workingguy6666]

I remember that year. I was 7 years old, and living North of Pittsburgh. It set precedent for what I expected winter, and snow levels, to be like for many years - but I never saw that amount of snow again.

[@janetoconnor3636]

I lived through the winter of 1977 as well. Here in SW Ohio the Ohio River froze solid after a record low of -25 Our power stayed on but we had no heat and my hands got chapped and we had to wear outdoor gear inside just to stay warm.

[@webbtrekker534]

Here in the Pacific North West we had a bad Blizzard in the winter of 1949/50. I was 4 years old at that time. My only recollection of that winter was that my brother, who is 8 years older then me, had to walk in front on me as the show where we lived was over 3 feet deep (or more) and almost a deep as I was tall. I've been up to Mount Rainier and see first hand snow 20 to 30 feet deep. I can't imagine six months of that.

[@bradmitchell3765]

Early on in the video you mentioned Grant Co, NE SD. I lived S of there in Codington Co. Parts if not all of Grant county lies in the Coteau Hills. Beautiful rolling hills in the summer and, from a distance, beautiful in the winter unless you want to drive through it after a blizzard. I was once up there talking to the sheriff. During the conversation he happened to say, "This is God's country" Upon being asked why he said it he replied, "Because no one else wants to live here!"

[@carolradovich7906]

I love Laura Ingalls Wilder book "The Long Winter". I read it everytime we have a blizzard.

[@k8zhd]

What a harrowing story! It is almost impossible to imagine the privations and hardships those plains settlers had to endure, but you have a done an amazing job. I was held spellbound.

[@grapeshot]

I remember the Blizzard of 78 here in Ohio, where we had 100 mile per hour winds up in Cleveland Ohio and 75 mile per hour winds down in Columbus Ohio.

[@jonmoore7712]

My dad always mentions it. lol Southern IN here.

[@chronick6142]

That winter is why I ended up being raised in Florida. :-)

[@ronfullerton3162]

I was living in southeast Iowa and was driving a bulk L-P gas truck during both the winters of 1977-78 and 1978-79. The first wasn't a nice winter, but the second was far worse. Winter started Thanksgiving day of 1978 and never stopped till later March. My son was born at home, the ambulance couldn't even get to us before he arrived. Great fun! If another ever catches up with me again I don't care. I am retired and will just stay in the house.

[@reasonablespeculation3893]

In the 1970" an ICE AGE was coming... That was the narrative, and only the "experts" that went with the narrative got were considered credible

[@paperburn]

I remember that, we were not allowed to go outside alone. for fear of not being able to make it back. The barn was only 100 yards away.

[@b_uppy]

Thank you! What a winter! My mom read Ingall's books to us, in addition to my personally reading them several times. Until now I had a distorted view of winters in that area, as also of the midwest and northeast in general. This changes my opinion of the northeastern parts of the US, a little... For sure the death tolls were likelyquite a bit higher than reported. I think Natives would not have been included much. Wonder how the Natives faired? The same year Great Britain also experienced extreme temperatures. Heard of a story were a guy's grandfather and granduncle had been caught in a Dakota blizzard as children, year unknown. They got lost so they just pulled a blanket(s?) over themselves and fell asleep on the buckboard. When they awoke in the morning, they found themselves in the barn. They were saved by the ho rse'(s?) sense...

[@joegee2815]

Now days people get upset when their Internet goes down.

[@graceamerican3558]

And there's an HALF INCH of snow on the ground and call in to work.

[@danielthoman7324]

in the Indianapolis area if the weather forecast calls for two or three inches of snow, people act like the world is coming to an end. everybody rushes to the store to buy bread, milk and eggs. and of course when you look at TV there is always a long list of school closings.

[@spidaman0112]

@@danielthoman7324 they should can some food for such occurances.

[@milfordcivic6755]

@@graceamerican3558 and everyone has 4wd.

[@viperdemonz-jenkins]

we need it to go down nationwide as well as TV and cell phones for a good 4 months with a nice long hard winter maybe the soft people will understand true hard times.

[@vincegiaccone4411]

Thanks. Yes, hard times will come. When folks help one another, we can endure.

[@briangarrow448]

The origin story of “You think this is bad? Why, when I was a kid the winters were so bad, the trains were buried over the tops of the engine smoke stacks! And I had to walk to school in those drifts, uphill, both ways, carrying my 3 siblings the entire way!”

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

With nothing to eat, and no shoes!

[@ronfullerton3162]

Aw, humor! Making the best of the worst! I have read books where the author's had compiled humorous one liners to stories told by the old timers during desperate times. As the Readers Digest section is named, "Humor is the best medicine".

[@redram5150]

“And we didn’t have food. We ate dirt! And we were grateful!”

[@TheDoctor1225]

@@redram5150 "That's right! Some people only had rocks to eat! We were grateful!"

[@yossarianmnichols9641]

I had to eat part of my younger sister but she survived and didn't seem any worse for wear.

[@jaddison1112]

Wonderful to know the facts of the winter of 1880-1881 in South Dakota and surrounding states/territories. I have read "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder many times through the years. It is such a compelling story it never gets old to me. To know that her account was an accurate description of that winter, just makes it all the more dramatic. Thanks for posting the video.

[@MillerMeteor74]

In recent history, here in South Jersey, the winter of 2009-10 was very unusual. We had multiple blizzards, one after another. Then when things started warming up in April we had multiple heavy rain storms. So in April there was flooding everywhere, in areas where there weren't even any streams or swamps. There were rushing streams flowing over roads where there actually weren't any streams. I took pictures all over. The ground was saturated, to the point where, in some areas, people couldn't use their indoor plumbing because there was no place for the water to go to in their septic systems. All of this is something I will always remember. I'm glad you mentioned the Blizzard of 1888. I have seen several pictures of its aftermath in New York City.

[@avarielblackwing6613]

I often wonder on the timing of your Topic of choice presentations... so that we can look back just in time to see what's just ahead in our timeline. That adds a Prophetic quality to your historical outreach efforts. Great job!

[@jeffnewcomb601]

For every generation, it's always "the worst it's ever been!!!" It's really not, and everything will be just fine. Thanks History Guy.

[@jameshickok2349]

And that's where detailed knowledge of history is valuable. It puts our current circumstances into perspective. No, its been a LOT worse many many times over.

[@circusshizshow]

hOW dArE YoU !

[@EU_Red_Fox]

Except when climate change eventually catches up to us.

[@theeNappy]

Sure it's been worse before... but that doesn't mean it's not *pretty flippin' bad right now.*

[@circusshizshow]

@@EU_Red_Fox Drink the Koolaid.. Those in power will fuck us all over long before that. PS do more research specifically to the distant past, the sun, and human behavior and society.

[@MichaelDavis-cy4ok]

Laura Ingalls Wilder was one of my favorite authors when I was a kid. I've shared her works with my own kids.

[@Paladin1873]

My daughters read all of Laura Ingalls's books. Now they are being band by the new enlightenment.

[@paulaschroen3954]

Oh dear. I don't want to know why. Indians, skirts, too Christian?

[@Paladin1873]

@@paulaschroen3954 Pretty much.

[@bearcubdaycare]

Reference? That'd be awful if true. An insight, even if a bit nostalgic, into a time and place, not that many generations ago.

[@ianholmquist8492]

*banned

[@horsepanther]

@@paulaschroen3954 People claiming that her representation of the Indians was racist. I think they either haven't read the books or aren't smart enough to understand that REPORTING on racism is not racism. Laura refers several times to her mother's negative views about Indians--also refers to her father not agreeing, and Laura herself simply being fascinated by them and at times afraid of them. Of course, being afraid of them wasn't racist; there were still plenty of deadly conflicts between the Indians and white settlers during those times.

[@madisyndelsanto1322]

"The Long Winter" is one of my favorite of the "Little House" series

[@dyadica7151]

I remember the harsh winters of 1975-1978 in Minnesota. Especially the Great Blizzard of '75-- aka the Super bowl Blizzard. School was out for three days -- in MN! We had over a foot of snow, and the winds whipped it into 30-foot drifts. The wind chill was down to -80 at times, and my home town had several people die on account of it. Extreme weather has always been more likely than we like to believe. 100-year rain, 100-year flood, or 100-year heat, 100-year drought, 100-year cold or 100-year snow -- you'll get one of them every fifteen or twenty years. And even if you don't right where you are, someone across state or over the state line will.

[@dyadica7151]

I don't know why that comment has strikethroughs.

[@tonyk1584]

I am a transplanted Michigander. I probably should not say this but after viewing this video, I went outside to play golf in Aiken South Carolina where the temperature is 71. People up north ask how we like living down here. I tell them in Michigan you watch the Weather Channel for information, in South Carolina you watch it for entertainment. Keep safe everyone.

[@kentsablowski7035]

Very good job at finding the facts and narration thank you

[@kirkaplin234]

BTW… this episode prompted me to read Laura Ingalls Wilder 'The Long Winter, which I'm currently doing'. I've never read the "Little House" books before, but it's quite good. The only thing is, I know what's coming and I almost dread what's going to happen to Ingalls et. al. (I've only just got past the 2nd blizzard, and they all still think the trains will get through.)

[@phillipstoltzfus3014]

Men got snowblind digging out the trains, Laura Ingalls Dad helped dig them out. Also Almanzo had a secret stash of wheat for seed he gave some to their family. Laura also twisted straw till her were raw. Highly recommend the Little House series.

[@hbtrustme7196]

Stories like this add perspective to my own family history. I have great-grandparents who passed that winter in the Northern Plains.

[@williambarlettano6565]

Thank you for this! I forwarded this to a colleague of mine who is teaching meteorology to high school students.

[@rcrinsea]

I believe that even Seattle, which rarely gets snow, had a historic snowstorm in 1880. Not sure what month.

[@Fuzzybeanerizer]

My great-great-grandfather's aunt, whose maiden name was Barnett, wrote a sort of autobiographical book where she described being caught in one of the storms of this winter while travelling. The Barnetts were from New Hampshire and Vermont, but many migrated out west, especially to Lake Mills, a town in northern Iowa, around the time of the Civil War. This lady, whose home was in Boston, had been visiting friends in one of the southern states, but headed up to see relatives around Lake Mills. The train at one point got stuck in the snow for days, and another woman who had children went out and struggled through the snow to a distant farmhouse to get some bread for her kids.

[@joelmckinney16]

From the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, in Walnut Grove, MN, Thanks for this! What a wonderful job you've done on this piece of history!

[@vansongs]

I spent many years in the mountains of British Columbia. We would hear about record snowfall and never noticed any difference really where we were. Remember a couple not much snow years though.

[@susansempf5709]

I live in St. Catharines, Ontario .When I was a kid we would get snow all winter long .Now we hardly get any at all! Can not even imagine what these people and animals went through !

[@tonysmith5465]

Outstanding video friend. Great job. Keep up the great work. Thanks a lot. SC Navy vet.

[@kaybee1567]

The springtime belated Christmas dinner makes me think of how good it's going to feel to get together with family and friends again. We'll have to celebrate hard enough to make up for all of the pain and anxiety 2020 and 2021 contained. I'm talking 50 people crammed into one house, tables over flowing with food, music blasting, champagne bottles popping, people crying and laughing and embracing each other for the first time in years - memories shared for the ones lost, cheering and singing for the ones who survived, and the children born in quarantine being held and cherished by relatives who have waited years to meet them.

[@craigs1266]

Thanks for doing what you do

[@mangos2888]

This storm, and season, is still infamous in MN history. Thanks for covering this event.

[@logya]

Hi , it's even better than usual , today's story should be remembered , it was in 1880 , but it's now the end of the world because of another hard winter and climat change fear . The climat is not writen in stone , it changes and it's normal ... Maybe all of those who are using fear to drive people where they want should remember that too .... Thank you , another wonderful story to remember . A french guy ; )

[@brianb6603]

Excellent as usual!!!

[@yellowstoned5048]

With the exception of this year, sounds like standard procedure in Montana.

[@aj-2savage896]

Best, highest-quality history content on YT, hands down.

[@tootieq6527]

Eliza Jane Wilder was Laura’s sister-in-law, not her Aunt.

[@sarahstrong7174]

They all darn near died that winter. Would have done if the Indians had not warned them. Fantastic book if you have not read it. Thank goodness Pa respected the Indians.

[@rchatell]

Eliza Jane Wilder was Rose Wilder Lane's aunt, not her mother's.

[@markbarnaart2381]

I lived through the Michigan blizzard of 1978 15 foot drifts snowed in for a week and half on a country road !

[@waynesullivant]

Good timing.

[@kac3249]

It's nice what the History Guy has shared about this true history and its just too bad and silly that there are some that have to be so critical and unkind ( in the comments) because some people do actually enjoy reading or watching something on real American life and what went on. It's always a few that complain about what happened in history and feel that everything should be changed even if it happened. We can't control the negative things but it's ok to read about what happened in our wonderful country Thanks History Guy keep doing a great job.

[@rotorheadv8]

This winter was mentioned in Thom Hatch’s book about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, “The Last Outlaws”. The devastation to the cattle ranches left hundreds of not thousands of cowhands out of work, homeless and broke. More than a few turned to crime to survive.

[@toomignon]

Eliza Jane Wilder was sister-in-law to Laura Ingalls Wilder, aunt to Rose Wilder Lane (an accomplished writer in her own right).

[@adelechicken6356]

In the '60's, our school had a line of evergreens as a windbreak north of our school, when the snow was coming down so heavy that you couldn't see the trees, they sent us home early. School buses had 25 to 35 mile routes in 3 directions, east, north, and west, the fourth direction, south, was Lake Superior. Everyone always got home safely. Check out Cook County Minnesota.

[@demsaretherealvirus2153]

This is forecasted for this week in South Dakota

[@geoweb8246]

THG, you and your wife have done another exceptional job here. As a side note, I do genealogical work, and I was able to correlate the "Long Winter" of 1880-81 with a couple of ancestor events.

[@Stafford-d8u]

Wow! This is amazing! Suffering and hardships! We think we have it tough

[@MichaelSHartman]

I've been in a thundersnow in the late 1970s, seeing transformers blow in 1993, and spent days without heat, but nothing I might imagine compares to this.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

Excellent video, as usual !

[@gaymichaelis7581]

Thank you so much to the History Guy! I hadn’t watched your videos for a while...this was fabulous! Very, very interesting! I think perhaps I do remember hearing about this big blizzard, etc.!?

[@amadeusamwater]

We in Iowa understand part of what they went thru. Last August we had a derecho go thru with 140 MPH winds, took out half our trees and wiped out power for everyone. In 2008 we had a flood so severe that the Missouri and Mississippi were almost the same river. So we can sympathize with those folks.

[@olliefoxx7165]

A derecho?

[@amadeusamwater]

@@olliefoxx7165 Land hurricane. Never heard the term until it hit us. Straight line winds over 120 MPH. Trees 4 feet across were uprooted. Every third house had roof damage. The entire county lost power. Two of the cable companies had to start over from scratch.

[@ronfullerton3162]

So right about those weather related happenings. Almost two years ago, late winter in central Nebraska, we had record high temps doing a rapid melt of snow and river and lake ice. Then heavy rains fell which changed into a blizzard from the onset of a terrible cold wind. Bad flooding with huge ice slabs tore up dams, roads, farmland, towns, and killed thousands of head of cattle. Flooding continued even when the waters reached the Missouri River. Many acres in both Nebraska and Iowa were never cropped that year, and will affect yields for years to come.

[@olliefoxx7165]

@@amadeusamwater I looked it up out of curiosity. Basically what we call gale force or hurricane winds. I've seen the damage they cause. Serious power in them. Never heard that word before you posted and I'm going to start using it bc it sounds better. 😀👍✌

[@amadeusamwater]

@@olliefoxx7165 We never heard the word until after it was over. Now everyone in Iowa knows it.

[@FarmAnimalsShowNZ]

Thank you!

[@marksayers3721]

My only comment is you do an excellent job your degree in history serves you well keep it up

[@HM2SGT]

How timely. It's almost as though warm weather is energy, and these storms are more energetic... 🤔

[@HM2SGT]

@I'm Learnding That's a fact. It's cyclical, & it changes with the change in climate.

[@thedoomofred5174]

@I'm Learnding, don’t worry I am confused as well

[@HM2SGT]

The climate changes, with or without human influence.

[@PlayHiveLikeaChampion]

Stories like this make me glad that my ancestors settled in Florida. At least the hurricanes come and go fairly quickly.

[@masonj79]

I really love the improvements on audio quality since the beginning. Love the content!

[@nicholelinares4393]

Thank you so much for these videos. I truly enjoy them!

[@TheHylianBatman]

Winter's certainly no joke. It takes and takes and takes. I will always be a summer man, myself.

[@scotto9591]

Hello THG. Please consider a program about the Galveston hurricane of 1900. While watching this episode, I thought of that storm. I had family who lived in Galveston at the time. The stories were horrible. Apparently, bodies were found in trees miles from the coast. Everything was destroyed. Even in a time of segregation, black, white and Mexican families had to live together in order to survive. it was a huge Seawall / Levy built following this incident.

[@TheSoCalRealtor]

I'd love for you to do an episode on Frank Miller and the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA.

[@Chris-um3se]

Well DONE -- BRAVO!!

[@richardoberhammer1730]

I am interested in the history of glass, especially plate glass as used in windowpanes and mirrors, and also the price and availability of plate glass for common people. Around what year in history could common people start to have glass windows in their houses? Did any Romans have plate glass windows? How about in the year 1000 AD?

[@donaldadams420]

I had a friend who survived the snow storm of Feb 1949. I think 1 will come again someday

[@DegeN.YNation]

October surprise storm buffalo ny sounds awfully like this. Warm afternoon thunder and lightning move in and then feet of snow by the morning

[@Josh-of-all-Trades]

"Blizzard" A delicious treat from Dairy Queen.

[@HistoryNut-1701]

I hope we never have a winter like that again here…

[@sand3882]

Have you done the New Madrid Fault? When the Mississippi River ran backwards. Predicted again. Bigger than San Andreas. Been getting warnings on my tablet off and on.

[@jameshorn270]

Question, This is about 5 years after Little Big Horn. How did this winter affect the Indians?

[@MrNicoJac]

Good question. Probably no records remain...?

[@phillipstoltzfus3014]

They were prepared most likely. Laura Ingalls Wilder said in her book that an old Indian came into the general store and said a bad storm was coming. They knew the weather patterns and muskrats made thick walled homes as a sign.

[@eddenoy321]

@@phillipstoltzfus3014 I always keep an eye on what the muskrats are doing.

[@phillipstoltzfus3014]

@@eddenoy321 Sounds good! The weathermen don't know much these days. Back to muskrats!

[@eddenoy321]

@@phillipstoltzfus3014 I even retain a rich old muskrat to advise me on where to invest my money.

[@annvictor9627]

Thank you. The Laura Ingalls Wilder book was the first thing I thought about when I saw the title (I'd already been thinking about that book because I was rereading about Pharaoh's dream about the cows and the corn in "Genesis").

[@gayekurtz7240]

This is great... but Eliza Jane Wilder was Laura Ingalls Wilder's sister in law not her aunt. She would have been the aunt of Laura's daughter Rose Wildef Lane who was a famous writer as well 😊

[@allanlank]

After this particularly hard winter, Sitting Bull returned to the USA from Canada. In July of 1881, Sitting Bull surrendered at Fort Buford, North Dakota.

[@thomashughes_teh]

@5:35 quoting "500 square mile area" this measure of area seems inaccurate. An area 20 miles in one direction and 25 in the other is 500 square miles. An area 500 miles in both directions is 250,000 square miles. The second is an area more commonly covered by a major storm and encompassing an area over the states mentioned. The first isn't even as big as greater Los Angeles, CA.

[@kesmarn]

Gotta love math.

[@dwlopez57]

I used to see a lot of snow on TV. Then we got cable.

[@AlexMartinez-me2yc]

When Old Man Winter was a young punk kid!!

[@markwhite9148]

Nicely done !!!