by Terry Lidral
It’s remembered as the Kansas Monster Blizzard of 1886, one of the deadliest winter storms to ever sweep across the Great Plains. It was Hell on the prairie. From January 1st through January 3rd, the savage winds, drifting snow and bone chilling temperatures dominated the Kansas landscape. By the time it was over, there were 100 people recorded dead and 75 percent of the cattle population of the state had been lost to the storm.
The previous few winters in Kansas, and the month of December 1885, had been warm with no hint of the harsh cold and blizzard conditions common to the Kansas prairie. People had been lulled into a false sense of security and chose to winter graze their cattle on the open prairie to save feed. As beef prices rose, more and more people were raising cattle and Kansas had become a major shipping hub for the cattle industry. The Kansas prairie was filled with cattle herds vulnerable to a major winter storm.
December 31, 1885 started out as another warm day but a strange purple color appeared on the horizon and temperatures plummeted. The rain that came down quickly turned to fierce wind driven snow accompanied by sudden drop to sub-zero temperatures. It was as if the powerful storm front had come out of nowhere.
The following 36 hours of raging blizzard weather covered the prairie with massive snow drifts and brought deadly frigid windchill that reached well below zero. All living things in its wake were at the storm’s mercy.
Between January 1 and 3, Kansas experienced 36 hours of continuous blizzard conditions. Read the History Channel account here: https://www.history.com/news/great-plains-blizzard-1886-kansas-big-die-up
Cattle died in huge piles and people trying to care for their animals either found shelter or died. Those cattle able to survive the weather conditions were forced to wander aimlessly in a desperate search for food on the snow blanketed prairie.
Many houses on the Great Plains were made with cheap materials and their poor construction offered weak protection from the wind and snow that pummeled them. People were forced to huddle together for warmth and a number succumbed to the elements.
Rail traffic froze when the storm hit, with 12-foot-high drifts blocking the tracks. Trains that were able to travel missed their stops as even the most experienced engineers could not recognize their depots in the snow drift covered landscape.
People driving wagons and coaches froze to death, unable to find shelter from the horrific blizzard winds and cold. Stagecoach passengers, upon exiting a stopped coach, were apt to find themselves in strange places and the drivers dead at the reins.
For the people who had lived through the storm, survival became a struggle. Digging out from the snowdrifts was a long and exhausting process. A number who suffered from frostbite were subjected to amputation. Frigid conditions and massive snow drifts prevented travel which meant that no supplies could arrive.
It is said that over 100,000 cattle died in the Kansas Monster Blizzard. The prairie was littered with piles upon piles of cattle carcasses. As with any other disaster, people found a way to make money from the devastation. Skinning carcasses of their hides and selling them off became a popular business for several years after the great storm.
