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

5 ай бұрын

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

When my children were small we stayed in bed all day and read Laura Ingalls book The Long Winter. We couldn’t stop till we got to the end. That was almost 50 years ago. Now you have given me the The Rest of the Story. Thank you!

@sand3882

3 жыл бұрын

Invite them over and do it again!

@1927su

2 жыл бұрын

There’s a lady that read all the little house books on KZread! I sometimes listen to them at night when I have a quiet moment . The channel is “ Reading with Beverly Volfie “ ; she reads lots of different books in addition to all the Little house books

@marialamb6781

Жыл бұрын

Here is more of the rest of the story. From a documentary about Laura Ingalls. During that long, hard winter, a family of three with a young infant son, boarded with them, and did absolutely nothing to help. They all came to the brink of starvation suffering from malnutrition. Laura Ingalls, well, hated them to the point that she completely left them out of her stories, and instead wrote the story of THE LONG WINTER the way it should’ve been and was for the Ingalls family, because everyone of them did daily pitch in to help. But the Boarding family did absolutely nothing to help.

@shirleymiller4219

Жыл бұрын

@@marialamb6781 I think I read that it was the Boasts from Silver Lake that boarded with them during the long winter. If it was the Boasts; things got better between them because they were still friends in First Four Years. But maybe it wasn’t the Boasts.

@eunicestone6532

Жыл бұрын

Listen to Bev Volfie read the Little House books. Amazing.

I have always found The Long Winter to be a horror story stuck in the middle of a bunch of pleasant kid's books, which is far more terrifying than anything Hollywood ever conjured up. Death was right there beside them all winter and there was no way to escape. They simply had to keep twisting hay sticks and trying to swallow little bits of coarse bread, and keep watching Pa go out to haul hay hoping he would make it back before the next blizzard came. I have read eight of her books enough times to have them memorized, but this one I have only read a couple of times. It haunts me. All of my life, it has driven me to be sure I had food in the house early in the fall, and a way to heat the house as best I could, even though I don't live anywhere near the Dakotas. My own experience with southern Kentucky in '78 was enough to drive it home that really bad winters can hit elsewhere as well, as Texas and Arkansas learned this winter. Just FYI, I thought I heard you say that Eliza Jane was Laura's aunt. She was not. She was Laura's sister in law. She was Rose Wilder Lane's aunt.

@shopsshire9282

Жыл бұрын

This is written on August 7th 2023. I like the fact that Laurel ingalls Wilder did not sugarcoat the hard winter in her book. Too many people these days have no concept of what it was like to live hand-to-mouth when they couldn't get anything through to you. The only situation I could think of worse is the Donner party and if anybody knows that story you know what they ended up having to do to survive. I won't mention here because You Tube will probably pull my comment.

@SubvertTheState

22 күн бұрын

Me too. I read them several times when I was a kid. I learned several years ago that the story of the family who burned all of the furniture and everything in the house was worse than what Pa told the girls. All of the girls were frozen in the snow, only the eldest was found alive with the infant also wrapped up close to her. Terribly sad.

When your house is being carried down the river for a long enough period that you've got time to build a raft to leave it, you've had a rough time.

@karenl6908

3 жыл бұрын

What do you mean, "rough"?! They had enough time to build a raft in order to save themselves! That's fantastic!

@dj7291993

3 жыл бұрын

@@karenl6908 Perspective.

@felmlee1876

3 жыл бұрын

And you have built a fine tight house.

@Wildstar40

3 жыл бұрын

MacGyver's early descendants.

@Wildstar40

3 жыл бұрын

@@felmlee1876 The only reason the house went down was because 3 of the five watertight compartments flooded and power to the pumps failed, shields were down to 12% and a Romulan ship just dropped out of warp. Whoops, I went off the rails there lol.

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

Жыл бұрын

That is a cool job!!!

@angelalong6740

7 ай бұрын

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

This morning my wife said " you know, he is a good story teller". I have been listening to you for so long that I realized that you had joined a select list of my favorite orators. You have a different style from these gentlemen but you are all equally enthralling. Vin Scully the Dodgers incredible broadcaster and the unforgettable Paul Harvey. I want to Thank You for your efforts, I do so enjoy them.

@ed056

6 ай бұрын

I'd add Garrison Keeler to the list even though his stories were mostly fictional.

@kevinvilmont6061

2 ай бұрын

I wish I was in the same sentence with Vin. High Praise indeed.

I live in Vermont and whenever I start to feel sorry for myself or tired of hauling firewood into the house, I pull out Laura's book, and boy does that knock the self-pity right out of you. And her books were sanitized for children. Yikes!

@Foolish188

3 жыл бұрын

Not in chronologic order: Her sister Cary was starved so badly it took years for her to recover. He sister Mary went blind after the family suffered from, I believe, spinal encephalitis (not scarlet fever). They lived in an underground dugout one winter. Locusts, Almonzo borrowed heavily on crops that failed. And left out of the books, Pa and some neighbors lynched a family of serial killers living nearby. Amazing that the books are meant for children.

@aperfectdayradioforfamilie7492

3 жыл бұрын

@@Foolish188 well, Grimm's Fairy Tales -- life has been harsh - and teaching kids young is key to survival.

@bb22602

3 жыл бұрын

@@Foolish188 The lynching story (the Bender family) is not widely believed. Mrs. Wilder inherited some of her storytelling ability from her father.

@horsepanther

3 жыл бұрын

@@Foolish188 WTF, lynched a family of serial killers???

@clayz1

2 жыл бұрын

@@horsepanther They must have been running out if cereal .

The Alpena wreck is still present on the shore of Lake Michigan: a house I cleaned as a job in my teens has its second story constructed partially from pieces of the wreck.

@celowski6296

3 жыл бұрын

Michigan sure has a lot of history. Amazing what this state has to offer

@jehovahuponyou

3 жыл бұрын

COOOOOOOL!!! WHERE WE USED TO LIVE THERE WAS A RIVERBOAT CAPTAIN WHO DECIDED TO RETIRE - HE BEACHED HIS RIVERBOAT (ABOUT 1864), TORE IT APART, AND BUILT HIS HOUSE FROM THE WOOD (SOME MATERIALS HE HAD TO BUY, BUT HIS HOUSE WAS BUILT MAINLY FROM THE BOAT) - I ACTUALLY WALKED THROUGH THAT HOME A TIME OR TWO, AS IT LAY ABANDONED - IT HAS NOW BEEN TORN DOWN - SAD THING TO LOSE A PART OF HISTORY LIKE THAT!!! I LIKED YOUR POST - THUMBS UP!!!

@charlie21gunner87

3 жыл бұрын

The one hundred year storm, it returned to Michigan in 1978, 36 inches over night. My school bus could drive under the snow arch created by drifting. I wonder what 2070s will bring.

@nndorconnetnz

3 жыл бұрын

@@jehovahuponyou Any reason why the caps lock was left on?

@lobolj53

3 жыл бұрын

@@jehovahuponyou yeah now I'm curious... why do all your comments have caps.

Everybody’s Grandparents: “SEE?? UPHILL BOTH WAYS!”

@TheRozylass

3 жыл бұрын

When visiting my home town with our children I proved to them that I really did walk uphill both ways. My path to school took me down into a ravine and up out of it each walk to and from school. There is no way around that ravine. Sometimes grandparents are correct in their memories!

@johnbecay6887

3 жыл бұрын

Jim Talbott humor is always appreciated.

@kreynolds1123

3 жыл бұрын

"up hill both ways... " hehehe, possible if it kept snowing and snowing and snowing and snowing.

@kreynolds1123

3 жыл бұрын

see these spams everywhere claiming to have hacked followed with someone else's confirmation. don't feed the internet trolls.

@gamingwithlacks

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheRozylass me too, same with my dad, his dad. Like wow. We live on a river valley, g-pa. You're so funny.

I read the Long Winter every year, it’s tradition ! It always reminds me to “be grateful for all I have, and I remember I’m lucky to have it” , remembering what Ma told Laura when there was very little wheat in the bag. I still have the set of books that my Mom got me for Christmas in the 70’s. Each book is marked with an .85 cent price tag. Love Garth Williams illustrations in the books. It is said he did researched / visited each sight before he took on the task . I recommend everyone read the original books by Laura , so great for kids and adults alike

@susanyates4233

2 ай бұрын

I had all the books when my sons were small. I have re read them regularly. Four years ago I gave them to my grandaughter in law, who is American. I missed them so much that I bought another set!

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

3 жыл бұрын

Do tell! :)

@bb22602

3 жыл бұрын

Mrs. Wilder's was pretty darn harrowing too.

@leftnutt6717

3 жыл бұрын

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

@nonyadamnbusiness9887

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

@@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.

Similar situation happened in the Chicago area on January 1st 1979. I remember it vividly, it started to rain the night of the 31st. and then the temps dropped quickly. The rain turned into an ice storm turning all roads into skating rinks before it turned to snow. Most people on the roads had to abandon their vehicles due to the ice. Then the snow started around 3am and did not stop for two days and 33'" of snow plus winds which also caused these massive snow drifts around homes. It was crazy! My uncle had just given us his old snowblower he bought in 67' and this baby was a monster. 36" opening, 6hp motor, self propelled, even had chains on the wheels! This thing could easily handle the snow and ice chunks with ease. I figured I could make some money with this baby and I did, a local townhome HOA hired me and my brother to clear the sidewalks. I may have only been 11 years old but we made over $1,200 for two days work (12 hour days). It was hard but for an 11 year old $600 was big bucks.

I live in rural South Australia. This kind of weather is as far from my understanding as String theory. Though i can cook an egg on my car

@donovanchilton5817

3 жыл бұрын

@John Kyle It was -13 a week ago(also Texas) and 80 yesterday.

@asahelnettleton9044

3 жыл бұрын

@John Kyle In Kansas we were below 0°F Monday last week. This week 65°+ both Monday and Tuesday. It's crazy.

@change_your_oil_regularly4287

3 жыл бұрын

Summer here obviously temps up to about 120f where I live.

@ronfullerton3162

3 жыл бұрын

@John Kyle Central part of Nebraska had some -30's readings, so I imagine those Dakotans were seeing readings of 40-50 below zero. Our saving grace here was only light breezes. I had bought a water heater for the birdbath just before the storm so the birds and squirrels would have water. My wife was afraid it was to hot because the water was steaming so bad. I had to explain that there was better than a 50 degree difference in the temps.

@danl6634

3 жыл бұрын

Middle Minnesota here; finally nice this week but we spent a good 2 weeks with wind chill below zero degrees F (-18*C). Lowest air temp (not wind chill) on my truck's thermometer was -27*F (-32*C) with a wind chill well below -40* to -50* (f or c doesn't matter) It was 25* warmer in my freezer in the house.

I remember a winter as a boy on a farm in Iowa when the snow covered the entire house. My father had to exit through a window, dig out the front door and pass the bucket of snow to my mother to melt for drinking water as the well couldn't be found until later. We lost all the chickens and pigs due to the deep snow. This must have been in the late 1940's.

@tfogelson3139

3 жыл бұрын

I remember that winter too. My dad took me to my grandmothers house and waded through snow that was up to his waist. After the storm ended the drifts piled against the house were as high as the second story window. Southwestern MN

@janetoconnor3636

Жыл бұрын

That must have been the Blizzard of 1948 and 1949 which lasted for almost two straight months starting on January 2 1949.

@AlphadogFJB

Жыл бұрын

Ok boomer

@Caeser194

Жыл бұрын

@billzzzz need some cash for kool-aid?

@thomasklugh4345

Жыл бұрын

Irrespective of the difficulties the blizzard created, your story is still a wonderful "I remember when" story.

I grew up in the interior of Alaska, so extreme winter weather was normal but record snow- falls were not. I have talked to a couple of dog mushers whom participated in the diphtheria “ Serum” run to Nome in 1925, it was quite the ordeal transporting the serum over 600 miles( 5+ days) by staged dog teams! Severe winter weather either in the 1800s or today is no small matter. Thanks THG!!

Whenever I think my life is tough, I reread my favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder Book: THE LONG WINTER. Eliza Jane Wilder's description of the coffee grinder making flour for bread, and twisting the hay into little sticks to burn for fuel exactly comes from Laura's historical book. We know very little of "tough." Tu, 03/16/2021

Eliza Jane Wilder was briefly Laura's teacher and there was no love lost between them! Eliza was Almanzo's older sister. "The Long Winter" is my favorite of all the books!

@steveschierholz5272

Жыл бұрын

They were sisters in law but not her aunt

@abbynormal4740

Жыл бұрын

Miss Wilder was overly harsh towards Laura and her younger sister Carrie while favoring Laura's nemesis Nellie Oleson (until the whole "Lazy Lousy Liza Jane" incident 😁) according to the book.

@pvtbuddie

Жыл бұрын

The books were also fictionalized, and I'm sure many experiences were compiled, re-arranged, or assigned to different characters. Eliza, for instance, doesn't show up until after the winter, thus not understanding (and no one seems to explain to her, in the book) that Carrie is still disabled from the partial starvation she had suffered.

Just finished reading the Little House series to my daughter. We went over a lot of details about weather, pioneering and farming.

@phillipstoltzfus3014

3 жыл бұрын

It is an awesome series! A great series for children and adults alike.

@kathyastrom1315

3 жыл бұрын

@@phillipstoltzfus3014 My favorite Christmas present memory was when I was 7 and my godmother gave the boxed set. I couldn’t believe that all of those books were just for me! When my niece was born, I was already planning to do the same for her, which I did. Luckily, she is just as much a bookaholic as me.

@michaelamans2780

3 жыл бұрын

Love those books, I reread them every two or three years.

@phillipstoltzfus3014

3 жыл бұрын

@@kathyastrom1315 That is awesome!

@argylewarrior1

3 жыл бұрын

little house is a libertarian colonial eulogy written by an anti-government racist. did you go over those details also?

I love the little house series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I stand utterly surprised this channel hasn't been taken down to prevent ppl learning from History.

@strawberryme08

2 жыл бұрын

Right!?

@viperdemonz-jenkins

2 жыл бұрын

people would be up in arms if they did take it down he has a million followers that love his history lessons.

@brianburnett5049

Жыл бұрын

Dang snowflakes!

@MustangsTrainsMowers

Жыл бұрын

I can’t think of anything in this video that they would need to suppress.

@dankelly5150

Жыл бұрын

@@MustangsTrainsMowers just history itself if you’re a member of the far left 🤷🏻‍♂️

People back then could accept that "times can be tough". We're not so good at that these days.

@phillipstoltzfus3014

3 жыл бұрын

People have become spoiled. We have it easier than almost anyone else in world history.

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

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

@@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

3 жыл бұрын

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

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.

Thanks again ‘History Guy’. Another superb telling of history worth remembering!😊

I read her book every winter to feel good about living in a warm home with good access.

@1927su

2 жыл бұрын

I too have the tradition of reading The Long Winter every winter as well!

This would make a great counterpart to 1816: the Year without a Summer. Also, I couldn't listen to this without seeing Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert! Great job

@MayimHastings

3 жыл бұрын

Yesss! The little house music is playing in my head. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo 😂

@moonbear5929

3 жыл бұрын

Read the real books.

@GrrMeister

3 жыл бұрын

*Met the wonderful Michael Landon on Malaba Beach in 1986*

@TheMinot60

3 жыл бұрын

That year without a summer was crazy. Frost every June and July morning in Alabama and Louisiana, wide spread starving: no crops. Volcanic ash blotted sun and heat globally that year. Mt Tambora in Indonesia.

@bb22602

3 жыл бұрын

@@moonbear5929 good advice! I read the books first, and every time I watched the show, I wanted to throw things. At least Dean Butler (Almanzo) is working to help preserve the Wilder family farm in Malone, NY.

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

@duybear4023

3 жыл бұрын

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

@johnready630

3 жыл бұрын

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

@lwb8149

3 жыл бұрын

Hope can spring from hardship.

@stephaniewilson3955

3 жыл бұрын

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

@bearcubdaycare

3 жыл бұрын

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.

This guys show really got me through tough times. Was able to escape into history. Thank you!!

Read "The long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder - you'll FEEL what it was like to endure.

@phillipstoltzfus3014

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome storytelling, her books will last through the ages.

One can only imagine the exhaustion. I live in Pennsylvania, but we had terrible winter storms like this in the 19th century. Newspaper accounts from a small local town, Boyertown, PA, describe mobilizing all of the men and boys in the town and the local farms just to dig out and clear roads and train tracks. Life came to a complete stop as gangs of locals spent days digging. If anything good, as HG points out, there was sense of community as food was collected from larders and cellars in all of the houses. The ladies of town labored to support the men who were doing the outside work. It was a team effort, and there didn't seem to be a lot of misbehavior, shirking, or dissent. Incidentally, Boyertown suffered a devastating tragedy, the Rhodes Opera House fire, some years later after the turn of the century. Whole families in town were killed, there was a sensational court case afterward, and the event caused the government to pass many building safety codes that we still have today. This would be an excellent THG video for later on.

@gr8flyerfan

3 жыл бұрын

Familiar with the Rhodes Opera House fire, a reporter from a local station did a wonderful feature about it some years.

Thank you for having this discussion. I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilders account of this long winter. I learned a lot about how everyone helped everyone and they pulled through.

"Times can be tough, but good times will come again." Unless you are killed, that is.

@jamespfitz

3 жыл бұрын

If the times are though enough, being killed could easily be considered better.

@googiegress7459

3 жыл бұрын

The winter was so bad, everyone got killed immediately, but then had to suffer through being killed again. Some got killed a half-dozen times. Old Bill Stickers himself was said to have been killed seventy-three times in one week. The hardship of it was so bad, few survived.

I really hope you're able to do alright from this channel because you truly do provide a priceless service to mankind. Thank you for being a popularizer of history and serving it in a format the masses of today will accept

I didn’t realize until now just how exceptional the long hard winter was-nor that it was related to the flooding that wiped out Vermillion, SD (which was subsequently rebuilt atop the bluff overlooking the Missouri River floodplain).

@janisbentzen4503

3 жыл бұрын

Now it's a lovely, college town.

@sorenmpeterson

3 жыл бұрын

@@janisbentzen4503 I used to live there. It has its charms.

@markwhite9148

2 жыл бұрын

Vermillion is a lovely name, and home to quite a museum dedicated to musical instruments.

@erwinbernat3035

2 жыл бұрын

Ok l

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

We only had a taste of it in 1978 in Ohio for ten days. If you were caught on the roads, you'd expect to be towed and fined if not murdered by ppl who didn't want you clogging the road. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face, let alone see through a windshield. We had heat though and food in the kitchen. I moved to Maine 30 years later. Up there they bellyached every other day that they're in a blizzard. In 10 years up there, the worst I ever saw was a hard snow. No blizzard.

@TheProtocol48

Жыл бұрын

I remember the 78 blizzard. As a native Clevelander and Catholic school boy we were estatic to be off school for at least a week : )

@davidbac4335

Жыл бұрын

78 in Central Kansas was terrible. Even the snow plows got stuck.

@davidcudlip6587

Жыл бұрын

@@TheProtocol48 I went to the local public school, but my friend went to the catholic school. We planned to go sled riding because both schools were canceled, but the parish priest rounded up all the good little catholic boys to shovel out his drive way and the nunery's driveway. Of course that automatically got him into heaven. Because us public school boys were labeled "Heathens", we aren't allowed in there.

@sharpright6887

Жыл бұрын

@David Cudlip. There is always at least one with an axe to grind and here you are.

@davidcudlip6587

Жыл бұрын

@@sharpright6887 My axe is pretty sharp, thank you very much. And there you are.

You never cease to amaze me with the depth of your search for history. My family roots in the US were set in Yankton SD when Johann and his wife and five sons arrived in 1837 from Bavaria. To think they survived such a winter amazes me.

I was trapped at school in Niagara in the Blizzard of 1977. I remember the second to last bus leaving, and then I saw the children walking back to the school. They looked like grey ghosts coming out of a grey-white darkness. My bus would never come. This was a Friday afternoon and 2000 children were trapped. Most would make it home by Sunday. I live far from the school so I was the last kid left at my school and needed to be boarded at a teacher's home who lived near the school. I didn't make it home until Monday afternoon. I may have been the last kid to make it home. The snow drifts cover buses and nearly buried houses. So, I've been in a real blizzard. The blizzard of '77 was deadly. Actually, I've was in the Army in Meaford Ontario and it snow every day. Lake effect blizzards were common. Even when it was sunny it would snow. One night the winds were so fierce, and the snow so harsh, it hurt your face walking into it, so you had to walk backward from your room to the mess hall. And if you ever want to experience blizzards at any time, go to Newfoundland they've had so many, they are the norm. Oh, just one more note about my adventure during those four days in 1977. Not only did I live through an historic natural disaster, while I was at school, during the evenings we watched the historic mini-series "Roots". It had a profound affect on my soul. Later that weekend when I made it to the nearby teachers' home, I was treated my first experience with the digital world. I got to play the first computer game console, "PONG." When my parents came to get me that afternoon, I didn't want to go home because I was having too much fun playing video games. I remember more about those four days than I do the last four days I just lived. I still remember that cold, hard, school room floor and crying. I hated school. I was Asperger's and ADHD back in the day when they only had one word for me, BAD!! My principal hated me, and I hated her and I was trapped in the place I hated most. School. Now, in my best Marlon Brando voice, "The horror, the horror."

@maryerb6062

3 жыл бұрын

You really had a hard time. I think diagnosis was a good idea for you. It's so hard when you hate school, and you had good reason. I hope your life is better now!

@stankythecat6735

3 жыл бұрын

That last paragraph broke my heart ...

@stankythecat6735

3 жыл бұрын

I grew up in Nova Scotia and like Newfoundland we got some horror storm. That’s why I live in LA now ... NO MORE SNOW , EVER. I drove around yesterday in a tank top with the top down on my car.

@ianholmquist8492

3 жыл бұрын

That might be the most boring story ever told.

@RobinMarks1313

3 жыл бұрын

@@ianholmquist8492 No, no, no! I have many, many, many more. There was the times I had detention where I had to stand with my nose against the wall. I used to make patterns in the blocks and paint into animals etc to pass the time. Writing lines was lots of fun too. I was Bart Simpson before Bart Simpson. In grade five they couldn't handle me so they put me in the kitchen. That was boring until I realized I could sneak though a door that connected the kitchen to the stage. I would try and sneak into the gym classes and not be noticed. That was neat until the fire. There's more. One time a kid bit me and drew blood... you want gore maybe!!!

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

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

@dariusanderton3760

3 жыл бұрын

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

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

@goodun2974

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

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

Excellent. Would love to see a video about the Blizzard of 1899. Dallas hit its all time low of -8 degrees. That is significantly worse than what Texas just went through.

@donovanchilton5817

3 жыл бұрын

It was literally-13 with windchill last week.

@skenzyme81

3 жыл бұрын

@@donovanchilton5817 Too bad the wind chill concept wasn't developed until the 1930s. I can only imagine how low it must have been during the 1899 storm.

@donovanchilton5817

3 жыл бұрын

@@skenzyme81 Probably well into the -30s. Can't even imagine.

The 'low' was centered over NW Iowa, SE South Dakota and SW Minnesota, right where I live. Local cemeteries have headstones with lots of 1880/81 deaths. I guess I wondered but never looked into it. It's unimaginable how they survived that Winter and Spring without the infrastructure we have today.

@geoffreylohff3876

3 жыл бұрын

My family also grew up in that area... Holstein, IA

@sand3882

3 жыл бұрын

They were hearty and resourceful, not as dependent and spoiled as many of us are today. Just think what folks would do if the stores and restaurants ran out of food today.

Now days people get upset when their Internet goes down.

@graceamerican3558

2 жыл бұрын

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

@danielthoman7324

2 жыл бұрын

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

2 жыл бұрын

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

@milfordcivic6755

2 жыл бұрын

@@graceamerican3558 and everyone has 4wd.

@viperdemonz-jenkins

2 жыл бұрын

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.

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!

Sounds like the farmers were caught with their plants down.

@Farweasel

3 жыл бұрын

The crass ability of some folk to grasp the wrong end of the stick is amazing. The point was they were caught with them still *up* And you *really* don't want to be caught with it up at the wrong time.

@donnagum6172

3 жыл бұрын

The farmers had just recently established towns in one summer, expecting it to be a normal winter where they could rely on the trains for food and supplies. Weren't expecting the severe winter that actually occurred which stopped the trains. The farmers hadn't been there for a full year yet to be able to grow crops.

@yerabbit6333

3 жыл бұрын

HA!

@grondhero

3 жыл бұрын

Some people would miss a joke if it were right in front of them as a play on words. I, for one, thought it was funny. :)

@kevin_6217

3 жыл бұрын

That was cold... 👉👉

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!

My Dad drove Grader in the Summer, and Snow Plow in the Winter for a township in Wisconsin. 1 Man 26 square miles took care of the roads. I was just a little Kid, and loved to ride with him as he busted through big snowdrifts. There were 5 of us kids, and we took turns. We mostly went along to keep him awake, but it was so much fun. Memories I will never forget! ❄️

I grew up in Michigan and have witnessed some very substantial snow storms, but none like this. This was a sheer whopper!

"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.

My great Aunt Eighty was the eighth child and since the family had run out of names to name her, she was named 'Eighty'. She was born during the winter of 1880/81 too. Great video!

@maryerb6062

3 жыл бұрын

Oh, they ran out of names, did they? Hey, go nuts and crack open a Bible. Plenty of names in there!

@ronkemperful

3 жыл бұрын

@@maryerb6062 They probably would have as they were very fundamental Christians, except the family tradition at that time was to reuse family names.

I remember the Blizzard of '78!

If you havent read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books with your kids you have missed out. kids need to know how hard life can be and how good they have it these days and what it means to be self sufficient like Lauras family was

@PApro

3 жыл бұрын

My mom had every piece of work Laura ever wrote. I grew up listening to her read them and we would always watch the show together. I was and in many ways still am so fascinated with the life they lived in those days.

@colinellicott9737

3 жыл бұрын

I disagree. I have not missed out on anything. I read plenty of books to my kids who lost their mother at ages 10 and 11, and the last thing they need to be told is how hard life can be. I know there are plenty of malnourished kids whose families are victims of injustice that equally don't need such a lesson. The implication that all children are cosseted, spoiled, or entitled misses the make by quite a ways. I'm sure Wlder's parents wanted a better life for her and her siblings and their children, and did not wish their hardships upon everyone ad infinitum. Guilt is not a helpful tool, nor are rose tinted glasses. Equity & well being are. Peace.

@hughsmith4464

3 жыл бұрын

@@colinellicott9737 don't worry. Hard times are coming.

@thesisypheanjournal1271

3 жыл бұрын

And the real winter was even worse because the Ingalls family had a husband and wife and baby staying with them, and the adults were not particularly useful human beings.

@kesmarn

3 жыл бұрын

If you can define "self sufficient" as Pa Wilders going in to town and stealing seed grain at gunpoint from Laura's future husband's store to feed the clan. Or am I not correctly remembering the part that was in the books but not included in the sappy and unrealistic TV version of the written story?

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

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

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

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

The white death of 1977

@workingguy6666

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

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.

Yeah....think I'm gonna stop complaining about winter... Most Americans today would fall apart from losing internet and having to shovel out their cars. These people went through sheer hell for months with no hope for "FEMA" aid or National Guard anything, and they pulled it together, even with horrific deaths and near starvation.

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.

As a retired meteorologist, I approve of this type of PSA. It is a reminder that, in these times of fast-changing climate, extremes will be either more frequent or more extreme or both. Here in BC, we have lived through major forest fires, a heat dome, and now three major rainfall events in a week this year. We are still struggling to get through the last one that just finished. All these were record breaking, not just by a little, but by unthinkable amounts. Don't all disaster stories involve weather? Probably not yet.

Here is a blizzard in North Dakota that I lived through as a child. It was 1966. You had to climb out your second story floor to dig your way to the front door! We made tunnels in the snow and played "Fox and Geese" standing up. Our clothes line was buried in the snow. It was 20 degrees below zero in our living room. We lived in the kitchen where our stove kept us warm. It got a bit crowded with eight people but we managed. We slept upstairs without any heat; we took our large rocks which mom heated in the oven and covered them with towels which we unwrapped with our feet through the night. We slept with our heads under the covers because it was so cold. We lived on a small farm where our sliding barn door was blown 100's of feet away by the blizzard. My dad had to tie a rope from the house to the barn in order not to get lost. I remember his eyelashes freezing together... It was the coldest winter in my life! www.weather.gov/fgf/blizzardof66

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

3 жыл бұрын

My dad always mentions it. lol Southern IN here.

@chronick6142

3 жыл бұрын

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

@ronfullerton3162

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

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.

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 !

And events like this are why today we spend so much on radars, weather stations and space based weather assets like the GEOS satellites. So that people know what is brewing in the sky ahead of time. on a side note that could be an interesting video on its own, the National Weather Service.

@goodun2974

3 жыл бұрын

David Kearns, the beginnings of the National Weather Service were detailed in the excellent book "Sudden Sea", about the New England Hurricane of 1938 which actually rearranged parts of the coastline, and lifted trains off their tracks, depositing them a half mile farther inland. Weather forecasting as a science was so new that the mid-level bureaucrats didn't believe the scientists and forecasters and refused to issue public warnings, until it was too late. BTW, when I was just a baby in 1959, my parents bought a cottage on Long Island Sound that had been built in 1939 from scavenged lumber that had floated ashore after the hurricane of '38. There wasn't a level or plumb surface in the entire place, everything was a little warped and twisted. I know this because my brother and I and my dad gutted the interior around 1971, installed new windows and paneling, and fixed it up to be rustic but comfy. Dad sold it around 1980, and us kids never forgave him for it.

@glenchapman3899

3 жыл бұрын

Yup I live in Tornado alley and the sweep of those radars brings me great comfort. Now they have reached a point where they can predict outbreaks three days ahead. Plenty of time to plan.

@kesmarn

3 жыл бұрын

Unless the commander-in-chief takes out his Sharpie and revises the storm path...

@cheezheadz3928

3 жыл бұрын

@@kesmarn 🤣

@dwlopez57

2 жыл бұрын

Yes they warn the people. Then the people can wait till the last minute or even later to do their panic buying.

The winter of '49 was very wicked to. Thanks for this

SO similar to the historic flooding in Honduras in November, 2020...2 cat 4/5 hurricanes in 2 weeks, LATE in the season, destroyed EVERYTHING & cut off communities for over 3 months. Extreme erosion along with numerous landslides, lost bridges, etc. Changed the landscape. Love the ending... people risked their lives, fed their neighbors and there was HOPE!

When people talk about the “good ole days...”

@jameshickok2349

3 жыл бұрын

Growing up I had a number of relatives who were born in the 1800's. Heard a lot of stories about "the old days", but not much about the "good old days". Thinking back now, I believe a lot of the old days stories were prompted by "problems" of the younger people. I think a portion of the "good old days" were a state of bliss from not having instant communications saturating our lives 24/7.

@goodun2974

3 жыл бұрын

@@jameshickok2349 , " The good old days, are gone forever/ that's why they're good, because they're gone...." from a song by Loudon Wainwright the IIIrd.

@TW1257

3 жыл бұрын

My grandfather wanted no part of the good old days but I do believe many things were better.

My favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder book.

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.

The blizzard reminds me of the one that hit just a few years ago in early October. Tens of thousands of cows died because they didn't have their full winter coat yet and the storm blew in fast and dropped a ton of snow. You always have to be prepared.

@maryerb6062

3 жыл бұрын

So sorry to hear that.

@goodun2974

3 жыл бұрын

@Johnny White , climate *instability*. The result of the planet trying to process and dissipate excess heating.

@goodun2974

3 жыл бұрын

New England got hit by a surprise snowstorm in October 2011 when many of the trees had not yet shed their leaf load. The trees accumulated far more heavy wet snow than they would have with bare limbs. Leafy suburbs lost so many trees that it looked as if a bomb had hit them. Cars were crushed, house roofs were crushed, roads were impassable; millions of people were without power and heat, and the outages lasted 4 to 7 days for most people.

@yestfmf

3 жыл бұрын

Reminds me of a time in indiana. Really hot summer, so hot that a cornfield began popping right on the stalks. There was a cow pasture right next to it. You know cows aren’t very smart, and they saw all that popcorn falling and thought it was snowing. You know those cows stood right there and froze to death?

@bartfoster1311

3 жыл бұрын

@@goodun2974 indeed, I call it global climate instability as well. The climate has been rather stable for the last 10,000 years but that can change quickly. The more heat you add, the more unstable it gets.

Experienced my one and only blizzard of 2006 in Denver. Was driving an armored truck for Loomis when it hit.

@janisbentzen4503

3 жыл бұрын

You can't eat money. 🙂

@RetiredSailor60

3 жыл бұрын

@@janisbentzen4503 🤣 No you can't. Not good for the digestive system. Took 3 hours to get back to the terminal.

@ccreel64

3 жыл бұрын

That makes 2 of us. I was in Denver on business the day it hit. The deicing machine hit my plane shortly before takeoff. I was lucky to get out a few hours later to return home.

@RetiredSailor60

3 жыл бұрын

@@ccreel64 Yes I can imagine having to have the plane clear before takeoff.

@LadyintheGreenHat

3 жыл бұрын

Colorado native of over 4 decades here-- that 2006-2007 winter stands out in my mind as the worst winter of my life here, even worse than the great Blizzard of 1982 or the bad October blizzard of 1997. That six weeks in a row we were hit with bad snow storms each weekend was crazy for Denver, especially in December-January when March and April are our typical big snow months. My hatred of snow grew from surviving that year, but unfortunately I've yet to be able to move south to a warmer state like I long to do. I shudder at the thought of enduring the winter of 1880-81 in the northern Plains!

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!"

This storm occurs at the tail end of a 500 year period called "the Little Ice Age".

@wyominghome4857

3 жыл бұрын

Which is why some people think "global warming" is simply a long recovery from that cold spell.

@Angelroyce

3 жыл бұрын

@@wyominghome4857 Exactly!

@jimmiller5600

2 жыл бұрын

Except now we have more than 7 Billion people all trying to out consume their neighbors. Tell me that can't make things worse.

@markwhite9148

2 жыл бұрын

Good observation!

@carldooley9344

2 жыл бұрын

Dude, we're STILL in the middle of an Ice Age.

A reminder of the old saying , we will carry out the work, God and Weather Permitting.

@mattcombs8778

3 жыл бұрын

If the Lord wills, and the river don't rise.

@rhark25

3 жыл бұрын

In the south we say, "God willing and the creek don't rise" :)

@seankayoden4001

3 жыл бұрын

Or good lord willing and the crick don't rise

The year 1816 was the year without a summer. There was frost nearly every month in the upper Midwest.

@b_uppy

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you Mt Tambora

@ElinWinblad

3 жыл бұрын

I asked Siri the other day when winter will end and she said March 2022 😰 not 2021

@dirtcop11

3 жыл бұрын

@@ElinWinblad That is funny, or scary and that depends on which is right.

@be6715

3 жыл бұрын

THG has a video about that one too. Very well done.

@wholeNwon

3 жыл бұрын

@@b_uppy Having erupted the year before.

So pleased to see this section of history covered, being a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. (Eliza Jane was Laura's sister-in-law. She was an older sister of Almanzo, Laura's husband.)

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

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

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

3 жыл бұрын

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?

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!

Thank you for this piece of history. My Great Grandfather arrived from Germany and by 1876 was a farmer in Dodge County, WI. He and his family survived this season.

@erynlasgalen1949

3 жыл бұрын

My great-grandfather was building houses in Milwaukee in 1880. I didn't know about windows blowing in. I expect he got some work out of that. I can concur that the winter wind off Lake Michigan is simply vicious.

@travelinman790

2 жыл бұрын

@@erynlasgalen1949 most winds blow toward the lake, %95 of the time, at least where I live.

@erynlasgalen1949

2 жыл бұрын

@@travelinman790 I live about 25 miles out to the west, and indeed, the prevailing winds are from the southwest. The way all our trees lean reflects that. But that other small percentage of the time, boy howdy! I know we're in for odd weather when the wind come from the east. When I say the wind off the lake in the winter is vicious, I'm recalling to memory an office Christmas party held at the Milwaukee Yacht Club. The feeling of braving that parking lot in evening clothes and then getting into a two-seater Fiat Spyder convertible with a heater best described as feeble is something you never forget. We lost a mature black walnut tree to a blast from the east in a summer storm a few years ago.

I absolutely love the history of the American pioneers. How the human spirit overcame incredible hardships and came together in times of crisis.

@heronimousbrapson863

3 жыл бұрын

The Native Americans of the area had been dealing with such hardships for thousands of years, and without the technology the pioneers had.

@diomepa2100

3 жыл бұрын

@@heronimousbrapson863 yeah, and humans survived the ice age too. The problem is exactly farming and technology failing, and unable to sustain the population dependent on it.

@jameshickok2349

3 жыл бұрын

My Norwegian side landed in Dakota Territory in 1870. We don't have any written accounts or details of their lives. I was able to glean some info from the few surviving local newspapers from the period. Like a reported band of 400 Indian warriors suddenly showing up in the area, which caused quite a stir. It was a hunting party. Horse kicks were a leading cause of death. Digging through records for family genealogy gets sobering seeing so much death, many of which are children. Even into the 1890s the homesteaders usually had to bury their own dead, after nursing them in sickness or old age. Often wonder if I would've had the same fortitude to continue the struggle. This research has certainly given me a ton of respect for the pioneers.

@hertzair1186

3 жыл бұрын

Compare the youth of then to the delicate youth of today...both physically and mentally. Thankfully both my 20-something sons are smart and mentally and physically tough, and would have actually outperformed the youth of the 1800’s, but I am embarrassed of most of the socialist-minded youth of today.

@heronimousbrapson863

3 жыл бұрын

@@hertzair1186 What has "socialism" (whatever that means) got to do with it? Socialism was originally a working class ideology, one embraced by industrial workers doing hard physical labor in the 19th and early 20th century. Hardly people living a "soft" life.

I feel really old... " When I was a kid in winter 1973 & 1974... I still can not do fractions because we missed so much school due to blizzards and snow fall" Oral history of Miss Dae duBois circa 2021

@jamjar5716

3 жыл бұрын

Hilarious!😂

I live in N. Iowa. We can get so much stuff it's piled on the curb so high you cant see anyone coming at the intersections. We tie rags onto our radio antennas so you can be seen. Or we used to. Nowadays most cars have built-in antennas. Its kinda funny to look over and see a seemingly disembodied rag coming. lol

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

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

@paulaschroen3954

3 жыл бұрын

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

@Paladin1873

3 жыл бұрын

@@paulaschroen3954 Pretty much.

@bearcubdaycare

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

*banned

@horsepanther

3 жыл бұрын

@@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.

While most winters in the Upper Midwest are challenging in terms of wind, snow, and low temperatures, every now and then nature does a "Hold my beer" and outdoes itself. Over the years I have had several elderly people tell me about the equally severe winter of 1935-36 (which oddly enough was followed by the excessively hot, dry summer of 1936). People relate stories of having to tunnel under the snow drifts just to reach their barns, or walking on crusted snow and entering their home through a second floor window. Then there was the Armistice Day blizzard of 1940, which set it's own records.

@ronfullerton3162

3 жыл бұрын

I remember the "old timers" talking about that one. They travelled directly to and from town by horse and bobsled. All the fences and other barriers were under the snow cover, and didn't interfere with their travel. I believe that storm came between Christmas and new years. The country people who had cars never drove them that year till May. It was fun listening to their stories. Much like The History Guy's stories, but maybe not always as factual.

@billnaber2656

3 жыл бұрын

@@ronfullerton3162 l

@dennishayes65

3 жыл бұрын

Ron, the Armistice day blizzard was Nov. 12, 1940. Many hunters in Minnesota were caught unaware & froze to death !

@ronfullerton3162

3 жыл бұрын

@@billnaber2656 I just remembered a good one for that winter. My mother and father were married new years day, and Dad's folks had come by car to Mom's folks home for the wedding. After it was over, Dad's folks left for home hopeful to get there before the storm got too bad. They went about a half a mile and got stuck, and walked back. The men were unable to pull out the car with a team of horses, so someone else took them home a different route. They were unable to retrieve their car until early May. Their car was on one of the many roads that remained blocked all winter. Grandpa and Grandma still had a team and bobsled, so we're not without transportation.

@ronfullerton3162

3 жыл бұрын

I cannot remember if it was the winter before or after that one, but they had an inch of freezing rain fall in December that didn't melt for several months. When I was young, many of the barns in our area had "ice creepers" hanging on pegs or nails on the walls that the people had worn that winter and we're keeping "just in case".

I did not do great in high school history class. Not for the fact that I didn't like it or it was boring, I just had a teacher who catered to the school board and I didn't want to play sports. So I was automatically on the"down curve" even if my test scores said otherwise. All bs aside, you make my love of history come alive again. I love your channel.

I grew up a few miles from the Laura Ingles homestead. I still live in SW MN. This was great to listen too as I'm familiar with all the towns you mentioned. Winters can still be long but I can't imagine what the old timers went through. Nowadays we have such better infrastructure in place with large machinery that can move snow. They can usually have the main highways opened up in 24 hours.

A story about the history of the shipping traffic on the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Superior, could be interesting.

@nedflora1154

3 жыл бұрын

Much agreed

@saginawdan

3 жыл бұрын

Yes

@debrarodriguez3193

3 жыл бұрын

The Edmund Fitzgerald.

@thestraightroad305

3 жыл бұрын

Yes-think of the Edmund Fitzgerald!

@sand3882

3 жыл бұрын

Everyone thinks of the Fitzgerald, but without Gordon Lightfoot it was just another sunken ship among hundreds. My dad sailed The Great Lakes for years. The five lakes really amount to a fresh water ocean. It creates its own currents and weather patterns. Can be terribly dangerous. When I was younger, I bought him a warm sweatshirt for his time on the ship. I was proud because it had ships of the great lakes on it. I asked him once if he liked it. Like a great dad, he said yes. Then I asked if he wore it much. He hesitated but said...not too much. I asked why and he told me it kinda upset the other sailors because it was covered with famous shipwrecks. Wow! I had to apologize because I hadn't thought that through! He has some great stories. He sailed on the Edward L. Ryerson, also known as the Queen of the Great Lakes, Wilford Sykes, Joe Block, L. E. Block (I think), and the Adam E. Cornelius. He sailed there part of the year and came back to the Midwest to farm the rest. The Lakes were great money, and he liked it, but Mom and I won out and got him back to the farm.

The History Guy, Eliza Jane was Laura's sister in law. 😔

@d_richter

3 жыл бұрын

RIGHT! It upset me so much couldn't focus after hearing that! Their relationship never really healed. Puh, they were only related by marriage!

@hickoryrootfarmstead2700

3 жыл бұрын

I caught that too!! Wish I could finish the video but there are far too many ads.

@beautyforashes8284

3 жыл бұрын

She also had an aunt named Eliza, and another named Jane. They were both Caroline's sisters, so that may be where his confusion came in.

@maggiesue4825

3 жыл бұрын

@@hickoryrootfarmstead2700 Use the KZread Ad Blocker. I never have to watch ads!!

@elizabellamy2936

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! When I know more than the documentary I'm watching, I don't really see the point in watching at all.

Thank you Mr and Mrs History Guy.

Thank you very much sir...you make every subject interesting. I've learn not to skip one episode.

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

3 жыл бұрын

With nothing to eat, and no shoes!

@ronfullerton3162

3 жыл бұрын

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

3 жыл бұрын

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

@TheDoctor1225

3 жыл бұрын

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

@yossarianmnichols9641

3 жыл бұрын

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

Very good as usual.

Just watched the long, hard winter of 1949 documentary. The hardships were almost unbelievable. Native Americans got a brief mention probably because they were isolated and some were only reached by April! Homes had no insulation then. Snow blew through any openings;even keyholes! Can't imagine surviving in a canvas teepee! President Truman finally sent in the military to rescue the residents and livestock in that vast area. Once the winter passed, the job of rebuilding and cleanup began. We must count our blessings and be grateful to God for not being tested like this. 🙌 Tysm for this wonderful channel! Keeps things in perspective.

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...

I have previously heard of the "Snow Winter", but I thank the History Guy for reminding me. I shall henceforth stop bitching about the continual snow storms of February 2021.

@robertsettles2180

3 жыл бұрын

I just got power back after it being out for a week and a half. Three ice storms in a row smacked us pretty hard here in eastern Kentucky. This story reminds me that I'm pretty lucky.

@anthonyhargis6855

3 жыл бұрын

Don't forget the "Little Ice Age," which some experts assign a time span from about 1300 to about 1850. Most agree that is lasted from the 16th to the 19th centuries. So, the "Little Ice Age," the "Long Winter;" Who do you think is responsible for those "global warming" events? Man thinks they have power that they do not have. As for me, I'm certain that the Earth is completely unaware of the seven billion pieces of dust blowing about its surface. The Earth does what it does. Solar flares do what they do. We have no control over those things. So, my motto is . . . lay in a large supply of hot chocolate! LOL

The saddest part of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book was when her Pa's hands had frozen so much that he couldn't play his fiddle anymore. He sounded defeated, as if it was the first time he'd realized that him and his family could actually starve to death. It's a harrowing book.

@pennypay1

Жыл бұрын

That was indeed sad. I like to reread the series every once in a while; it seems many readers do this and our perspective changes as we get older or go through our own hard situations or tragedy. I felt awful about the fiddle because the music would have brought comfort and even boosted them when their morale was so low. And I felt their happiness and relief when, just as they felt they couldn't survive any more winter, the Chinook wind blew.

@andynieuwenhuis7833

Жыл бұрын

That Families also had to rely on a coffee grinder to make floor for bread. I think there was 6 to feed, for the winter.

@yana1955

Жыл бұрын

@@andynieuwenhuis7833 Actually there were two more adults and their baby living with them. I recommend reading Pioneer Girl by Pamela Smith Hill to get an authentic account of the Ingalls' ordeal during that winter.

@essaboselin5252

Жыл бұрын

It's a fictional account. Her autobiography gives a very different story.

@sponk2112

9 ай бұрын

Sure, but Pa would be scarfing down pancakes and pork with Almonzo and Roy while his wife and girls were starving. Pa Ingalls was really kind of a douchebag when you read between the lines. Not even close to the TV series portrayal.

Thank you. Makes one think to think ahead.

I have never heard of this. Thankfully our History Guy knows all! 😁