Schoolhouse Blizzard

The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard (or "The Children's Blizzard"), hit the U.S. plains states on January 12 1888. The storm came unexpectedly on a warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses.

The blizzard

The temperature dropped from around seventy degrees Fahrenheit to minus twenty (forty in some places) within just a few hours. It was accompanied by high winds and snow. The storm lasted from just after noon until early evening.

In many places, children were trapped in schoolhouses. In most cases, they remained there overnight.

It is estimated that 235 people died that day. Travel was severely impeded in the days following.

Two months later, another severe blizzard hit the East Coast states; this blizzard was known as the Blizzard of 1888.

The stories

Plainfield, Nebraska: Loie Royce found herself trapped with three of her students in a schoolhouse. By 3pm, they had run out of heating fuel. Her boarding house was only 82 yards away, so she attempted to lead the children there. But visibility was so poor that they became lost and all the children froze to death. The teacher lived, but her feet were frostbitten and had to be amputated.
Holt County, Nebraska: Etta Shattuck got lost on her way home, and sought shelter in a haystack. She remained trapped there for three days and died soon after.
In Great Plains, South Dakota, the children were rescued. Two men tied a rope to the closest house, and headed for the school. There, they tied off the other end of the rope, and led the children to safety.
Mira Valley, Nebraska: Minnie Freeman safely led seventeen children from her schoolhouse to her home, one mile away.
It was the worst storm since 1864.
The Blizzard of 1888 which hit the east coast just two months later was much smaller in comparison to the Schoolhouse Blizzard.

Affected states

Many of these states were just Territories at the time:

Other names

The Schoolhouse Blizzard
The Schoolchildren's Blizzard
The Big Brash Blizzard of 1888

Not to be confused with the Blizzard of 1888, which affected the East Coast later that year.

Trivia

A reference to this event was included in a song by an independent musical artist named Steve Romain in the song "John Finds Himself Caught In The Big Brash Blizzard of 1888" on his release, Celluloid, according to the artist's website.

References

The Weather Notebook: Schoolhouse Blizzard
Old Time Nebraska -- The Big Brash Blizzard
The Blizzard of 1888 at Rootsweb
The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin

1888 disasters | Historic blizzards in the United States | Disasters in schools