I’m a Nebraska girl, born and bred. Never lived anywhere else. So when I was browsing through one of my research books on American history, one story in particular, titled “Nebraska’s Fearless Maid,” caught my interest.
The winter of 1888 was brutal for its blizzards, and the one on January 12, 1888, was no different. The relatively warm morning showed no hint of snow, and Minnie Freeman was teaching school like any other day in her small sod schoolhouse in Mira Valley, Nebraska. Mid-afternoon, sudden 45 mph winds came up and blew the door in. As Minnie helped her thirteen pupils bundle up in their coats and hats, raging winds blew the windows in and ripped off the roof. Snow dumped from dark, dense clouds and whirled over the Nebraska and South Dakota prairie, quickly obliterating nearby landmarks.
Minnie could not simply wait out the storm. Her schoolhouse was falling apart, and she had to get the children to safer shelter. Having confiscated a ball of twine from one mischievous boy earlier that day, Minnie tied all the children together in a group, leashing them to her own body. Holding the youngest in her arms, a girl of about five, she set out into the gale-force winds with biting sleet and trudged 3/4 of a mile to the nearest home, all the while coaxing the children to keep walking and not to be afraid.
In truth, exhaustion was setting in for Minnie from the rigors of holding the little girl, constant encouragements to the others, and the very real worries they could get lost. But thankfully, they made it to the farm house and safety.
Temperatures dipped to 40 degrees below zero that night, and the storm raged for twelve hours. Because of the storm’s timing during the school day, and that so many were caught unaware, the blizzard of January 12, 1888, has been dubbed the “Schoolchildren’s Blizzard” and is still remembered to this day.
Unfortunately, for some parents in the area, it would be several days before they could learn if their children survived–and some didn’t.
“I’ve never felt such a wind,” she told a reporter from the Ord Quiz, a local newspaper, shortly after the disaster. “It blew the snow so hard that the flakes stung your face like arrows. All you could see ahead of you was a blinding, blowing sheet of snow.”
Minnie was hailed a hero after the ordeal. Newspapers across the nation picked up her story and celebrated her actions, netting her – get this! – 200 proposals of marriage. School-children as far away as Boston wrote essays in her honor, but perhaps the most enduring accolade was a song and chorus written by William Vincent in her honor.
Today, Mira Valley is a ghost town located in north-central Nebraska, near present-day Ord, and Minnie’s heroics is a testament to the selfless dedication teachers show every day.
Have you ever experienced a scary weather-related incident?
Pam has written 30 romances, most of them historical westerns, but she's proud of her contemporary sweet romances featuring the Blackstone Ranch series published by Tule Publishing, too! Stay up on the latest at www.pamcrooks.com
I have seen a lot of bad weather, but the worst was the June 8, 1966 Topeka, Kansas Tornado is the worst I’ve seen. I have been through hurricanes (where the university officials refused to close the school), floods, storms while onboard ships, blizzards, but that tornado was the worst. It cut through the town from one end to the other and our houses was hit. When we came upstairs we were surprised that it was not worse than it was. The picture windows were out, but the rest of the house survived. Later we were told by the contractor that he had never seen a house so well built. The tornado was an F5 and some of the paving came up. Whole buildings were just gone. We could see the Washburn University campus for the first time from the house because so many trees were gone. During the storm we could hear furniture shifting around as the house twisted. I will also never forget the weird green color the sky became. My father was in New York at a conference and someone from the New York group knew about the tornado, but did not tell anyone about it. When they found out they tried calling, but many lines were down. When they finally were able to get a connection to a phone they kept the line open and people would go and check on the families. I’ve no idea how much they spent on the long distance charges, but back then it would have been a lot. As it turned out all of the family members were safe. I think a couple of houses had major damage, but all could be fixed. A truck was lifted up and thrown through the dome of the capitol building and I mean a big rig truck, not a pickup. I also remember one building downtown that had just been redone with new walls except for one that faced away from the downtown. They left the old brick wall on that side and it was all that remained of those walls. The façade and everything inside was gone, but the brick wall still had the ancient advertisement from the 1900s for an insurance company that said, “A place of refuge in a time of storm.” One can still see damage from the storm if one knows where to look, but one odd thing is that a group of apartment buildings was rebuilt just as it had been, with the original blueprints, and ornamentations.. If one looks at a photograph from before and after the rebuild no one would guess. I sometimes dream about the storm. Topeka has, or maybe had, a great tornado warning system with dedicated spotters.
An odd thing is that my best friend was with us that night and after that was in a tornado every June 8 at 8 years intervals. He was in a building in Emporia, Kansas on June 8 (I think it was 16 years later) when it was hit and was in a building with no shelter. They sat eating dinner at the table and watched out the window as object flew by. One item they saw was a large metal watering trough that rolled down the middle of the street. The buildings on either side of the one they were in collapsed and were blown away. They were uninjured.
Wow, David Bibb!! I’m impressed by your recall. Your details are so vivid. A green sky would be hard to forget!! Obviously, that tornado is a memory that is still with you today.
Since I live in Nebraska, I’ve long known that Kansas gets hit with tornadoes. I bet your dad was a nervous wreck being so far away from his family.
Thanks for sharing – and I’m so glad you and your family survived. An F5 ain’t nothin’ to mess with.
The tornado does stick with me. I can probably drone on for hours, but will only mention a few more things.
One of the somewhat odd things that happened was that McVicker Chapel on the Washburn University campus was one of the buildings destroyed. There was a concert there (it had wonderful acoustics) and the people went to the basement when the sirens went off. Someone told them the wrong corner to huddle in and it was fortunate because the walls came down where they should have been. The entire campus’ older, beautiful, buildings were destroyed, but the newer ones were only damaged. They had temporary buildings for decades. One of the first things they did was plant trees to replace all of the old trees. After the storm there were none left on campus. The big telescope lens that won a prize at the Paris Exposition in the early 1900s was scratched and the astronomer held it like a baby when he flew to get it fixed.
One of the demolished K-6 schools was destroyed and their students were put in Randolph Elementary. It was so frustrating because those students were treated like royalty and could do not wrong because, “Their school was destroyed and that traumatized them.” Of course, the students from the destroyed school were delighted. They enjoyed tormenting the regular Randolph students and got to use the playground equipment instead of us. I am still bitter about those bullies getting away with hitting us because they were so traumatized.
Our yard had 52 dump truck loads removed when we stopped counting. The entire contents of at least one house was dumped on our house and yard. I could not go barefoot after the storm due to nails, glass, and all sorts of other things in the ground.
Fascinating stories, David Bibb!
Yup tornado’s been through a few. Taken the bricks right off the building. Destroyed alot of the signs in one city I lived in never did find out if they found the pieces or not. Had to close of streets because of debris scattered in the streets. Not the first time a tornado came over a city I lived in nor the last. There terrifying but also amazing at the same time.
Tornadoes often have shocking aftermaths, don’t they? Like a single sliver of wood that gets embedded into a tree trunk. It would be impossible to do otherwise. And to take bricks off a building is a testament to the power of the wind! Yikes!!!
Thanks for sharing, anxious1959!
Wow David. Amazing. There are some tornados, a few floods, some hail, but our area, and this time of year, is hopefully dodging a hurricane! I’ve came home from California in the remnants of one back in 2004. My friend and I rented a car from Jacksonville airport and drove home. It was awful and I’m not sure what we were thinking! Other than we knew we couldn’t ask family to come get us. My husband is a power lineman and I knew where he would be. The roads had been cleared most of the way, but it was pretty scary knowing some had crossed the roads but were sawed off.
Another time was Hurricane Irma in 2017. We decided to go to the school where I worked. My daughter, son-in-law, grandchild, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, husband and me loaded up some items and hunkered down for the night in varies offices/teacher lounge. My husband asked while we were in the office of the school listening to the winds,”Will those trees out front reach this far?” I remember giggling and saying,”Now you ask that??” No, trees came down into the office building. But, in surrounding areas, just more tress down, lines down and we were without power for 5 days.
I’ve seen the aftermaths first hand what a hurricane is capable of, enough to know not to be in the path of one. Especially a Cat 3 or above! But, any of them could be life threatening and they spawn tornados!
I enjoyed the story of Minnie Freeman! Thanks for sharing!
You’ve had some close calls, Tracy!! I bet that was a lo-ong night at the school, but thank goodness you had a safe place to take your family.
Mother Nature definitely knows how to show her wrath!
I know hurricanes can do a lot of damage, but what scares me most about them was the danger of a tornado developing during the hurricane. Well, that and the idiot chancellor of the university I worked for demanding everyone come to school and work in spite of the federal, state, county, and city government telling people to stay home; of course, the chancellor’s home was on campus and everyone had to visit His Royal Highness to do any business.
I’ve been through tornadoes and hurricanes
Good morning, Rhonda. Never a hurricane here in Nebraska, but plenty of tornadoes – though I’ve been spared. Never been in one directly, thank goodness.
A few tornados and 3 blizzards. Blizzard of ’77 and last December’s blizzard in Buffalo, NY area.
Oh, my goodness. The amount of snow that NY gets is mind-boggling. The news reports always make my jaw drop!
As a former schoolteacher I appreciate Minnie’s story. I lived throught the fieceness of Hurricane Hugo and being without power for 14 days.
14 days!!!??? Oh, my goodness, Janice. I whine when our power is out for a couple of hours. Hugo was definitely a monster! You’ll never forget that experience, for sure.
Yes been through 2 tornadoes here in Indiana! One back in 1972, other in 1989!
That’s two too many, Teresa F. Hopefully, not too much damage from either one for you.
What an amazing story, Pam! I’m so glad you shared this. What a courageous act, definitely worth a song composition and 200 proposals. 🙂 Minnie was obviously made of stern stuff wrapped around a tender heart. A heroine through and through.
Just in time for school to start, eh? Thanks, Karen! Minnie went on to become an activist for the Republican Party at the time, so she’s definitely been a fighter in her life.
I’ve been through some blizzards where we lost power.
And then you wonder how you can keep the house warm when you have no power, right?
Good morning , and ‘wow, what a courages and beautiful hearted teacher, that cared so much for her students ! She is a Hero for sure! God Bless her for what she did . Thank you so much for sharing this with us. We were in the middle of a hurricane, we went to Mazatlan many years ago and a hurricane decided to hit, it was pretty scary , it was my husband , me and our 2 young children at the time, they were 6 and 4 years old. It was hurricane Tico. Thank God we were all o.k., we were in our motel room when it hit. Needless to say we cut our vacation time short. Have a Great day .
Oh, what a dark cloud (pardon the pun!) over your vacation. Huge bummer that you had to cut the trip short. I’d be so disappointed. Darn that Mother Nature!
I haven’t had the scary experiences noted here, but I’ve been caught in both heavy thunderstorms & blizzards while driving on the freeways many times, & with careful driving & prayer, was unscathed.
Hi, Ami! I was a young driver and got caught in a heavy thunderstorm. My windshield wipers couldn’t keep up, and I was so scared. By the grace of God, I made it home safely, but I was crying so hard, I lost a contact lens. Talk about adding insult to injury. LOL!
In one winter storm I had drove about 17 miles to meet my mother, the sky was clear, and within 1/2 hour the sky became dark and snow was piling up. I became uneasy and told my mother we needed to go home. I had my 2 youngest with me (about 6 & 9). It was snowing so hard I couldn’t hardly see to drive. I was the first car in a line and no one would pass me. I was driving extremely slow and the girls were fighting in the backseat. I told them to stop because I couldn’t focus on them. I started praying and actually felt the steering wheel move as if on it’s own. I started thanking God for getting us safely to the next town before getting there. When we would get there, I would do the next town and continue to do that until we were home. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time we arrived at home. In another storm I was driving to work and school had not been cancelled (I was a teacher). It was dark, the snow was blowing and I couldn’t see the road. I crawl along the road praying not to meet any Amish on the road and thanking God for getting me to school safely. It took about 45 minutes to drive a 15 minute drive.
Definitely scary times, especially when you have young ones with you, karijean. They would only increase your worries! You are smart to drive slow – I’m always amazed at how fast and crazy drivers are on slick roads. They think they are invincible to accidents!
Wow, Pam! What a story and what strong character she must have been!
My dad was just telling us about a few times when they had terrible winter storms and the school children either stayed at the school or in town with people who took them in, and they had no way to let their parents know where they were. I can only imagine who frantic my grandparents must have been, waiting out the storm and praying their kids were somewhere safe!
Yes!! The not knowing would be horrible for parents. I still worry about my kids getting home safely when they travel, and thank goodness for cell phones nowadays. But like your dad said, parents were so dependent on the good hearts of strangers to help the children when they couldn’t get home – and grateful for them, too!
Thx for stopping by, Shanna!
I’m a native Floridian, and I’ve been through more hurricanes than I care to remember! I’ve been through some very scary thunderstorms, and actually received roof damage back in April of this year due to a hailstorm! I’ve never seen snow, though.
What??? Never seen snow? That strikes me as funny since I’ve grown up with it and have lived with snow’s challenges. I remember hearing about the Make-A-Wish Foundation (or something similar, I don’t recall exactly) about a child who had never seen snow but wanted to before he died. You can bet that foundation took him to see snow and play in it.
Well, you might not have seen snow before, but I’ve never been in a hurricane, so now we’re even, right? LOL.
My husband, children, and I lived through that huge F5 tornado in Wichita Falls and have talked about the horror a few times. I really thought I was going to die. It took everything we had and we didn’t have a whole lot. The aftermath was just as bad and lasted far longer than the tornado winds. We had no home, no place to live, nothing for so long. My two oldest were so traumatized they slept in their clothes and shoes. They wanted to be ready to run. They were in counseling for quite a while. I, too, used to dream about tornadoes a lot and seeing that big, black funnel coming straight toward me as it did that day. Loved reading Minnie’s story. Wonder if she accepted one of the 200 marriage proposals. Wow! Such a strong woman.
Oh, Linda. I hate that your family went through that. How awful for all of you. I just can’t imagine.
oh but this is so cool. I lived in the Mojave desert for many years on a farm. As we were getting up and dressed so we could do our chores, mom called us all to hurry up. Well when mom called like that all five of us kids double timed it. Sure enough the wind was starting up. We got all the animals into shelters. As we got back into the house, mom took all of us kids into the bedroom/bathroom hall way. She got blankets food etc. We stayed there for about three hours with the wind battering the house. We could hear things hitting the house. When it had played out. Mom told us to stay there while she checked it out. Our dining room that had a sliding glass door on each side were gone and electricity didnt come back on for a few days. Yup clean up galore. Our ages were 9.8.7.6.2 but we all worked hard. Thankfully the animals were all safe and sound. So thankful that the man that lived there before us built well. And dad just added onto it.
Yikes, Lori! Your mom is every bit as heroic as Minnie Freeman was. Maternal instincts kick in big time, don’t they? You didn’t say if your dad was there that day, too, and if he wasn’t, your mom was even more courageous.
Pam, when I was in elementary school, I bought a book at the Scholastic Book Fair about several kids that were home alone and weathered a terrible blizzard. I still have that book somewhere. It really made an impression on me to think that kids my age at that time could survive something like that–they were heroes to me!
Growing up in Oklahoma, my dad tried to teach me not to be afraid of storms, and I never was. (My dad was Spock’s twin–so logical and unemotional about stuff like that!) LOL Anyhow, back then we only had the signs of the coming storm to judge by (the green sky, the wind, the smells and so on) and of course, with no radar like they have now, that is so powerful and wonderful in its ability to warn us ahead of time, lots of times especially in the smaller towns like ours lives were lost by not having sirens sounding soon enough.
I used to have to go outside and make my daughter come inside when the storms were about to hit–even the scary ones. She loved them. I worried more about her than I ever did about myself.
I would have loved that book about the kids and the blizzard, Cheryl. And bravo to your dad for being so calm and practical and passing that on to you.
Your daughter sounds like she could be a “storm-chaser” in another life. 🙂
There aren’t many tornados in Wyoming but one came through our ranch, picked a grain bin and set it down over a tractor – picture of it made the local paper. The 19th floor of a hotel in Tokyo, during a typhoon when an earthquake hit at the same time isn’t where I ever thought I’d be. Nothing to do but ride it out and hope everything stayed together – interesting to say the least!
Hi, CM. You’re right – you don’t hear about tornadoes in Wyoming – but lots of snow. What a picture that must have made!!
And gosh – an earthquake and a typhoon. How terrifying! Mother Nature was truly whipping up a frenzy!
Having lived most of my life in SW Missouri, we’ve had our fair share of tornadoes. Thankfully I’ve never had to experience one on a really close, personal level, but we’ve spent many nights in my parents’ basement or our storm shelter after moving to a new home. I DO NOT enjoy those experiences!!! Although we’ve had a few come much closer to us, the most memorable one is the big tornado that went through Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011… just 20 miles north of us. The devastation & loss of life was heartbreaking!!
I’m glad you were spared, Lori, and a storm shelter is such a great idea. Yes, Missouri gets their share of tornadoes – you’re not too far from Tornado Alley! I remember that Joplin tornado. Yes, so heartbreaking. In a matter of minutes, lives are changed forever.
I’m sure this isn’t what you’re looking for, but a couple of days ago we had a severe thunderstorm. The thunder was so loud one time, it shook my house so bad that it set my alarm off.
This is a great example of a bad storm, scaredsilly! The thunder must have been really close. Such power in Mother Nature!!
I have heard of several blizzard stories involving children, but not the specifics of this one. I have been caught in several blizzards, once in a car for several hours while in school. The biggest was on our move from Northern New York to Colorado Springs New Years, 1981/82. We hit the blizzard in Iowa. “Luckily” my car had issues and we stopped to check it out just as the State Police closed the interstate. We got the last room at a crummy little motel and spent the next three nights there. Nothing moved. With windchill, it got down to -100. Our room never got above 55 and the snow blew in around the door. We had to carry out dog out so her feet wouldn’t flash freeze to the ground. Luckily there was greasy spoon restaurant attached to the motel. That is what our children remember best – chocolate sundaes with their kids meals every day. We were to visit friends in Omaha which was only 90 miles away. They couldn’t understand why we got there so late because it hadn’t snowed in Omaha.
We have had tornadoes come close while traveling and within a hundred yards of our house. When we lived in Colorado Springs, we had a open column pass over our house. It never finished forming the funnel to touch ground. The hair on our arms stood up, there was a green tone to the air, and you could hear the rumble that sounded like a train. The hail storm that followed dumped drifts of it in our neighborhood.
I got stuck outside in a Category 3 hurricane (not sure because they never even warned us it was coming. They said they didn’t think anyone would be interested.) in Manila having to walk several blocks in a bad part of the storm to get to the house where I was staying.
I was also in Manila when a major earthquake hit, but that can’t be considered weather, just rather disconcerting when cars are bouncing around on the road and buildings are falling down near you. The aftershocks were nerve wracking since you never knew how big they would get or how long they would last.
That’s quite the story about your move to Colorado, Pat! Isn’t it funny how things work out for us? You probably didn’t want car issues, but then those issues saved you in the blizzard! I find it remarkable that the restaurant stayed open. Luckily, they had enough food for your family for those three days. And I bet they were lo-ong days cooped up in that motel room!!
Scary about the earthquake! Yes, those aftershocks would be terrifying. Again, the power in the earth to shake and shimmy. Yikes!
Thanks for sharing!
I was home alone during the Bilzzard of ’78. My Dad needed surgery. They took my Dad and Mom by 4 wheel drive to the hospital. I stayed home with our dog. We were surrounded by neighbors who were friends all my life as well as my aunt and uncle around the corner. It was scary when the electric went out. We made it through. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
You don’t say how old you were, Debra, but it would have been daunting to be home alone without electricity. Thank goodness the hospital was able to stay open for your dad’s surgery!
Hi Pam, Yes, we survived the blizzard of 1978 here in Indiana. The snow was almost up to the eves of the house. Had to dig our way out with neighbors to get to the store, as we lived in the rural area. Took almost 3 days to get things back to normal & back to work. Some people didn’t make it to their homes & slept on the tables in our factories or wherever, they ended up & couldn’t go any further in their cars or trucks. Most of the farmers helped a lot in helping people. Praying we don’t have to do that again!!!!
Ohmigosh. I’ve never seen that much snow, Lois!! Three days is forever when you want to get back into your home. And then when all that snow melts – flooding, right? Sheesh!