Brutal Winter
One of the books in the Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House” book series is called The Long Winter. This book details one of the most brutal winters Laura and her family ever faced. In fact, it was one of the most brutal winters in the history of the Dakotas. It was the winter of 1880-1881 and there are several sources that support Laura’s description of this harsh winter. Letters are one type of source, specifically a letter written by Eliza Jane Wilder, one of Laura’s school teachers and sister-in-law, to the land commissioner.
Eliza’s letter discusses how many families had frozen to death during the first blizzard. Laura’s memoirs also describe this brutal winter with the start of the first blizzard, which lasted three days. This blizzard occurred during October of 1880 and kept the trains with supplies away from the area. While the trains were able to run off and on between October to December, blizzards continue to follow. It was in December that the railroad decided to halt supplies to De Smet. By this point, the snow piles were up to 12 feet and too high for trains to get through.
Because of the lack of supplies, nearly continuous snowstorms, and the bitter cold starvation set in quickly. Laura remembered the grocery store ran out of food by the end of December. Laura and her family ran out of supplies for a fire so they started to twist straw and used axle grease for warmth and cooking. Over time, the Ingalls ran out of flour to make bread and their supply of food kept diminishing. Laura remembered cutting down to two meals a day. She also wrote about how Charles was growing thin and his eyes looked funny.
In February, the family started looking forward to March as that meant Spring. This also meant the train would be able to bring supplies. However, the blizzards continued through March. Laura wrote about how there was even snowing in April. To Laura, her family, and other settlers, it felt like winter would never end. Thankfully, the snow did end and the warmth came. At the beginning of May, Laura and everyone else rejoiced with the sight of the first train since December. The supply train was packed full of ingredients to make food and Caroline couldn’t wait to give her family a belated Christmas meal.