The Blizzard of 1888

The storm's cruelty was its timing. Thursday, January 12, 1888 began mild, with morning temperatures rising toward 50 degrees on the northern plains, and the cold came on while children were still in school. At Huron, Dakota Territory, the thermometer fell to 20 by noon, to minus 10 as pupils started home and to minus 27 after sunset. History Nebraska counts 109 dead in Dakota Territory; a NOAA tally puts the regional toll at 235. David Laskin's 2004 history took its title from another of the storm's names, The Children's Blizzard.

What the plaque says

The Blizzard of 1888 On January 12, 1888, a sudden fierce blizzard slashed across the Midwest. The temperature fell to between 30 and 40 degrees below zero. A howling northwest wind swept the plains. The storm raged for 12 to 18 hours and is probably the most severe single blizzard to have hit Nebraska since the settlement of the state. Sometimes called "the school children's storm," the blizzard caught many children away from home. Many acts of heroism were performed by parents, teachers, and the children themselves. The story of Minnie Freeman has become symbolic of these many acts of heroism. Miss Freeman, still in her teens at the time, was teaching at a school near here. When the wind tore the roof off the sod school- house, Miss Freeman saved her pupils by leading them through the storm to a farmhouse a half mile away. Many other teachers performed similar acts of heroism, and at least one lost her life in the attempt. No accurate count of the total deaths from the storm is possible, but estimates for Nebraska have ranged from 40 to 100. January 12, 1888 Blizzard Club Historical Land Mark Council

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park — 16 mi
  A small infantry post of 1874 in the North Loup valley, built of local lime concrete on the raiding road between Lakota and Pawnee country, and kept nearly whole by eighty years of farming.

More markers nearby

• Evelyn Sharp — 8.9 mi
• Arcadia Congregational Church — 8.9 mi
• Arcadia Centennial, 1885-1985 — 9.4 mi
• St. Mary's Catholic Church — 12 mi