1883 Combined History
Chapter VII - Pioneers and Early Settlers
EDWARDS COUNTY
THE DEEP SNOW.
The deep snow occurred in the winter of 1830-31. At that period this
part of Illinois was sparsely settled. The roads were merely trails or
bye-paths; and the houses of the settlers were log-cabins of a rude style of
architecture, and the larder was not well supplied with sufficient
provisions to carry the settler and his family through the winter. This
being the case, much suffering occurred. The "deep snow" is one of the
land-marks of the early settler. It is the mile-stone, so to speak, from
which he counts in dating events. He sometimes relies upon it in recounting
the date of his coming, his marriage, and the birth of his children. The
deep snow was an important and very extraordinary phenomenon. Nothing has
equalled it in this latitude for the last century - if the Indians'
traditions are correct as to what occurred before the advent of the white
man. The Indians had a tradition that about seventyfive years before, a snow
fell which swept away the immense herds of buffalo and elk that then roamed
over these prairies. This tradition was verified by the vast quantity of
buffalo and elk bones found on the prairies in different localities when
first visited by white men.
The snow began falling early in autumn, and continued at intervals,
throughout the entire winter. The snow falls would be succeeded by heavy
sleet, forming crusts of ice between the layers of snow, strong enough in
many places to bear up the deer and hunter. Frequently for weeks the sun was
not visible, and the cold was so intense that not a particle of snow would
melt on the sides of the cabins facing the south. For weeks people were
blockaded or housed up, and remained so until starvation compelled them to
go forth in search of food. Great suffering, hunger and untold hardships
were endured by the people. Game, such as deer, prairie chickens, quails,
rabbits, &c., before that time had been abundant, but for years afterwards
was very scarce, having perished in the snow. As the snow would thaw, deer
were often caught and killed without the aid of fire arms, being unable to
get through the snow or walk on top. Later in winter, when the mass of-snow
or ice had become compact, fences that were staked and ridered were driven
over with heavily loaded vehicles, and, in fact, the old settlers say in
places could not be seen. The snow in many places, where not drifted, was
three to five feet deep. In the spring, when this immense amount of snow
melted, the river streams and marshes became flooded.
THE "SUDDEN FREEZE."
The writer, in conversing with a lady, an old settler, elicited from her
the following facts and recollections relative to the wonderful and
extraordinary atmospheric phenomenon, which occurred a little after noon one
day in January, 1836. The lady says, she and her family had finished their
noon-day meal, and were sitting around and in front of the old-fashioned
large open fireplace, enjoying its generous warmth, chatting and discussing
the state of the weather, as during the morning it had been snowing and
raining a little: - presently the lady in looking from the window in her
cabin, noticed a heavy black cloud lying off to the west, which seemed to be
rapidly approaching. Needing some water she took a bucket and went to the
well, at a distance of about 100 yards, lowering the bucket with a long
"sweep" then used in drawing the water, filled it, and started for the
house. Before reaching the house the wind and rain struck her; blew and
upset a portion of the water on her clothing; the cold air seemed to cut
like a knife, and before she reached the house, her dress and apron were
frozen stiff in a solid sheet of ice. Ponds which a moment before were free
from the ice, were frozen in a few minutes. Many persons were frozen to
death who happened to be caught away from home; and many others, before they
could get to a place of shelter, had their faces, ears, hands and feet
frozen. Immediately preceding the storm, the ground had been slightly
covered with snow, which from rain falling in the morning had become
"slushy." Cattle, that were in the fields, were held fast by the "slush"
freezing about their feet; and it became necessary to cut away the ice to
liberate them. Ducks and geese were imprisoned in the same way. It was
scarcely ten minutes after the cold wave swept over the place, that the
water and melting snow was hard enough to bear up a man on horseback.
Thus have we briefly sketched a few of the incidents that occurred in the
early history of the county.
Extracted 23 Dec 2017 by Norma Hass from A Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence, and Wabash Counties, Illinois, published in 1883, pages 67-68.
