2/3/2012:
At the end of January in 1922, a band of heavy snow from Richmond to Baltimore immobilized that stretch of the East Coast. The weight of the snow caused the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington, DC, to collapse, crushing 100 people to death.
Reports of this disaster came to North Dakota along with the approach of an impending blizzard. According to the Bismarck Tribune, every Weather Bureau station in North Dakota and Montana reported falling snow on February 1st. While the blizzard did drop some snow, it was the high wind and resultant drifts that caused the problems. There was little trouble with electricity and telephone lines, but travel was hindered. It was not easy to get around by car in the country, but people still managed to travel using teams of horses and sleds.
Superintendent C. L. Love of the Mandan public schools sent four young children to their homes, but after elders accompanied two of the children successfully, they were unable to get the other two home, so Superintendent Love pressed the town’s taxicabs into service to take children home.
Trains were stalled and stranded across the state. The North Soo Line train destined for Bismarck was stopped near Ruso, where it was reported that the 25 passengers were taken into town, a quarter mile away, where they could stay until the tracks were cleared. And it was on this date, in the morning, that the train finally arrived in Bismarck. It could have been a harrowing experience—but the Soo Line passengers who stayed with the train were exultant after their journey, which they reported had been made pleasant by Charles Crepo, the conductor; the crewmembers; and also by fellow passengers—“especially the women.” Once they were stopped by the drifts, provisions were procured in the city and served on the train. The women kept a coffeepot boiling and hot coffee was available at all times.
The Bismarck Tribune reported that the worst of the storm did not hit Bismarck and its surrounding areas, despite the fury with which the blizzard flashed through the state. So in the end, for North Dakotans, the winter of 1922 may have been had its difficulties—but it was also one that was easily weathered.
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker
Sources:
The Bismarck Tribune, February 1, 1922
The Bismarck Tribune, February 2, 1922
The Bismarck Tribune, February 3, 1922