The Great Die-up

The End of Open Range

Dec. 31, 1885. The day began with a sunrise that painted the sky purple/yellow. Strange. No one could recall the sky being that particular color. By the next day, snow began to fall, faster and thicker by the hour. It was the beginning of The Great Blizzard in Kansas, 1886.

Between January 1-3 Kansas experienced 36 straight hours of blizzard conditions. On January 7, the temperature dropped and the wind chill was 40 below. Two days later, the blizzard spread across the Great Plains with more than 16 inches of snow in most places. Fifty below zero wasn't unheard of.

The weather had played a cruel trick on ranchers. Through much of the 1870s and 1880s ranchers had enjoyed cool summers and mild winters, which meant that feeding their stock wasn't a problem. However, in 1885 the summer was blazing hot and the fall as dry as dirt. Ranchers hadn't put back enough feed and they were beginning to run short by November. So, when the blizzard hit, their cattle were already on the skinny side. Cattle begin to die of starvation by January first. When spring arrived, at least 100,000 cows and horses were dead. In fact, 90 percent of open range cattle were obliterated. Open range suddenly seemed like a foolhardy practice.

The aftermath of the blizzard became apparent when the snow finally slacked off enough for folks to see past their noses. Stagecoach drivers died sitting with the reins still in their hands. Trains filled with hogs were frozen solid. At least 100 people died, many of them only a few feet from their house or barn. Dead cattle clogged up rivers and streams, spoiling drinking water. The storm wiped out 75 percent of Kansas livestock. Many ranchers went bankrupt, while others migrated east where they hoped life was more hospitable.

Ultimately, ranchers learned a valuable lesson. Letting cattle roam far and wide was risky business when dealing with Mother Nature. They stopped keeping gigantic stocks of cattle and began farming to go along with their ranching and grow feed for their herds. They dealt with smaller herds that were kept closer to grazing territories and grain reserves. And they put up fences to keep the cattle in designated areas.

Few would forget the Great Blizzard and the hard lessons it taught ranchers. So, this winter when the wind blows in from the north and sends a shiver down your spine and you see the first crystal snowflakes dancing in the air, think about our forefathers who managed to survive fifty below temps and the devastating sight of thousands of cattle frozen in their tracks on the unforgiving prairie.