The Early October Blizzard
- December 19, 2024
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- Jan Swan Wood
Posted in: Featured, Horse Care, Ranch Life
It was in October and my Dad and brothers, and a brother-in-law were on an elk hunt in the Dubois, Wyoming area about 350 miles away. I had hauled my horse Kelly from wherever I was living at the time and was taking care of the livestock and keeping Mom company for the duration of their absence. Things had been pleasant and the work pretty easy until the weather changed.
The forecast was for a major winter storm to arrive. It had originally been just rain coming, which wasn’t serious, but when the arctic clipper joined the party, it was going to get serious quickly. For some reason they hadn’t shipped all of the yearling steers, plus the calves were still on the cows, and the ewes were still out on summer range, though their lambs had been shipped, thankfully. Suddenly, it got busy!
The storm blew in with heavy, wet snow soon after the rain started. I told Mom that I needed to get the
sheep brought home from the Sherman Place, and that I wanted her to drive the pickup pulling the cake
feeder and lead them. So, I loaded some cake in the caker, and Mom followed me driving the pickup
behind my horse and me. I led the way as I knew every inch of that ranch from my years riding those
pastures, and could find my way without being able to see well. Kelly figured out that we were following
the trail roads and he stuck to it.
It was snowing so hard by the time we got through the gate into the Sherman Place pasture that I had
trouble seeing my horse’s ears and Kelly was black. We were plastered with snow and the air was barely
breathable. I led Mom in the pickup down the fence to a line of power poles that crossed that pasture. I
told her to wait and I’d go find the sheep. She was concerned I’d get lost, but I reassured her that I wouldn’t.
I had started calling the sheep after we entered the pasture, so I rode to the center of the pasture where
there was a high point above the creek. I called as loud as I could from there, hoping the sheep could hear me and come. I rode a circle from there, going off to the northeast, calling, and looping around to the southeast then back west, then north, hoping to intercept the band. By this time there was about seven inches of snow on the level but no wind yet.
Making the circle, I then cut across and picked up what I could see of my horse’s tracks, though they
were disappearing quickly. In about another hour, I rode onto the tracks of 600 or so sheep. They were
following my call and my horse!
I caught up with them in a bit and turned them toward where I’d left Mom in the pickup. I think they
were darned sure ready to head for home, as they drove along at a good clip. I couldn’t really see them,
but followed their tracks mostly and we came upon the pickup and cake feeder. I reached into the cake
feeder from my saddle and threw cake out to the good leaders to reward their effort.
When I rode up to the pickup window and knocked on it, Mom nearly jumped out of her skin! She couldn’t see Kelly or me due to us being so covered by snow. I could see her as the heater in the pickup
had the windows melting off as the snow fell. She had sure been worried about me and knew she couldn’t find her way home to get help. I reassured her with the news that the sheep were all around us, and that I’d call the sheep and lead her and she could lead the sheep. She asked me if I really, truly knew the way and I reminded her that I’d found her, so could find our way home. She nodded and we took off in low range first gear, and nearly zero visibility.
We made our way out of the Sherman Place and I left the gate hooked open in case any stragglers
weren’t in the band. Then across Jug Creek pasture, then the Horse Pasture, and finally into the big north corral, all with my Mom driving blind in the heavy snow. She was a nervy little woman, and never
faltered, but I know she was very scared. I trusted my good horse and my memory of the country, and she trusted me.
Once the sheep were caked in the winter corral at the home place, I put Kelly in the barn and I loaded more cake in the caker’s two compartments and, with me driving this time, we headed up to the Owl
Creek end of the Cow Pasture where the steers were. We stopped at a hay corral and I loaded square bales on the pickup. I called the steers and they remembered that caker and call from the winter before and arrived at a trot and followed us down into a deep hollow with good protection. They were all there, so I caked them, then while Mom drove I fed the hay up close to a thick horseshoe bend of willows. A second load of hay was fed so the steers were fed for several days and shouldn’t drift out.
The cows were in the North House pasture, so on the way back from the steers, we stopped at a hay
corral and loaded another batch of hay on the pickup. It’s amazing how much you can load on a pickup
when you have to. The cows heard my call and came with their big calves in tow, and they were fed cake
and hay below the hill by the winter corral where the ewes were. The ewes had windrowed kochia weeds
to eat on for days and they could paw the snow off of it in their protected spot.
Through this whole gathering, moving, feeding, and going on to the next place, there was virtually no visibility. The snow was about 18 inches deep, with no wind yet, by the time we were back to the house late afternoon. I let Mom off at the door, then took the pickup and cake feeder and put them in the shop.
Kelly got unsaddled and fed well and left in the barn where there was water and a dry place to lay down. He’d sure done his part that day. As I fed the bulls in the corral, the wind started picking up, and by the time I was going into the house, the snow was blowing. It was sure a good feeling knowing that all of the stock was tucked in and fed where they were hopefully safe.
There were feet of snow in that storm and it lasted several days, then the digging out began. Dad called from Dubois, Wyoming and was scared to death when he’d seen the newspaper headline of the blizzard that had hit our area of South Dakota. I heard Mom tell him that all was just fine and that we had tucked everything in and fed them enough for several days before the wind hit. She didn’t talk like it had been any big deal, but she and Dad both knew it had been. It was just what one does when it needs done and Mom and I had taken care of business.
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Posted in: Featured, Horse Care, Ranch Life
About Jan Swan Wood
Jan was raised on a ranch in far western South Dakota. She grew up horseback working all descriptions of cattle, plus sheep and horses. After leaving home she pursued a post-graduate study of cowboying and dayworking in Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota....