Wyoming Blizzard of 1883
The winter of 1882-1883 began with only a few small snowstorms. But on the evening of January 31, a major northeast snowstorm blasted down hard into Wyoming. The storm blew until Feb 3, 1883 leaving drifts of snow in the streets of Rawlins as much as 10 feet high. Trains were stopped in their tracks unable to continue forward even with three engines straining to pull the cars. A passenger train came to a stop and was marooned in a snowdrift for 22 hours east of Laramie. The passengers made the best of the situation and were warmed by stoves in the passenger cars. Families who had packed picnic lunches for their journey shared their sardines and crackers with about 30 fellow stranded passengers.
As bad as things were for the train travelers, they were far, far worse for the stage drivers and passengers stranded by the storm between South Pass and Green River. Four people lost their lives on the stage line between South Pass and Green River and men lost fingers, toes and feet and ears to the cold.
George Ryder was the driver of the stage that carried Maggie Sherlock and superintendent W.J. Stuart from South Pass to Pacific Springs, a journey of about 12 miles. Superintendent Stuart was marking the road with tall willow switches every 25 to 30 feet, so drivers could follow the switches if the deep snow obliterated the road. Enough snow had fallen that it was decided a sleigh would be used instead of a coach. It was the first time that season a sleigh had been used. Eighteen-year-old Maggie was returning to Salt Lake to attend boarding school after Christmas break. Because of the snow and Stuart marking the route with switches, it was already noon before the sleigh arrived at Pacific Springs. Stuart stayed at Pacific Springs intending to catch the next stage returning to South Pass. After a change of horses George Ryder and Miss Sherlock proceeded on to Dry Creek station a journey of about 11 miles.
When the stage from Pacific Springs to South Pass departed, the storm had not yet started, so stage driver Thomas Scott, Superintendent Stuart and a passenger, Lander Valley rancher W.V. Clark started the journey to South Pass. But an hour later, the full force of the storm pounded the travelers. The stage became hopelessly trapped in the snow and the darkness. The men decided to abandon the coach and the team of horses and walked back to Pacific Springs. This decision would prove fatal for two of them.
The men followed the willow switches Superintendent Stuart had placed on his trip from South Pass to Pacific Springs the day before. Two men stayed at the one switch and the third man walked ahead until he found the next switch and then called for the other two to follow his voice. It was slow going and when nightfall came and the storm intensified the men decided to each go for it alone. It was every man for himself.
Meanwhile, George Ryder and Maggie Sherlock started out in their sleigh from Pacific Springs to the Dry Creek Station, a journey of 11 miles. They reached Dry Creek Station before the storm intensified. It would have been prudent for them to have stayed at Dry Creek Station, but the postal contract which helped to pay for the stage would not pay for missed trips and failure to make an assigned trip could result in a driver being fired. So, after getting a change of horses George Ryder and Maggie Sherlock set off from Dry Creek Station for the station on Little Sandy, which was a 16 mile journey.
After a short distance the driver Ryder became disoriented in the snow and lost his way, but managed to make it back to Dry Creek station. Ryder made a second attempt to leave Dry Creek station, but again lost his bearings as night fell and the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped. He circled in the storm for hours.
The storm’s fury continued through February 1st with the sleigh stranded in a gulch filled with snow. On the morning of February 2nd the storm was finally abated and George, even though he was badly frozen made one last attempt to walk to Dry Creek Station and save his passenger. He made it to Dry Creek, but was so exhausted and frozen he couldn’t tell the stock tender where exactly he had left the sleigh and Miss Sherlock.
Stock tender John Thorn took a fresh team of horses and went searching for the stranded passenger. He finally saw the seat of the sleigh buried in a snowdrift and found Maggie Sherlock wrapped in a buffalo robe buried inside the sleigh. She was alive, but frozen and only semiconscious. Thorn managed to get Maggie back to Dry Creek Station and the station master and his wife tended to the young woman. George Ryder died as the result of his injuries and his body lay frozen in the barn.
From The Carbon County Journal February 10, 1883:
“Special dispatch to the Journal: Green River, Feb 8– I understand they started out from Pacific Springs with a team, Driver Thomas Scott, Superintendent W.J. Stuart, and a passenger by the name W.V Clark. When they started it wasn’t storming, but after they had been out about an hour the storm overtook them. They finally abandoned the coach and team, and started back to Pacific on foot. The driver was found standing straight up in the snow. The superintendent was found standing in the snow, frozen so that he could not move. His hands and feet will have to come off. The passenger hasn’t been found yet. They were out three days and three nights before they were found, and when found they were within two miles of Pacific Springs.
Another stage started out with a driver and one passenger, Miss Maggie Sherlock. The Driver was badly frozen, and the passenger had her hands and feet frozen.”
A young Rev. John Roberts was caught on a train in this storm on his way to Fort Washakie to start his missionary duties. To get to Fort Washakie a traveler would take the train to Green River and then ride the stage for 36 hours to Fort Washakie. When Roberts arrived in Green River he hitched a ride with a mail sleigh headed for Fort Washakie since the stages were not running because of the storm. When the mail sleigh arrived at Dry Creek station Maggie was being cared for and George Ryder’s body was frozen in the barn. Roberts conducted a funeral for George Ryder and buried his body in a snow drift to be recovered when conditions allowed. Roberts chopped the tall sagebrush close to the station for fuel to keep the station where Maggie was being cared for warm. As soon as they were able, Maggie’s family came to get her and take her home to South Pass. For a couple of weeks, it looked like Maggie might recover from her injuries, but she died on February 21st, and was buried at South Pass.
Al Dougherty was another stage driver caught in the blizzard. He had to have one foot amputated at the ankle and his other foot amputated at the instep as a result of frostbite, but he continued to work as a stage driver for many years. Superintendent Stuart lost both hands and both ears and portions of both feet. Four people lost their lives in the storm, George Ryder, Maggie Sherlock, driver Thomas Scott and rancher, W.V. Clark. Clark’s body was finally found three weeks after the blizzard. Maggie Sherlock’s body was moved from South Pass to Mt. Hope Cemetery in Lander in 1924, and George Ryder was reburied from his snowy grave at Dry Creek to South Pass. He rests in an unmarked grave. As a result of this tragedy the stage line and mail route were changed from starting at Green River to starting at Rawlins, avoiding the highest elevations and the harshest conditions.
Author: Liz Farmer, Pioneer Museum
Photo stage driver Al Dougherty
Next up for the Fremont County Museum
May 17, 9am with the Dubois Museum, “Butch Cassidy at Jakey’s Fork” Wind River Visitors Council Adventure Trek Series
May 22, 7pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Lander 1925” Wyoming Community Bank Discovery Speakers Series
May 24, 1-3pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Being a Pioneer Kid” Bailey Tire/Pit Stop Children’s Exploration Series
May 24, 10am at the Pioneer Museum, “Lander Main Street Trek” Wind River Visitors Council Adventure Trek Series
May 31, 11am at the Riverton Museum, “Horned Owl Draper Raptor Experience” Bailey Tire/Pit Stop Children’s Exploration Series
Oct 4, TBA at the Lander Community Center, “Rare Relics Roadshow” Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation
Call the Dubois Museum 1-307-455-2284, the Pioneer Museum 1-307-332-3339 or the Riverton Museum 1-307-856-2665 for detail regarding their programs.
The Dubois Museum, the Pioneer Museum in Lander and the Riverton Museum need your financial support. In the current economic environment, the museums are more reliant than ever on donations from the private sector to continue to provide the quality programs, collections management, exhibits and services that have become their hallmark over the last four years. Please make your tax deductible contribution through the Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation www.windriverccf.com or by sending a check to Fremont County Museums 450 N 2nd Rm 320 or taking it directly to the museum you choose to support.
