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April 5, 2009
WOLF CREEK HERITAGE MUSEUM NOTES by Virginia Scott MUSEUM HAPPENINGS Weather in the Panhandle is always interesting. >From snow to spring winds to winter winds in one week. The weather provided us with the proper environment in erecting our weather exhibit this week. Revisiting the weather of the past made this weeks weather more bearable. The "Storms of the Twentieth Century" revisits our storms from the 1930's to present. I have received one response to my request last week for pictures. Robert Allen of Booker will be sending us photos. The Booker News and Canadian Record also had great spreads so we will include them in our exhibit. We are officially mailing the membership renewals this week. The fourth membership drive is officially launched. If you have never been a member , give us a call, visit the website, or email us at wolfcrk@amaonline.com. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!! April 26, Sunday at 2pm we will host a Tea Party with a cooking demonstration by Diane Bim of Amarillo. The Theme of the program is "Remember when we cooked?"; the title of the cookbook written by Ms. Bim and a group of ladies called "Just Us". It promises to be an enjoyable afternoon and we will be sampling what Ms. Bim cooks. Plan to join us. HISTORICAL MUSINGS My curosity was peaked this week about the weather in the 1880's and how the early settlers of Lipscomb county withstood the weather and the wind. There are five references in the PANHANDLE INTERSTATE about the cold , snow, and winds. In the august, 1887 issue a note entitled "cold" reported that "tuesday morning opened up cold and cloudy, and wednesday everybody thought they were freezing. . old clothes were dug up and red-hot stoves were a cheerful subject of conversation. It reminded us that fall is approaching." November 25,1887 reports "Tuesday was windy and cold, and was followed at night by a light rain that froze as it fell. Wednesday morning enough snow fell to cover the ground, and everything had the appearance of winter." December 2, 1887 "The weather on the 24th and 25th (of November) was misty and rainy. A drifting rain came down from the north, and about noon turned to a cold wind and snow. That night some snow and sleet fell, and the morning of the 27th a thermometer would have registered in the neighborhood of zero. But by noon of that day it had grown considerable warmer, and has continued getting warmer ever since, and at the time of putting this item in type (30th) our office is very comfortable for type setting without any fire and the door wide open." December 23, 1887 "All through this month, with the exception of about one day, the weather has been very fine, until last Monday. In the afternoon of that day the snow began to fall , and fell to the depth of two inches, but the wind was strong and drifted it. Monday night it grew cold, and continued to Thursday morning, when it began to turn warmer, and we now look for more nice weather. Ice froze to the thickness of about six inches on the streams." January 20, 1888 "Oldtimers in this county inform us that up to this time the winter has been the hardest they have ever known in the Panhandle, and the weather more changeable. We have had but little rain, and the snowfall has been light, there not having been more than thirty-six hours at a time that the grass has been covered up. The cold waves have been numerous, but of short duration. The first week in the month was the finest weather for the time of year we ever saw, but we have had two or three days since then that we sometimes called "Holy Terrors." The article continued explaining how the wet then dry weather with the wind was hurting the grass land and made feeding the cattle diffcult and unpredictable causing concern among the ranchers and the farmers were worried about their crops. It was the wind that caused the "Terrors". After reading the articles I concluded they coped the same as we do , try to stay warm, feed the animals and hope for the best. I have to agree that the wind causes the "the Terrors " for its unforgiving nature that never quits. We are lucky in that we have the distraction of TV, Radio, music, etc. They had nothing but the sound of wind howling over the prairie. Have a good week. |
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