The blizzard of ‘69

[wildbill]

Anyone here have any first hand accounts of the blizzard that hit South Western Alberta in the spring of ‘69?

[landowner]

I remember the one of 67 . Before 4x4 tractors. Storm after storm. Cattle didn't get fed for days. Teams of horses and catapillers finally got to them. A lot of dead calves were visible when the snow finally melted.

[wildbill]

Originally Posted by landowner

I remember the one of 67 . Before 4x4 tractors. Storm after storm. Cattle didn't get fed for days. Teams of horses and catapillers finally got to them. A lot of dead calves were visible when the snow finally melted.

So it was 67? A guy from pincher here said it was 69, he also did say he was a kid when it happened. I heard it was up to six feet deep.

[landowner]

Originally Posted by wildbill

So it was 67? A guy from pincher here said it was 69, he also did say he was a kid when it happened. I heard it was up to six feet deep.

It was

[praire hunter]

there is no mention of a blizzard in 69 in the galt museum archives, there is this on the one in 67
----1967 — April 17-20 and 27-29 Blizzards A series of intense winter storms dropped a record 175 cm (5 feet 9 inches) of snow on southern Alberta. Thousands of cattle, unable to forage for food in the deep snow, perished on the open range. It is estimated that 30,000 calves perished. Army units were dispatched to assist in snow clearing, while food, fuel and feed were airlifted into the province. The good news? The Revenue Minister announced that the income tax deadline for residents of southern Alberta was extended two weeks to May 15.

[gman1978]

Was there not a nasty blizzard a few years ago, ( maybe more) down in that neck of the woods?? First part of May if I recall. Buried calves and shut things down for a few days.

[Justahunter]

Originally Posted by wildbill

Anyone here have any first hand accounts of the blizzard that hit South Western Alberta in the spring of ‘69?

I worked on a ranch south of Taber a few years after that happened. Guy I worked for showed me where cows piled into the Chin Coulee and were standing on dead cows as much as 60-80 feet deep. Then the ones standing on top were starving. Lot of bones still there at that time. They flew hay in for the survivors

[Salavee]

As I recall it was the winter of 68/69. .. not positive. Whenever it was, it was the winter that we lost all of the Pheasants and Huns that used to be abundant in this area. . I also remember the weird winter rain that came after all the snow and sealed them under the ice crust. We never did get them back, It was a bad one.

[bat119]

Yikes! 80 inches of snow with 100 km winds now that's a blizzard






http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...alCode=vwws20&

[crazy_davey]

Yup, 1967.

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by bat119

Yikes! 80 inches of snow with 100 km winds now that's a blizzard






http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...alCode=vwws20&

What a great photo, as I looked closer I could see the guy on the right was digging out a car,it said on here there were 80 foot drifts ,holy what a nightmare. Also stated that it was the coldest month in Western Canada on record, thanks for sharing this photo.

[jpohlic]

Everyone today with a high-efficient furnace that direct vents out the wall of the house would be screwed. Go to bed with heat and wake up with none, a drift as high as the house covering your combustion air intake and exhaust.

[wildbill]

Originally Posted by bat119

Yikes! 80 inches of snow with 100 km winds now that's a blizzard






http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...alCode=vwws20&

ThAts crazy!

[6.5 shooter]

I always thought it was in May of 67 but I was only 10 so.... we still had snow piled up from the cat clearing our yard until the end of June/July.

We had to tunnel out to the barn to milk the cows and my brother and Dad walked 4 miles to our winter feeding grounds then dragged the small square bales another 3/4 of a mile to the cattle...They were able to ride the horses back after breaking trail in the evening. My dad was able to hook up the team and feed for the next while...no school for a week or so....

Snow machines were useless...but the thing I remember most are the people in Lethbridge and area getting help from the military etc.... but they only had a foot of snow or so according to Bill Matheson on the news.

Nearly 6 feet if I remember correctly near Twin Butte.

[Freedom55]

I was attending Grade 7 in Claresholm that winter. There was no break from school for me as a townie but my rancher friends had it tough. The best part, and the only bit I recall clearly, were the soldiers everywhere. And the Sikorsky Chinooks flying in and out of town to shuffle loads of alfalfa and hay bales to the stranded cattle.

That and plenty of digging. I had a shovel route (and a lawn-mower route) so I made a ton of money that storm. Put it all into an account at the local branch of the Canada Permanent Trust because they gave me a silver Centennial dollar for doing so. I tried to withdraw that money a couple of years later only to find out that that branch had been mismanaged and my money was gone! So much for the 'permanent' part.

I was in Grade 10 before I saw that cash. BTW that car is too new to be in a snowstorm in the sixties.

Free (to reminisce)

[Xbolt7mm]

Originally Posted by Freedom55

I was attending Grade 7 in Claresholm that winter. There was no break from school for me as a townie but my rancher friends had it tough. The best part, and the only bit I recall clearly, were the soldiers everywhere. And the Sikorsky Chinooks flying in and out of town to shuffle loads of alfalfa and hay bales to the stranded cattle.

That and plenty of digging. I had a shovel route (and a lawn-mower route) so I made a ton of money that storm. Put it all into an account at the local branch of the Canada Permanent Trust because they gave me a silver Centennial dollar for doing so. I tried to withdraw that money a couple of years later only to find out that that branch had been mismanaged and my money was gone! So much for the 'permanent' part.

I was in Grade 10 before I saw that cash. BTW that car is too new to be in a snowstorm in the sixties.

Free (to reminisce)

I dont see enough of that car to say that,,,what do you see

[Justahunter]

BTW that car is too new to be in a snowstorm in the sixties.

Free (to reminisce)[/QUOTE]

That car could be a 68 Dodge Monaco or Polara. They had that back end sort of The tractor could be a Massey 65 which came out in the 60`s I think.

[bat119]

I was thinking the same thing about the car however that was the picture in the Alberta archives associated with the 67 snowstorm. Could be a 66-67 Chevelle?

[walking buffalo]

Cool memories.

What can you guys dig up on the Winter of the Blue Snow, 1906?

[cowmanbob]

:sign01

Originally Posted by Justahunter

BTW that car is too new to be in a snowstorm in the sixties.

Free (to reminisce)

That car could be a 68 Dodge Monaco or Polara. They had that back end sort of The tractor could be a Massey 65 which came out in the 60`s I think.[/QUOTE]

I think your right about the tractor, car looks like a chev impala

[cowmanbob]

Originally Posted by Justahunter

BTW that car is too new to be in a snowstorm in the sixties.

Free (to reminisce)

That car could be a 68 Dodge Monaco or Polara. They had that back end sort of The tractor could be a Massey 65 which came out in the 60`s I think.[/QUOTE]

I think your about the tractor, car looks like a chev impala.

[bat119]

Originally Posted by walking buffalo

Cool memories.

What can you guys dig up on the Winter of the Blue Snow, 1906?

Was it a blue winter because of the huge loss of cattle due to a mange out break compounded with a large snowfall and record low temperatures?

Ranchers stopped cattle dipping the year before because they thought
had stopped the mange they resumed in the summer of 1907.

Was that the origin of cow tipping?

[fishnguy]

Originally Posted by walking buffalo

Cool memories.

What can you guys dig up on the Winter of the Blue Snow, 1906?

Welcome back!

[bat119]

The coffin handle
another story from the winter of 06

The blizzard that signaled the ugly winter of 1906 was only one of many. It gave no warnings, except maybe a dark parch of cloud in the northwest sky that threatened a fierce Blue Northern. By the middle of that already frozen afternoon, the cattle had lumbered off toward the coulee to tuck themselves in for the storm.
Bob Knight told a story about that blizzard, of a young man who tried to round up the stragglers. Anyone can tell you there is no point in trying to save cattle that feel a blizzard coming on, and even the most spirited horse knows enough to stay out the killing cold. The boy must have figured he could do the impossible – find cattle that didn’t want to be found.
No one saw him alive again.

More story here

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/e..._Flatline.html

The grave site
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/...butte-cemetery

[Taco]

Bobby Knight helluva hand, met him when he was 80 yr old and still putting in a day's work for XL Ranches

[MOUNTAIN MICKEY]

Remember driving my Motoski to work after that storm. Spring Coulee to Magrath.

[drhu22]

Nope