Seventy one years ago today was a
day that will always be remembered as a tragic day in the great outdoors. Armistice Day 1940 started out as a beautiful
60 degree morning and hundreds of duck hunters took to the marshes of the Mississippi river hoping for some good shooting.
The shooting was not great early in
the morning but as the day progressed the ducks began funneling down the river
valley in ever increasing numbers. At
first there were wood ducks and mallards but soon canvasbacks, red heads,
golden eyes and scaup began to show up in huge flocks of hundreds of
birds. By early afternoon the wind began
to pick up in strength and with it came geese and swans by the thousands.
The bag limit then was 25 birds so
the hunters were having action like they’d never seen before. Then at about 2 o’clock it began to rain. The rain turned to sleet and soon to
snow. The wind picked up and the waves
coming down the river began to grow to 4 and 5 foot rollers.
In the next hour the snow turned
into a whiteout. The wind grew and
topped out at 70 mph. Waves up to ten
feet tall began crashing onto the islands where the duck hunters soon realized
they were in very big trouble.
Some tried to get back to land in
their little duck boats, and many did not make it. Some decided to ride it out on the islands,
and were found the next day frozen under their upturned boats.
Across the area, over 100 people
died from the snow and cold. Over a
million turkeys froze in their brooder houses, hundreds of cattle and horses
froze in their pastures. Three large
ships capsized on Lake Michigan and sank. And, on the Mississippi
river, 50 duck hunters had their last hunt.
It was an event that couldn’t
happen today. With the weather forecasts
this could never happen, but it did happen 71 years ago today and it will
always be remembered as the Armistice Day Storm.
Post by: Dan Bomkamp
2 comments:
That was really tragic. Can't help thinking how a happy event be turned into something unexpected and deadly. May the souls rest in peace.
I enjoy reading old time survival stories and Armistice Day Storm is one of it. The hunting was spectacular beyond belief with wave after wave of ducks coming in over the decoys. It was hard to believe since sunny weather usually makes duck hunting a challenge, but that year was something else.
Post a Comment