Based on actual oral histories of survivors, on the morning of January 12, 1888, it was unusually mild weather. It was warm enough for children to return to school without their heavy coats - leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At just the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers were suddenly faced with life and death decisions: keep the children inside, to risk freezing to death when fuel ran out, or send them home, praying they wouldn't get lost in the storm?
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