Her fingers lovingly traced the script on the letters. Most had bold handwriting, written in thick strokes. There was one, however, that had elegant script. Heather wondered if someone’s mother or sister had written the letter on a man’s behalf.
“We are going to the hotel. Mr. Martin offered for everyone to come and have coffee.”
Heather looked at Linda and the rest of the women headed towards the hotel. Some appeared tired and others even seemed excited at the prospect of a new life.
She looked at the letters in her hand and then up at the sky. It was full of white fluffy clouds moving across the bright blue sky. She pulled her shawl a little tighter around her and said a prayer over the letters in her hand and all the women that took a chance on trusting God with their futures.
When she was done, she whispered a slight amen. As she clutched the letters closer, she knew God would answer their prayers.
“Are you coming, slowpoke?” Millie called back to her.
“I’m coming,” Heather called as she stepped into the road and raced to catch up with the women walking ahead.
Author’s Note
The Three Blizzards
The Blizzard Brides is loosely based on three terrible blizzards that hit the mid-west in the 1870s/1880s, the Easter Blizzard (1873) and the Schoolhouse Blizzard (1888); as well as the Great Blizzard of 1888, which pummeled the East Coast.
Easter Sunday, April 13, 1873, began as a pleasant day in southeast Nebraska. But rain started that afternoon and temperatures dropped. During the night, the wind howled and by morning, 18 inches of heavy, wet snow had fallen. The storm raged for two more days, finally abating on Wednesday, April 17. Drifts as high as 20 feet had accumulated in some areas. Many people perished, including a woman with an infant that died just feet from her home, along with thousands of head of livestock.
Schoolhouse Blizzard, 1888
In January 1888, a massive cold air mass with a spread of over 780 miles, moved into the States from Canada. The temperature on the front end of the cold front in some places dropped from above freezing to -20°F in just hours. The storm was extremely fast moving, striking Montana in the early morning hours of January 12, swept through Dakota Territory and was in Nebraska by mid-afternoon of that same day. Because of the warm spell preceding the storm and the swiftness with which it moved, many people were caught off-guard. The strong winds and powdery snow made for zero visibility in many areas. That, combined with bitter cold temperatures and high winds, resulted in a death toll of 235.
One of the worst blizzards in U.S. History happened in March of 1888. In fact, it's referred to as "The Great Blizzard". Snow pounded the east coast from March 12-14, dropping 20-60 inches of snow in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Sustained winds of 45 mph created snowdrifts more than 50 feet high. If the snow wasn't bad enough, a record low temperature for March of 6° F was recorded during the blizzard. More than 400 people lost their lives.
-- Contributed by Laura Ashwood
https://sweetamericanasweethearts.blogspot.com/2020/10/deadly-blizzards-by-laura-ashwood.html
Negro Spirituals
In this story I have Altar sing two songs at the schoolhouse while they were waiting for the storm to pass.
Oh! Let My People Go: The Song of the Contrabands, was also known as Go Down Moses. The first publication of the song was arranged by Horace Waters, a prominent name in piano sales and sheet music at the time.
Mr. L.C. Lockwood, chaplain of the Contrabands, stated in the sheet music that the song was from Virginia, dating from about 1853. A second source refutes that and says the song “Go Down Moses” is believed to have been written around 1800 by slaves inspired by the biblical story of the Jews' liberation from slavery in Egypt
The second song is Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, which, it is estimated, was published by Wallace and Minerva Willis when they were working at a school for Native American boys in Oklahoma's Indian Territory. It is said that the song was inspired by Mr. Willis’s time working along the Red River, which reminded him of the Jordan River and of the Prophet Elijah's being taken to heaven by a chariot (2 Kings 2:11). The headmaster of the school wrote down Mr. Willis’s words and the melody and then sent it to Nashville, where it was subsequently recorded.
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/04/19/passover-go-down-moses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Down_Moses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_Low,_Sweet_Chariot
https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20060815/d_sweetchariot.art.htm
The story continues in The Blizzard Bride Series. Find out about all the characters in town and how they find love in the town of Last Chance, Nebraska
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A Groom For Claire
By Patricia PACJAC Carroll
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By Cat Cahill
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The Blizzard Bride Authors
Christine Sterling
Cat Cahill
Heather Blanton
Laura Ashwood
Lynn Donovan
Marianne Spitzer
Marie Higgins
Marisa Masterson
Marlene Bierworth
Parker J. Cole
Patricia Carroll
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