On This Date in Minnesota History: April 2

April 2, 1902 – Passengers arriving in Minneapolis today on a Great Northern train that was due here last Friday told of being snowbound for four days and five nights on the prairies of N. D. in the midst of the worst blizzard the northwest has seen in many years, with only food enough for two frugal meals a day, and with such a small amount of fuel that the ladies had to wrap themselves in blankets and the men to wear their overcoats day and night to keep from freezing.

Late last Thursday afternoon, the train picked its precarious way out of Williston, N. D. in the hope of being able to reach Minot, some 14 miles to the east, before night. Almost midway, at a little stopping place called Ray, where there is only a siding, a water-tank and a coal shed, the train was stalled.

Ray, N.D.¹

The engineer thought he could get aid, and taking the conductor with him, started on the trip. The lone engine was struck in a drift in a cut a short distance out of the town and had to be abandoned. This left the train of eight coaches and about 250 passengers alone on the siding, with all communications cut off. Thus began the long siege, during which the cold had to be borne and hunger stifled.

Among the passengers were Minnesota State Senator E. G. Potter of Minneapolis, his wife and daughter. Senator Potter said there was much discussion among the passengers and train crews as to what should be done. It was snowing heavily and the wind was blowing a gale, piling the snow up in great drifts on the prairie and filling every cut in the roadbed.

On the first day, there was an argument about food distribution. The second-class passengers insisted that they must have as much or more food as the others, as they were in larger numbers. Many were not willing, as the first-class passengers insisted that the women and children should be fed and taken care of first, but after some argument they prevailed upon to subside. 

The fuel supply carried in the three day coaches, two tourist cars, two Great Northern sleepers and one Pullman was being consumed rapidly. The porters bundled themselves up well and made their way to the coal shed, some distance from the train. After digging in the snow for nearly two hours they learned that the shed was entirely empty.

The following day the fuel became scarcer and the ladies and children bundled themselves up in heavy blankets and other bed clothing from the sleeping cars, and the men wore their overcoats and walked to keep warm. They played cards, conducted debates on all manner of subjects and questions, from the most profound to the most ludicrous, and did everything imaginable to amuse themselves. They made the nights as long as possible, retiring early and getting up late. It was warmer and more comfortable in the berths than sitting up.

The porters were sent out again to search for fuel. Again they began their digging in the coal shed and after several hours of work, picked up what little coal there was strewn about the floor and on the tracks, and managed to keep the fires going in all the stoves. The water supply gave out early on the second day, and all that was used after that was secured by melting snow.

Monday evening Professor F. W. Colegrove, of the University of Washington, who was heading to N. Y. to visit family on a vacation trip, and who had been despondent and morose, attempted suicide by cutting his throat with a razor. During the long delay caused by the storm, Professor Colegrove became more despondent, while his fellow passengers tried to cheer him up. Monday evening he went into the dining car and secured his ration, and then walked back through the train and stopped in the vestibule of a tourist car. There he drew a razor and slashed his throat. Hi jugular vein was partially severed and it is not believed he can recover.

There was a physician aboard the train, but he had no facilities for performing the necessary surgery, and it was absolutely necessary to get into communication with one of the neighboring towns. In their desperation the passengers broke open everything in the train chests, and found a telegraph instrument in the conductor’s box.

A young man on the train, an electrician, faced the blizzard and tapped one of the wires and attached the instrument. He knew a little about telegraphy, and was able to notify the operators at both Minot and Williston of what had occurred. From each town a snow plow was started in front of an engine bearing a surgeon. The one from Minot, after a hard night’s work, reached the siding early the following morning, and the wounded man was removed on the first train to St. Paul, where he was cared for at the city hospital. 

Minot, N.D. Great Northern Depot in Early 1900s²

The almost famished passengers who had suffered from the cold and exposure were given food and warm berths in the first train pushed through the drifts. The rotary plow made one trip through the drift between Ray and Minot, but the snow piled so rapidly that it was necessary for the rotary to pass through again and then precede the passenger train through the cut.

The passengers say the railroad company did everything it could under the circumstances, and are not inclined to find much fault.

Professor Colegrove survived his attempted suicide. He died in 1915 in Oneida County, N. Y.


Minneapolis Journal; “Freed From The Drifts. Senator E. G. Potter Has a Thrilling Version of ‘Snow Bound.’ Passengers Wore Blankets and Had Two Meals a Day.”; April 2, 1902; p. 1.

¹http://pics2.city-data.com/city/maps5/frt3414.png

²http://www.familyoldphotos.com/8c/images/mar/NDminotdepot-r.jpg

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