Odd Wisconsin Archive
It Was So Cold That...
The current frigid conditions sent us searching the historical record for similar outbreaks of arctic weather. Here is Ebenezer Childs (1797-1864), describing a trip from Madison to Portage in the winter of 1836-37:
"There were then but three other families in Madison. The doctor from Fort Winnebago [at modern Portage, who had been tending a Madison patient] designed to return the next day and wished me to wait for him. I concluded to do so and crossed Fourth Lake to its head near Pheasant Branch [Middleton] and spent the night with Col. W. B. Slaughter, who then lived on the west bank of the lake. The next morning the doctor came over. We started for the fort, between Slaughter's and which there was not a single house. I had my conveyance and the doctor had his with a driver.
"When about half way I asked the driver how the doctor stood the cold — for it was a stinging cold day. The doctor, who was completely covered up with buffalo robes, made no reply and the driver, of course, could not answer for him. I drove past them and on reaching a grove of timber I stopped and made a fire. When the other conveyance came up, I went to see the doctor, took the robes off, and found him completely chilled through and could not speak. We took him out of the sleigh, carried him to the fire, and rubbed him a long time before he could speak. I had a little brandy with me; he drank some of that and after a while he was able to walk when we again started for the fort. When we arrived at the fort, as we did without further mishap, we found that the thermometer stood thirty-two degrees below zero. I did not suffer at all with the cold as I ran the most of the way."
Childs became a pioneer settler of Green Bay and held several local and territorial positions. Although his prosperity was undermined by alcoholism, he was recalled as a fiercely optimistic and generous man.
After leaving the doctor at Fort Winnebago, he continued his journey north:
"The next day I left alone for Green Bay. There was not then a house between Fort Winnebago and Fond du Lac. The snow was deep across the prairies. I overtook two Stockbridge Indians nearly exhausted from fatigue and cold. I carried them in my jumper to the first timber, when we stopped and made a large fire, and left them. The snow was so deep that my horse could not draw them. They staid there until the next day and got home safe. If it had not been for me they would undoubtedly have perished on the prairie. I arrived at Green Bay safe and sound; there was then but one house between Fond du Lac and Green Bay."
[Source: Childs, Ebenezer. "Recollections of Wisconsin since 1820." Wisconsin Historical Collections 4: 153-196.
:: Posted in Bizarre Events on January 21, 2008
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