1948, I was 14 and we had a New Year’s party and my mother had Lou and Dorothy and maybe Joe and Wilma for dinner, - but I’m not sure of that. I had just turned 15 on Christmas eve. After dinner, all of the old folks were playing cards and my dad told me to go to the south pasture and check the water. We had a pretty new Jeep pickup that I loved to drive. So I took it out and was driving in the hills. There was a big snow drift and instead of going around it, I decided to go through it and got stuck. I scooped and scooped most of the afternoon and finally got out and came home. There had been a lot of snow in November.
We had a radio but it was battery operated and barely came in. We didn’t have electricity. The weather looked menacing and thought we had better get to town. Christmas vacation was over and I had to go back to school on the 2 nd. Lyn was going to school in Seneca and so was Larry and Dottie. Dad had a new 47 Chevy and that’s what Mom kept and drove back and forth on the weekends. We put a caravan together with Dad ahead and Lou and Dorothy had a 48 Chevy and not sure if Wilma had a car or a pickup? I think they were in the caravan and we just got to town using the winter road – out through the pastures. The main road to Seneca was blown full of snow. All of the hills south of Calf Creek were full of snow. We’d go through the hills until we got to the stock yards and back on the road. The gravel stopped at the County line. It took 1 ½ hours to get to Seneca and it was snowing pretty hard. Dad and Lou turned around and headed back home and Joe took Wilma with him. Lyn stayed with her grandma. Mom and I went on to Mullen and by the time we got there, we could hardly see. We made it to Mullen and rented a basement at John Mallory’s right south of the Jewel Diner on highway 2. The Mallory’s were gone and the 2 nd day of the blizzard the furnace went out. So Mom called Louie Folk who sold hydro gas or propane and had probably put the furnace in. He made it down there in his big 4-wheel drive truck with the propane on the back and got the furnace started.
Later we found out that Dad, Lou and Joe got within ½ mile of the old ranch (Lou’s place) and the jeep quit. They all had to walk into Lou’s and spend the night. The next day it was a “real blizzard” of 1949. My Dad saddled a horse and rode over to his place and drained everything – stools and what water we had, then went back over and moved in with Lou. I think Wilma and Joe were there too until the blizzard ended.
Joe rode a horse home, got another horse and came up and got Wilma. It stayed cold and the wind would blow every day. We didn’t really have any way to feed hay. They were in the process of converting from horses to tractors and had a hay rack and fed what hay they could. The tanks were full of snow and the cows had ice on their faces. Dad and Lou had to go around and knock the ice off their faces so they could drink. The loss was pretty great. The cows and calves drifted and died. There was some protection in the Rowdy. I don’t know if they ever counted them. They counted the live ones.
When the storm was over, they had called school off. I could see a little up to the school. It was a pretty nice day. I walk[ed] down town and the drifts were as high as the buildings. A guy named Bud Gibson had a new little jeep with a canvas top. He got it started and drove up the sidewalk to the street that runs south and got out as far as highway 2. He came back and said it was plugged up solid. So the state got their snow moving equipment out which amounted to a 4-wheel drive truck with a V blade on the front. They got the word out that they needed help and asked if some of the high school kids would shovel. So I went to Lowe’s hardware and bought the last scoop they had for $2.89. So, I hired on to the state with about 30 of us high school kids. We would dig a trench down through a snow bank about 3-4’ foot wide. It was hard to get the snow scooped over the top. The truck would back up about 100’ and take a run for it and plow through the trench. They were able to get 4-5’, then start over. We did that for 3 days. We got to the top of the hill west of Seneca. – This was about 3-4 miles before Seneca.
That’s when a truck with a snow blower on the front came from Broken Bow and could move a lot more snow. So our job with the State was finished. So after that, Lee Boyer was raising turkeys – kind of a turkey farm about 5 miles east of Mullen and another one about 5 miles west of Mullen. He needed someone to scoop out his turkey houses. So he hired some high school boys, so I went along and scooped there, but never saw a turkey. I don’t know if it was a total loss. I never saw a live one or a dead one. We did the one east of Mullen first then went to the west one. There were numerous other little jobs around town that needed use of a scoop shovel, so I made good use of it.
We eventually heard from my Dad, but the phone he had – had to go through Seneca central. I don’t know if we even had a phone in Mullen, but heard from Dad anyway. We never made it back to the country and he never made it to town for 5 weeks. He was exhausted. He spent the night and loaded up groceries and went back to the ranch. After the army had airlifted hay in – in big airplanes. If they saw cattle, they would dump a few bales out. The Army sent in bulldozers and personnel to plow the roads to the ranches so they could get more supplies and feed for their cattle. Not knowing where they were going, it was just like a maze trying to follow their tracks but they eventually got to each ranch. Mostly the ones north of Seneca. Jim Miller had a half track that he brought up from Omaha that he had bought after the war. He went up to Lou’s but had to go in east of the place. It was impossible to get in on the west of the place.
He got stuck east of the place but had a winch and was able to winch on through the drift. The Army followed later. That’s when my Dad finally made it to town after the road was bulldozed. It was a few more weeks and Mom and I were able to come out to the ranch. I was doing the driving by then and was 15. Every time the wind would blow, which was every day, it would fill the tracks and they would have to start all over. It may have been March before we ever got back out to the ranch. A lot of the snow had dissipated. We were still following the tracks the Army had plowed. Karen and Georgia were with us. The main Seneca road didn’t thaw out when we came out here. It must have been late March, early April or maybe May before the snow was gone. The first of June, there was still snow in the lane on the way to the old ranch.
The blizzard lasted 3 big days and 3 nights.
Left: “A Drift between Mullen & Seneca 3-4 weeks after 49 blizzard.” Right: “Dad had a new 47 Chevy and that’s what Mom kept and drove back and forth on the weekends.”
In 1946, Dad built on to the original house so we had a bathroom with running water. There was a kitchen and bedroom added on also. Was originally a couple shacks that made an L. The addition made a square. He had a carpenter finish it and Dad did all of the plumbing. He built on a porch.
One night about midnight in 1948, Georgia got the croup. Mom sent me to Doc Walkers. I knocked on the door and he answered and gave me something. It must have cured her. That was the first year I went to school in Mullen in the 8 th grade. We were living in the old Matthews Motel at the time which is where the drive-inn is now.
Jerry Merz
1933-2019
FROM HIS OBITUARY -
“Jerry was a true family man, taking the time to teach his children and grandchildren many important lifelong skills. While his grandkids were growing up, he spent time with each of their hobbies, whether it was cowboying, fishing, working on cars, welding, or watching high school sports. He was a wonderful neighbor, always willing to lend a helping hand. He was known for his kindness toward all animals, including numerous granddogs. He rarely hired anyone for repairs or labor, always saying “why would I pay someone to do something I can do myself?” Many of his projects included unusual components, therefore, his kids developed the term ‘Jerry-rigging.””