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Community Corner

Lambert: Surviving the Hellish Winter of 1830

Walkers' Grove settlers were duped into thinking northeastern Illinois winters were mild ... until they lived through the "Winter of the Deep Snow."

The Inquiry

Did the first pioneers experience mild or tough winters at Walkers’ Grove?

The Facts

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The first pioneer land claim along the DuPage River was likely in 1828. The first land was cleared and the first cabins at Walkers’ Grove were likely erected during the summer months of 1829.

Walkers’ Grove, in late 1830, consisted of fewer than 10 families—a close-knit band of hardy families, mostly men. During those first years, many of the original pioneer families, particularly women and young children, returned to Ottawa during the uncertain winter months on the frontier. 

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The entire settlement—surrounded by the thick forest along the DuPage River—numbered fewer than 30 individuals as winter approached in 1830. Fewer than 10 were women and young girls; nearly one-third were children younger than 10.

Deceptively Mild Weather

Before 1830, the winters in northeastern Illinois had been very mild for several years. With so little snow, pioneer families had few concerns with the onslaught of winter. Mild winters meant livestock seldom had to be fed more than four or six weeks during the entire winter. Wild hogs could be kept in fairly good order, feeding off acorns.

During the wave of mild winters, farmers had gathered only what corn they needed to feed their stock at the onset of winter, leaving the greater part of the crop in the field through the winter.

Such was the case at the onset of the winter of 1830.

During the fall of 1830, pioneer farmers had made no provisions for a hard winter. Also, many settlers were unprepared for a severe winter because they had arrived in Illinois late in the summer. 

Winter’s Fury

That fall, the first killing frost occurred in September across central and northern Illinois. Beginning in late December 1830, a wintry blast blanketed much of the upper Midwest. 

A cold rain began to fall across a vast region on Dec. 20, 1830. The rain occasionally changed to sleet or snow for five days, when large, soft flakes fell to a depth of 6 inches. The snow continued off and on for about a month, and—when it ceased falling—the snow in the timbered forests, where it did not drift, was about 42 inches deep.

Then, the cloud cover passed away, and the wind came from the northwest with extraordinary ferocity. A furious gale blew steadily from the northwest day and night, piling snow in low areas to a depth of 6 to 10 feet. The air was filled with flying and blinding snow.

Pioneers recalled later that the arctic wind almost stopped the breath of anyone who attempted to face it. No fit man could, for any considerable length of time, make his way on foot against it.

The deep snow lay on the ground three months, and the weather remained intensely cold. Many days, the mercury ran from 10 to 20 degrees below zero. From Dec. 15, 1830, to Feb. 25, 1831, no day passed without freezing temperatures recorded from outposts at present-day Chicago, Rock Island and Jacksonville. 

As if the wintry weather had not tested the Illinois pioneers’ resolve sufficiently, a steady rain that froze as it fell began in February, forming a crust of ice strong enough to “bear the weight of team and sled." 

Storms with high winds continued for 60 days; most families were snowbound in their primitive homes. Wind drove snow through chinks in the walls of log cabins, forcing the families to shovel out the interiors. Other pioneers, overcome by the snow, moved out of their cabins and took refuge elsewhere. Travelers remained wherever they happened to be when the heavy snow started. 

Although many Illinois pioneers died from exposure, no deaths were recorded at Walkers’ Grove. However, significant numbers of the pioneers’ livestock died during the harsh, long winter.

Badge of Honor

As the unforgiving winter of 1830 became the warm spring of 1831, many new and brave pioneer families entered northeastern Illinois. 

However, the “Winter of the Deep Snow” became a milepost in pioneer legendry. As time passed, pioneers who lived in Illinois before 1831 qualified for special designation as a "Snow Bird" when Old Settlers’ associations formed during the middle of the 19th century.

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