Great Blizzard of 1873

Esten died in a blizzard that also took the lives of two young children who only lived a few miles away.  He apparently died trying to check on his livestock in the barn, but wasn’t able to make it back. He was buried on his property, and the site is now the Berg Cemetery. He was the first person to be interred there. The photo above is 40 years after his death, but it clearly shows what a three day blizzard can do.

Just how bad was the blizzard? Two children also died nearby, but it took two months, and a spring thaw to find their bodies. When they were discovered “it was evident that the boy had died standing by his sister, but had fallen over as the snow melted away.”

The Blizzard in “History of Minnehaha County”

This account is from “History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota” by Dana R. Bailey

BLIZZARDS

Although Minnehaha county is not remarkable for severe storms, still there have been some that are worthy of mention.

Perhaps the most notable one that occurred since white people commenced to inhabit this county was the January blizzard of 1873. It extended throughout Dakota, Minnesota, a portion of Iowa and the northern half of Wisconsin. Upwards of seventy people perished in Minnesota. In Minnehaha county the storm commenced in the forenoon of the 7th, and continued with but little abatement for nearly three days; four persons lost their lives and several others met with narrow escapes.

Robert Foster, who lived with his family in a sod-shanty in the northwest part of section 33 in Benton, lost two children. On the morning of the storm his son Robert, fourteen years old, and his daughter Sarah, twelve years old, started out to go a little over a half a mile north, where some bait had been put out for foxes, when the storm overtook them. They walked about a mile and a half south and a half a mile east, and finally stopped in a roofless sod-shanty, where they were found on the l5th day of March following, the girl still standing, and it was evident that the boy had died standing by his sister, but had fallen over as the snow melted away.

The other persons who perished in the storm were A. M. Abbott and a Scandinavian, whose name the writer has been unable to learn.

(*Esten was the Scandinavian)

The Blizzard in “History of Dakota Territory” 

Here’s another account from pages 260-261 in “History of Dakota Territory” by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915)  LINK

JOHN R. FOSTER

On the 7th of January, 1873, a brother and sister of our subject, aged respectively fourteen and twelve years, went a short distance from home and soon afterward a blizzard came up suddenly. The children wandered in the storm to an old sod house which stood out on the prairie and there sought shelter from the driving snow. However, as the house was roofless it afforded but poor protection against the blizzard and the children perished, their bodies being buried in the snow. Our subject and the father were absent from home at the time. Weeks passed and in spite of continued searching the bodies of the children were not found, but in March a neighbor dreamed that the children were in the old house and on the 16th of that month their bodies were found there.

Where Does This Take Place?

Here’s a map of the above events.  There’s an Historical Marker on the site.  LINK

Esten (Jonson) Eggen in “The History of Minnehaha County” 

Esten was the father of both Sivert and Jens Berg’s wives; Guru (wife of Sivert Berg) and Ellen (wife of Jens Berg).  Esten’s wife Kari died in Goodhue county, Minnesota on 29 Aug 1871. She was buried at Holden Lutheran Church on 17 Sept. 1871. Esten’s son Esten Eggen and son in-law Jens Berg made the trip back to Goodhue to bring Esten Volden to Minnehaha county. His son’s story is below.

Esten Jonson’s son Esten Eggen 

“According to a typed letter from the donor this photo of Esten Eggen of Baltic depicts a humorous image of him, since he did not smoke and could not play the violin”

Here’s a link to more information from the Siouxland Heritage Museum.  LINK

Esten & Maria Moen (Moan)

Gertie (Moen) Moan

Daughter of above. She had a brother Edward. Neither of them married. There are no descendants. Gertie died in 1972. She donated her family history and photos to Augustana College. They are located in the Western Studies Archive.

Gertie Moen Papers  LINK

Papers, 1830-1872

Folder # 30145

Photocopies of papers relating to Moen’s grandfather, Esten E. Eggen, a homesteader near Sioux Falls c. 1871.  The collection includes a copy of a family history and photos.