The Long Winter

Blizzards as a motif highlight The Beauty and Danger of the Natural World, because in certain moments they are described as beautiful and almost magical, but the power of the storms and their persistence through seven long months creates dangers for the homesteaders. The blizzards in the story serve as the primary antagonist to the Ingalls family and the town of De Smet in the novel. One immediate danger caused by blizzards is that, because the storms strike so suddenly, townspeople can be caught unawares and become easily lost. Laura and Carrie—as well as many of the schoolchildren and their teacher—were almost lost in a blizzard in November that hit while they were in school. Once school is cancelled because there is no coal, most people do not leave their homes except to get more supplies.

The blizzards are so severe that they stop the trains, which were the only source of supplies for the Dakota Territory. Without supplies, coal and food dwindle dangerously, and people begin to starve. This prompts Almanzo to go on a dangerous mission to find a homestead with stored wheat, but the mission almost fails because, “[b]efore them in the sky, star after star went out as the black cloud rose” (285).