Schoolchildren's Blizzard | Exposed | 3
Against The Odds
Audible
4.7 • 7.9K Ratings
🗓️ 10 February 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the blizzard raged, its winds blew up to 60 miles per hour. Those caught out in the storm faced white-out conditions. With few landmarks on the flat prairie, even residents who knew the area well found themselves disoriented. Children like Walter Allen and Lena Woebbecke became lost in the furious storm, desperately trying to make it to safety.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A listener note, against the odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events. |
| 0:05.5 | Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, but everything is based on research. |
| 0:10.2 | This series contains depictions of violence and death involving children and may not be suitable for everyone. |
| 0:26.1 | Eight years ago, Eight-year-old Walter Allen Staggers forward into the fierce wind of the blizzard. |
| 0:29.6 | He crosses his arms tightly to his chest, |
| 0:32.2 | sliding his bare hands under his armpits for warmth. |
| 0:35.1 | He can't stop shivering. |
| 0:37.2 | He looks around, but the sharp snow |
| 0:39.3 | stings his eyes. A few steps later, his foot catches and he stumbles forward. He tries to catch |
| 0:46.3 | his fall, but he ends up flat on his face. The wind knocked out of him. He struggles to his |
| 0:51.7 | feet, shaking the snow off his numb hands. It's mid-afternoon, |
| 0:57.6 | on January 12, 1888, near Groton in the Dakota Territory. Walter has been wandering through this |
| 1:05.0 | blinding storm for hours. He missed the sledge that took his classmates from their schoolhouse back to |
| 1:10.8 | town. |
| 1:11.7 | It's a near whiteout in this open field, and he can't see a single landmark that he recognizes. |
| 1:18.1 | He leans forward, his palms on his thighs, catching his breath. |
| 1:22.8 | He wonders what he tripped on. |
| 1:25.1 | Walter has crossed this field so many times on his way to and from school |
| 1:28.8 | that he knows it like the back of his hand. There are a few small boulders out here and a couple of tree |
| 1:34.5 | stumps. If he can figure out what he tripped on, he might be able to determine where he is in relation |
| 1:40.4 | to his home. He drops to all fours and crawls the way he came, patting the snow in |
| 1:46.4 | front of him. But as he gropes his way back, he can't feel anything on the ground but snow, |
... |
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