The Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 20, number 2, December 1936

              the westward trail w a titus chapter x the winter of 1881 is remembered by all the older people as the winter of the deep snow the snowfall was only moderate until february then it became phenomenal day after day and night after night the white blanket piled higher the valleys were filled and roadways were obliterated in the woods where the snowfall was undisturbed by the wind the snow was easily six feet deep some of our farm build ings had snow banks against them that reached up on the sloping roofs the entire population was imprisoned in the homes for weeks except as they ventured out on snowshoes the paths from the house to the farm buildings were minia ture canyons during this time one of our neighbors died and his body was carried by eight men two miles to the cem etery toward spring occasional rains followed by cold weather gave to the snow fields a surface of ice as late as april farmers were still driving teams over the crusted snow that entirely concealed the rail fences and made the country side an arctic waste on one of the hill roads which had high banks on either side we children tunneled through the deep frozen snow and thus coasted down through a literal white way secure from the cold blasts until we emerged at the lower end in early april of that year father and i began to cut timber from the wood lot about a mile from our home i was too young to chop down the large trees but did very well at the end of the crosscut saw when we were ready to