[Battle Axe]

In one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, when I believe she was living in DeSmet, there was a blizzard that blew the town full of snow. Up to the second story of the house she said. Then it blew it all away. It was in the 1880’s.

I always wondered if this was the recollection of a half starved, sleepy child.

[Campion]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolhouse_Blizzard

January, 1888. My father said my grandfather remembered it vividly, a warm, springlike day that turned into a "white hell".

[Campion]

(My grandfather would have been about 130 miles south of DeSmet at the time.)

[gnarledmaw]

"It was in the 1880’s. I always wondered if this was the recollection of a half starved, sleepy child."

Of course, I wasn't there but...

In this part of rural Wisconsin there are still quite a few old houses around, the original part of the one Im posting from was built in 1860.

On some of these older homes, especially as one approaches Door County, many have a back door on the second floor. There is no evidence that there ever was a balcony and there are ladders attached to the house, many appear to have been there just about as long as the house. These ladders usually start at the upper door and go down to the top of the first floor and stop. Many of these houses are old brick designs so its pretty evident when there have been repairs/removals/additions because the source of bricks changed causing obvious color differences, these places don't have anything to suggest that there was anything other than a ladder there so these builders were planning for something.