[NVDave]

Go back and read up on the winter of 1886 to 1887 in Wyoming, Montana and eastern MT.

It was what inspired Charley Russell to write the postcard “Waiting for a Chinook” that launched his career.

Here in Wyoming, there have been winters that killed 10’s of thousands of sheep. Much of Johnson County smelled for months of rotting flesh come spring after one of these winters.

[RegulatorCountry]

That winter was tough all over, my grandfather told of removing the wheels from wagons and mounting runners on them so they could take them down the creek to get to town for supplies, impassable otherwise. In central North Carolina. Frozen bodies of water during winter is not unusual, but it’s a good way to drown, it seldom gets thick enough to support the weight of a man, let alone horse and wagon.

[cloudmountain]

Much of Johnson County smelled for months of rotting flesh come spring after one of these winters.

Lovely.

There was NOTHING that the sheep ranchers could do to save their flocks/herds?

You would think that, knowing the weather forecast in advance, there would be something that could be done. Are there no shelters, no valleys, no place for the sheep? What a shame...for the sheep to die that way.