Author visits The Bookworm of Edwards to tell story of epic 1931 Colorado snowstorm

There are many parts of Colorado’s colorful history that have been skewed or lost to time, like what really happened in Southeastern Colorado on a makeshift wooden school bus one Thursday in March 1931 during the worst snowstorm Colorado had seen in over 50 years. Luckily, Colorado-based publisher Fulcrum Publishing republished the book “Children of the Storm” after its 2001 edition had gone out of print, in order to share this incredible story with a generation of new readers.

On Thursday, Feb. 13, learn from author Ariana Harner the harrowing story of 20 schoolchildren on the Southeastern plains of Colorado who were trapped for 33 hours in a makeshift school bus — and not everyone made it out alive. There will be a Q&A session and book signing, and light refreshments will be provided.

The efforts to share the story of the Pleasant Hill School Bus Tragedy started three decades ago with a magazine article. “In the mid-1990s, Clark Secrest wrote an article for the Colorado Historical Society’s magazine (now History Colorado) about the events of March 26 and 27, 1931,” Harner said. “He interviewed a handful of survivors for it. A few years later, when I started working at History Colorado, he commented that the story deserved a comprehensive telling — and soon, given the survivors were in their 80s, and he suggested I write it. I felt unprepared, so we agreed that I would do the research and writing with his guidance.”

Driven by the desire to learn more about the survivors and how a great tragedy can affect communities, Harner spent a few years tracking down those who were still alive at the time, and dove into local history resources.

“This story isn’t well-known outside of southeast Colorado, yet at the time was international news,” Harner said. “I was intrigued by the survivors, most of whom went on to live full lives. My controlling question was, ‘Who are these individuals, and how did this experience shape them?'”

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“I traveled to several states in 1998 and 1999 to interview all the living survivors,” Harner said. “Together, Clark and I spoke with family members of the survivors who had since died. They shared recollections the survivors wrote down in their adulthood and photos and personal memories. I also read all the contemporary newspaper reports available at the Colorado History Society library, the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library, and from small local libraries in southeast Colorado and western Kansas.”

Digging into the past through personal stories and historical archives revealed the great impact this event had on Eastern Colorado’s and our nation’s history, and potentially current policies.

“Today, many people think of the mountains as the most notable part of Colorado, which is understandable given their grandeur,” Harner said. “The Eastern Plains, however, boast their own beauty and rich history and tend to get less attention. The site of this event remains isolated — didn’t have a cell signal last time I was there. This story likely influenced school bus policies that remain in effect nationwide today.”

Harner hopes that readers of this book are touched by the story and learn more about how communities survive great tragedy.

“I hope readers feel what I was privileged to experience: a profound respect and tenderness for the survivors,” Harner said. “This story is an account of Depression-era exploitation of families as they navigated crippling loss. There’s adventure and responsibility thrust upon children. The term ‘hero,’ while possibly well-intentioned, added to the weight they had to carry throughout their lives. While time and place created the circumstances for this tragedy, complicated ramifications tend to show up after significant events in any context.”