Hugh and Eleanor Ingalls, Centennial Angus, Faith, S.D., recount the historic blizzard that hit the area Oct. 3, and how they are coping with the loss of nearly 200 animals. For more information, visit www.ANGUS.org.
Really like the way Hugh thinks about ranching. It is very hard anymore to keep going and to get the younger people started with the costs of land and equipment to get started and still maintain a life with out losing it all. Hats off to you all.
Hugh and Eleanor are 2 of the finest people my wife and I ever met. We became good friends with their daughter Peggy and her husband Warren Rahn when I worked at the Pierre Airport FSS in 1979 and they invited us to spend Thanksgiving up at the Ingall's ranch. The whole family was just great and the food, including fried young deer backstrap for breakfast and the most amazing golden roasted turkey we ever tasted, was truly fantastic. I'll also never forget how gracious Hugh was that very first day we met him when our Afghan hound got so excited upon seeing all those magnificent Black Angus cattle that he jumped from the car and actually chased a prize bull plumb through one of Hugh's fences. Being from the south, I thought I knew what hospitality was but the heartfelt welcome given us by Hugh, Eleanor and the entire Ingalls family will always be remembered.
Hugh is my grandma's cousin. They live near Union Center/ Enning. Grandpa sold their cattle about 15 years ago, but have leased their land for winter pasture ever since. This storm was truly devastating.
Thank you for producing and sharing this video! It was very well done and tells an amazing story and first-hand account of Hugh's and Eleanor's experience from the Atlas Blizzard. My favorite part of the video is Hugh's comments that "You got to know how to give and you got to know how to receive"! I hope this video inspires even more people to give to the charities shown at the end of the video and also encourages more ranching families to come forward and accept the help that has been offered!!!
Winter Storm Atlas was extremely brutal to endure. All the cattle, horses, sheep and such that were lost. It was miserable. Not to mention the destruction of the trees in the area, 3 out of 4 trees were destroyed. I know in our yard we had to take down 4 of the 5 trees in our yard. The fifth tree suffered storm damage too but wasn't to the point that we had to take it down to a stump. Thankfully the house suffered minimal damage when the tree in the backyard came down against it, due to the rain turning to ice. Having electricity out in a house that is all electricity for 6 days was horrible too. We went 6 days without power, we had water that trickled from the sink. So it was a good thing I had water stashed under the stairwell. But 4 days into the storm, the water finally died out. We were cooking with a turkey fryer out on the deck and heating the living room area with a generator(Borrowed from a neighbor down the hill from us) running a small heater, a light and our cell phones charged up in the cars. Winter Storm Atlas was brutal, very brutal. On people, animals and property. I for one am grateful for the people here in the Black Hills and how beautiful the spirit they have to live here.
You dont seem to have many trees out there. Why dont you folks grow shelter belts? A few rows of trees can sure help keep the driving wind not so driving, providing shelter for ypour cattle.
Serious question... why the supposed heartache for loss of cattle when they were going to slaughter anyway... weather forecast was for wind and rain turning to snow.
Saint Paul It's not "supposed", many people who raise livestock, hunt and fish care deeply about animals. It may seem incongruous, but they simultaneously respect them and engage with them in the food chain. A hunter would explain this far better than I can.
