Volume 14 , Issue 16

Snyder, Oklahoma Visited By Disastrous Cyclone (1905)

It was May, 1905, when the town of Snyder, Oklahoma was visited by a disastrous cyclone wiping out whole families and homes. The Daily Ardmoreite, dated Thursday evening, May 11, 1905, in Ardmore, Indian Territory, had the headlines of "Death Rides Upon the Storm." The exact number of lives lost were unknown. Estimates ran all the way from 25 to three or four hundred dead. There were injured members in almost every house in town.

Guthrie, OK., May 11, 1905 -- Reports received indicated that between 200 and 400 hundred lives had been lost in the partial destruction of the town of Snyder, in Indian Territory, by a tornado. The same tornado struck Quinlan in Woodward county, destroying several houses and at that point at least three persons.

The tornado struck Snyder from the southwest, traveling north until within about 100 yards from the tracks of the Oklahoma City and Western railway. The tornado took a northeasterly course through the business portion of the town. North of the track not a building was left standing.

The Snyder tornado came as while most of the inhabitants of Snyder were asleep, but few had any warning of their danger. In a number of cases entire families were killed and in almost every family in town some member was injured. Every house in town except six were said to have been either badly wrecked or demolished. Many of them were blown away entirely.   |  View or Add Comments (1 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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