The winter of 1948-1949 was the harshest anyone could remember. People and animals were stranded in the wilderness with no food or shelter and things were only going to get worse.
This newspaper clipping gives you an idea of how extreme the cold was.
Trucks loaded with hay came into Fallon and Ely. But how to get it to the animals? The answer they found was quite novel.
The people of Nevada sought government assistance to reach the trapped people and animals. This appeal reached President Truman who declared Nevada to be in a state of emergency. He sent military assistance in a project known as “Operation Haylift.”
