David Janssen credited as playing...
Paul Garrett • Narrator
- [first lines]
- Paul Garrett: As the 19th century was drawing to a close, Centennial was hit by the most destructive blizzard ever recorded in northern Colorado. Within hours, the temperature had dropped to an incredible 45 degrees below zero. Sixteen inches of new snow had fallen. Cattle perished by the tens of thousands on the open range. For some, like Charlotte Seccombe, and Scottish accountant Finlay Perkin, and especially for Oliver Seccombe, who had begun the mighty Venneford Ranch, the great blizzard marked the end of an era. For Levi Zendt, it was the end of a lifetime. For the traveling actors Mervin and Maude Wendell, it meant a brand new beginning. A new audience for old performances. For the frontier lawman, Axel Dumire, it brought concern that his town, like others before it, would fall prey to a kind of crime the presence of his badge and gun could not prevent. But for most, for working men like John Skimmerhorn and Jim Lloyd, it was simply the terrible white present. And its passing meant an end to the back-breaking effort to save what could be saved during a devastating tragedy.