#133 - Winter Count Recorded Great Meteor Storm of 1833

Above: This is the Medicine Bear Winter Count (photo courtesy of the Montana Historical Society). The winter count is now on display in the new Montana Heritage Center near the Capitol in Helena. Click on it to enlarge.

A communal historical record . . .
Many Plains people recored important events on "winter counts" - hides painted with symbols marking events that happened to a group during the course of a year or "winter". Each year, elders chose the most significant event from the previous year - a battle, a hunt, a natural phenomenon, a death, or a cultural milestone. The winter count keeper would paint a symbol for it on a hide or other material, creating a visual timeline spanning generations. The symbols are arranged in a spiral pattern, usually starting from the outer edge and moving toward the center. The winter count displayed at the Montana Heritage Center, created by a man named Medicine Bear on a deer hide, depicts events experienced by a band of Yanktonai people from 1823-1911. The traditional lands of the Yanktonai (of the Sioux Nation) were between the Missouri and James Rivers in what are now eastern portions of the Dakotas.

The stars fell down . . .
As I was examining at the winter count display at the new museum, I wondered if Medicine Bear had recorded one of the most significant celestial events in recorded history - The Great Meteor Storm of 1833. Fortunately the display has an interactive touch-screen that allowed me to check. As I moved the my finger along the timeline, I stopped at 1833 - and there is was! Like many keepers of winter counts, Medicine Bear had indeed recorded the Great Meteor Storm of 1833. It the most extraordinary meteor shower ever recorded, with an estimated 150,000 to 240,000 meteors per hour streaking across the skies on the night of November 12–13, 1833. People all over North America were awakened by the brightness of the night sky! This event was witnessed and documented by many famous Americans of the time, including Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln.

Right: A closer look at the symbol Medicine Bear used to depict the Meteor Storm of 1833. Click on it to enlarge.

Comet debris . . .
In addition to causing widespread awe and even fear (many thought it was the end of the world), the storm inspired scientific study, helping astronomers better understand meteor showers. Eventually atronomers determined that the meteor storm of November 1833 was caused by debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun once every 33 years. Comets, often called "dirty snowballs", are small icy Solar System bodies - Tempel-Tuttle is a little over 2 miles across. As it approaches the Sun, some of the ice changes to vapor, loosening pieces of rock, metal, and dust that were embedded in the ice - so a trail of debris is left behind. Then if Earth passes through this debris as it orbits the Sun, these pieces are pulled toward Earth (gravity), accelerating to incredible speeds. As they enter the atmosphere, the friction generates heat and light as the pieces vaporize. Most are particles the size of a grain of sand or a pea that burn up (vaporize) completely. Larger, brighter meteors (fireballs) are produced by objects from the size of a fist to a car, but even most these often disintegrate before reaching the ground. Pieces that do reach Earth's surface are called meteorites.

Meteor Showers . . .
There are several meteor showers on known dates every year. All are caused by Earth passing through debris left behind by certain comets. For example the Perseid meteor shower which peaks around August 12-13 is caused by Earth passing through debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Swift-Tuttle is about 16 miles across and orbits the Sun once every 133 years. Meteor showers can have dozens of meteors per hour, whereas meteor storms can have over 1,000 meteors per hour, often occurring when Earth hits a particularly dense fresh stream of debris from a comet.

Term: Leonid Meteor Shower

CLICK HERE to learn much more about the Medicine Bear Winter Count, inlcuding short descriptions of what each of the 80+ symbols mean. For example 1837 and 1838 were small pox years, and 1911 was the year many of the children got measels.

CLICK HERE to learn much more about the annual Leonid Meteor Shower, including the Meteor Storm of 1833.