Mount Tambora's eruption literally clouded the earth, blocked out the sun, cut and destroyed growing seasons and led to the deaths of thousands as well as the relocation of thousands to the American Heartland.

During that time, people had to adapt; here are some of the ways they did just that.

Mount Tambora

Located on the island Sumbawa in Indonesia is Mount Tambora. It has been, and currently is, an active volcano. On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora erupted leaving 12 feet of ash over a 100 mile radius.

It was 100 times larger than Mt. Saint Helens and was over 4 times stronger than the Krakatoa eruption. For 2 weeks, Mount Tambora spewed lava so violently, that the smoke blocked the earth from the summer sunlight. This resulted in a year without summer and the death of hundreds of thousands of people.

The Devastating Results

Northeastern America and Western Europe felt most of Mount Tambora’s wrath the following year. The temperatures fluctuated from warm to freezing, in just a day or two. A hard frost was experienced every month that same year. In some areas, up to 18 inches of snow fell in June. Small farm animals died due to exposure and in Montreal, birds froze and just dropped dead. When the warm days would come, people thought that the worst was over and began planting again. The fierce cold would come back and freeze all the new plants. Famine was inevitable.

By August things were looking up, or so it seemed. There were warmer days and farmers began planting crops again. They were hoping that they could grow something to harvest in October. Suddenly and without warning, a strong, cold storm hit the area, followed by 2 days of freezing temperatures. Farmers wrapped their plants in rags, but the crops were still destroyed by the cold. As a result, the shortage of crops caused hoarding and the price of produce tripled. In New Hampshire, hay was six times its normal cost.

Survival could depend on eating strange foods

Following the eruption of Mt. Tambora, people living in the areas affected were counting on the food they grew in the summer to get them through the long winter. These summer crops were preserved and extra produce was either sold, used to barter, or exchanged with neighbors for other foods.
During this cold summer, potatoes, rye and wheat were the only crops that were enduring the freeze. Due to extreme hunger, many people resorted to eating pigeons, raccoons, wild turnips, nettles, mackerel and hedgehogs. To survive, they ate foods that were not normally part of their diet.

Could you survive eating food you may not like or the same food over and over? When long term food shortages happen and unusual food could be difficult to eat, you could try combining a familiar food with a new one. Replacing one type of vegetable with another in a recipe can help make things more palatable.

Packing up and moving

During that year without a summer, many people in New England decided to head west, not wanting to chance another bad year. They sold their farms for what they could and headed out to find a new area to settle. Some moved to Ohio, believing they would have mild winters there, others went to the Midwest. This migration helped establish what is now known as the American Heartland. At the time, these decisions were made on limited information and knowledge. No one understood why they were not experiencing a warm summer.

Would you make the decision to stay and hope things would improve or would you leave and start a new life in an unknown area? Not having up to date and reliable information sets the stage to make very bad, life-threatening decisions.

Government and Politicians

During that disastrous summer, the government expanded their weather collection data. Almost 2 dozen weather stations were tracking the weather 3 times a day and sending regular reports to Washington, hoping that scientists could learn more about this odd occurrence. While citizens worried about their livelihood, congress voted to double their own incomes. Other politicians who ignored the struggles of their constituents were not voted back into office.

There was not a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1816, that could have alleviated at least some of the suffering. Back then, most people had the mindset to prepare and save for a rainy day, but for farmers, the year without a summer was more devastating than they could have prepared for

Could you survive something disastrous without the help of the government? It is best to assume that the government will not be able to come and take care of you. FEMA has been asking citizens to be prepared and have at least 3 days’ worth of food and supplies stored in case of an emergency, but even this measure is woefully inadequate. It could take at least that long for the government just to arrive with help.

A massive volcanic eruption could happen at any moment; some say the USA is overdue for an eruption from one of two Super Volcanoes.

Were that to happen, mere survival would become an everyday occurrence and adaptability would be critical.

To learn more about this volcanic eruption and how it affected daily lives, please visit The Survival Mom.