Elder W. W. Bean's cyclone survival
Published October 12, 2026 at 5:36 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Elder W. W. Bean was a passenger on a train in Kansas that nearly collided with a cyclone. The train operators observed the funnel cloud and backed the train to safety, preventing a potential disaster.
In Their Own Words
“We had a very narrow escape. We were at Halstead station when we first saw the cyclone, which was then about six miles southwest of us. It did not appear to be traveling very fast and the train was started up, those in charge thinking they could get out of the way before the cyclone reached the track. But we had gone but a short distance when they changed their minds, as it was evident we would be caught by it if we continued, and the train was immediately backed out of the course of the terrible messenger of destruction. But for this prompt action the train would certainly have been wrecked.”
— W. W. Bean, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 23 May 1895 (Vol. 57, No. 21). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1895-05-23_57_21 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 57, No. 21 (23 May 1895), p. 334 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1895-05-23_57_21
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