Spitzer died, then Baylis Williams (a driver for the Reeds) also died, more from malnutrition than starvation. The next day, they arrived at Alder Creek to find that the Donners had also resorted to cannibalism. Then, in January 1848, gold was discovered in at John Sutter’s Mill in Coloma and gold-hungry travelers began to rush out West once again. The pieces indicated there were two days and nights of difficult travel ahead without grass or water. On May 25th the train was held for several days by high water at the Big Blue River near present-day Marysville, Kansas. [184] A professor at the University of Washington stated that the Donner Party episode is a "case study of demographically-mediated natural selection in action". In some papers, news of the tragedy was buried in small paragraphs, despite the contemporary tendency to sensationalize stories. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. When one, Nicholas Clark, went hunting, the other two, Charles Cady and Charles Stone, made plans to return to California. Five-year-old Isaac Donner froze to death, and Reed nearly died. In the heat of the day, the moisture underneath the salt crust rose to the surface and turned it into a gummy mass. The salvage party found the Alder Creek tents empty except for the body of George Donner, who had died only days earlier. [135], The walk back to Bear Valley was very slow. Keseberg suggested that Reed should be hanged, but an eventual compromise allowed him to leave the camp without his family, who were to be taken care of by the others. All content found on this website was created for general informational purposes only by non physicians. It was October 20 and they had been told the pass would not be snowed in until the middle of November. The journey west usually took between four and six months, but the Donner Party was slowed after electing to follow a new route called the Hastings Cutoff, which bypassed established trails and instead crossed the Rocky Mountains' Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake Desert in present-day Utah. It took two months and four relief parties to rescue the entire surviving Donner Party. Nine of Reed's ten oxen broke free, crazed with thirst, and bolted off into the desert. The next day, they arrived at the lake camp to find that both of their sons had died. [61][62], Meanwhile, Reed caught up with the Donners and proceeded with one of his teamsters, Walter Herron. Over the coming week, portions of Northern California have the potential to receive nearly as much precipitation as they did … [110] Yount said the dream gave him "guidance" to prepare a rescue mission. Twenty years later, the site of the Murphy cabin was purchased and added to the park. Three widely separated cabins of pine logs served as their homes, with dirt floors and poorly constructed flat roofs that leaked when it rained. Your email address will not be published. Graves charged Eddy $25—normally the cost of two healthy oxen—for the carcass of an ox that had starved to death.[77][78]. Foster and Eddy and the rest of the third relief left with four children, Trudeau, and Clark.[147][148]. Antonio, the animal handler, was the first to die; Franklin Graves was the next casualty. Patrick Breen documented a disturbing visit in the last week of February from Mrs. Murphy, who said her family was considering eating Milt Elliott. This account is supported by, and more detail is provided in, an April 1923 California Historical Society publication. At the lake stood one existing cabin and realizing they were stranded, the group built two more cabins, sheltering 59 people in hopes that the early snow would melt, allowing them to continue their travels. Fort Laramie, Wyoming painting by Alfred Jacob Miller. [197] Historians Joseph King and Jack Steed call Stewart's characterization of Trudeau's actions as desertion "extravagant moralism", particularly because all members of the party were forced to make difficult choices. [177] It was made a California Historical Landmark in 1934. He never rejoined the group. On February 2, 1959, nine experienced ski hikers died under extremely strange and somewhat frightening circumstances. [12] Although they are called pioneers, most of the party lacked experience and skill for traveling through mountainous and arid land. [16] In early 1846, he was about 60 years old and living near Springfield, Illinois. Not long after, possibly because Murphy was near death, some of the group began to eat flesh from Dolan's body. Lemuel's sister tried to feed some to her brother, but he died shortly afterwards. Two rescuers, Jean-Baptiste Trudeau and Nicholas Clark were left behind to care for the Donners, but soon abandon them to catch up with the relief party. About this time, fear began to set in as provisions were running low and time was against them. Though Sarah Keyes was so sick with consumption that she could barely walk, she was unwilling to be separated from her only daughter. [115][116], On February 18, the seven-man rescue party scaled Frémont Pass (now Donner Pass); as they neared where Eddy told them the cabins would be, they began to shout. In 1891, a cache of money was found buried by the lake. But thank God we have all got through and the only family that did not eat human flesh. [99][100] After several more days—25 since they had left Truckee Lake—they came across Salvador and Luis, who had not eaten for about nine days and were close to death. One day, the Graves came by to collect on the debt owed by the Reeds and took the oxhides, all that the family had to eat. With George were his third wife, Tamzene, their three children, Frances, Georgia, and Eliza, and George’s two daughters from a previous marriage, Elitha and Leanna. The others continued to Sutter's Fort, where Virginia Reed wrote, "I really thought I had stepped over into paradise". As the elevation increased, the rain turned to snow and twelve miles from the summit the pair could go no further. At last, we were all in the wagons. The men threatened to lynch Keseberg, who confessed he had cached $273 of the Donners' money at Tamsen's suggestion, so that it could one day benefit her children. The families used canvas or oxhide to patch the faulty roofs. [36], The party turned south to follow the Hastings Cutoff. She published an account of the Donner Party in 1911, based on printed accounts and those of her sisters. Having traveled an extra 125 miles through strenuous mountain terrain and dry desert, the disillusioned party’s resentment of Hastings, and ultimately, Reed, was increased tremendously. Only three mules reached California; the remaining animals perished. Eddy, Salvador, and Luis refused to eat. The property clearly depicts the hardship these pioneers endured. [14] By June 16, the company had traveled 450 miles (720 km), with 200 miles (320 km) to go before Fort Laramie, Wyoming. After two more days without food, Patrick Dolan proposed one of them should volunteer to die in order to feed the others. [29], By comparison, the mature, experienced, American-born Donner's peaceful and charitable nature made him the group's first choice. McGlashan in his 1879 book History of the Donner Party declined to include some of the more morbid details—such as the suffering of the children and infants before death—or how Mrs. Murphy, according to Georgia Donner, gave up, lay down on her bed and faced the wall when the last of the children left in the third relief. However, the successful Reed was determined his family would not suffer on the long journey as his wagon was an extravagant two-story affair with a built-in iron stove, spring-cushioned seats, and bunks for sleeping. [99][104], James F. Reed made it out of the Sierra Nevada to Rancho Johnson in late October. The Girl From Scorpions Pass Surviving The Massacre At. Keseberg said he put a blanket around her and told her to start out in the morning, but she died during the night. The wagon train reached Independence, Missouri about three weeks later, where they re-supplied. Enter Highway Number(s) You can also call 1-800-427-7623 for current highway conditions. The cabins were cramped and filthy, and it snowed so much that people were unable to go outdoors for days. Baylis Williams (24) went along as handyman and his sister, Eliza (25), as the family's cook. Caching their provisions in Bear Valley, they returned to Sutter’s fort hoping to recruit more men and supplies for the rescue. [188][189] The same year McGlashan's book was published, Georgia Donner wrote to him to clarify some points, saying that human flesh was prepared for people in both tents at Alder Creek, but to her recollection (she was four years old during the winter of 1846–1847) it was given only to the youngest children: "Father was crying and did not look at us the entire time, and we little ones felt we could not help it. William Pike was killed when a gun being loaded by William Foster was discharged negligently,[71] an event that seemed to make the decision for them; family by family, they resumed their journey, first the Breens, then the Kesebergs, Stanton with the Reeds, Graves, and the Murphys. [8] Fellow pioneer Jesse Quinn Thornton traveled part of the way with Donner and Reed, and in his book From Oregon and California in 1848 declared Hastings the "Baron Munchausen of travelers in these countries". [51] But George Donner, the party's leader, was a full day ahead of the main wagon train with his family. [76], By the time the party made camp, very little food remained from the supplies that Stanton had brought back from Sutter's Fort. At the point of their disappearance, the goal of the ill-fated expedition was to reach Otorten, a mountain that was approximately six miles away. [113][114], A rescue party including William Eddy started on February 4 from the Sacramento Valley. Only five people remained at Truckee Lake: Keseberg, Mrs. Murphy and her son Simon, and the young Eddy and Foster children. [155] Most of the overland migration followed the Carson River, but a few forty-niners used the same route as the Donner Party and recorded descriptions about the site. It is unclear why the cab of the semi-truck caught fire. None of the content is intended to serve as a substitute for … Remember, there is only speculation regarding cannibalism. While the party camped near modern-day Henefer, Utah, James Reed, along with two other men forged ahead on horses to catch up with Hastings. [98] Jay Fosdick died during the night, leaving only seven members of the party. [84][85], The mountain party at Truckee Lake began to fail. (Last Privacy Policy Update July 2020), Byways & Historic Trails – Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Alva Gould – Discoverer of the Famous Gould and Curry Mine, Honest Miner To a Poker-Playing Politician, Old Tom – A Typical Mining Camp Character, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado. A week later they joined a large wagon train captained by Colonel William H. Russell that was camped on Indian Creek about 100 miles west of Independence. At Donner Lake, two more attempts were made to get over the pass in twenty feet of snow, until they finally realized they were snowbound for the winter. The rescue party was dismayed to find that the first cache station had been broken into by animals, leaving them without food for four days. The Murphy survivors lived in Marysville, California. [68][69] By this point, according to Rarick, "To the bedraggled, half-starved members of the Donner Party, it must have seemed that the worst of their problems had passed. On April 17th, the relief party reached the camps to find only Louis Keseberg alive among the mutilated remains of his former companions. A party of 17 men, women, and children set out on foot in an attempt to cross the mountain pass. The dates and facts that followed were interesting and made me feel as though I was traveling with the Donor-Reed party. It also neglects to include the snow that met the migrants from the day they arrived. Unfortunately, while cutting timber for a new axle, a chisel slipped and Donner cut his hand badly, causing the group to fall further behind. After struggling on the walk over the pass, John Denton slipped into a coma and died. Some of the migrants resorted to cannibalism to survive, eating the bodies of those who had succumbed to starvation, sickness and extreme cold. Truckee Lake was not yet frozen, but the pioneers were unfamiliar with catching lake trout. [190] Eliza Donner Houghton, in her 1911 account of the ordeal, did not mention any cannibalism at Alder Creek. 348–362. On August 25th, the caravan lost another member, one Luke Halloran, who died of consumption, near present-day Grantsville, Utah. "Many books tell the Donner story, but none digs as deep for the truth as Ethan Rarick's Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West...With personal details...bringing a human touch to the story, Desperate Passage succeeds in rescuing the Donner Party from 162 years of infamy. Infuriated by the teamster’s treatment of the oxen, James Reed ordered the man to stop and when he wouldn’t, Reed grabbed his knife and stabbed the teamster in the stomach, killing him. A further 34 died between December 1846 and April 1847: twenty-five males and nine females. Details * It was here that the “new” trail met up with Hasting’s original path. Some suggested a duel, while another account describes an attempt to create a lottery to choose a member to sacrifice. In the beginning, the wagon train was lucky to make even two miles per day, taking them six days just to travel eight miles. The State of California justifies memorializing the site because the episode was "an isolated and tragic incident of American history that has been transformed into a major folk epic". On November 21, a large party of about 22 persons successfully reached the peak. Camp, Charles L. and Yount, George C. (April 1923) "The Chronicles of George C. Yount: California Pioneer of 1826,", Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Twenty-Four Years Later(1869), p. 48. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The in-depth research reveals details of Battalion events and links these events to better-known historical events and people. Some of the men tried to hunt with little success. United States laws were not applicable west of the Continental Divide (in what was then Mexican territory) and wagon trains often dispensed their own justice. Nancy Graves was nine years old during the winter of 1846–1847. October 28th, an exhausted James Reed arrived at Sutter’s Fort, where he met William McCutchen, now recovered, and the two men began preparations to go back for their families. [F] They spent several days trying to recover cattle, retrieve the wagons left in the desert, and transfer their food and supplies to other wagons. On August 11th, the wagon train began the arduous journey through the Wasatch Mountains, clearing trees and other obstructions along the new path of their journey. Journalist Edwin Bryant carried it back in June 1847, and it was printed in its entirety in the Illinois Journal on December 16, 1847, with some editorial alterations. Required fields are marked *. Charles Stanton and William McCutchen volunteered to undertake the dangerous trip. All able-bodied men were required to clear brush, fell trees, and heave rocks to make room for the wagons. Twelve of the emigrants were dead and of the forty-eight remaining, many had gone crazy or were barely clinging to life. Water would be easy to find along the way, although a couple of days crossing a 30–40-mile (48–64 km) dry lake bed would be necessary. [79] Life at Truckee Lake was miserable. [182] Five people had already died before the party reached Truckee Lake: one from tuberculosis (Halloran), three from trauma (Snyder, Wolfinger, and Pike), and one from exposure (Hardkoop). On April 16, 1846, the Donner Party left Springfield, IL on the 2500 mile journey to California, in what would become a great tragedy in westward migration. [134], The second relief evacuated 17 migrants from Truckee Lake, only three of whom were adults. [73][J] The Eddys and Kesebergs joined the Breens, attempting to make it over the pass, but they found 5–10-foot (1.5–3.0 m) snowdrifts, and were unable to find the trail. These rescuers included veteran mountain men, most notably John Turner,[129][130] who accompanied the return of Reed and McCutchen. The rest of the pioneers stayed at what would become known as “Starved Camp.”. [178], The State of California created the Donner Memorial State Park in 1927. As the rest of the party continued to what is now known as Donner’s Lake, snow began to fall. Only three men responded to a call for volunteers to rescue the Donner Party. One of them, Joseph Reinhardt, confessed on his deathbed that he had murdered Wolfinger. Living off the bodies of those that died along the path to Sutter’s Fort, the snowshoeing survivors were reduced to seven by the time they reached safety on the western side of the mountains on January 19, 1847. 348–354). The Donner Party wasted no time in administering their own justice. Finding the party at the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, Hastings accompanied Reed partway back to point out the new route, which he said would take them about one week to travel. There are no written records of native tribes having crossed the desert, nor did the migrants mention any existing trails in this region. [96][97], After three days' rest, they set off again, searching for the trail. Taking a vote among the party members, the group decided to try the new trail rather than backtracking to Fort Bridger. The Breens made it up the "massive, nearly vertical slope" 1,000 feet (300 m) to Truckee Lake (now known as Donner Lake), 3 miles (4.8 km) from the summit, and camped near a cabin that had been built two years earlier by another group of pioneers. The Nevada Highway Patrol was still trying to gather details about the incident at 1:22 p.m. in the Sheep’s Flat area about 6 miles from Incline Village. The Eddys were forced to walk, carrying their children and miserable with thirst. Grayson, Donald K. (Autumn 1990). Reed also hoped that his wife, Margaret, who suffered from terrible headaches, might improve in the coastal climate. Encountering few problems along the trail, the pioneers reached Fort Laramie just one week behind schedule on June 27, 1846. Stanton and Pike had ridden out with Reed but had become lost on their way back; by the time that the party found them, they were a day away from eating their horses. She cooked his killer's food while he was in prison to ensure the condemned man did not starve before his hanging. [9] Their oxen were already fatigued, and their water was nearly gone. These would be sold, with part of the proceeds used to support the orphaned Donner children. News came that Jacob Donner and three hired men had died. Hastings wrote directions and left letters stuck to trees. [1], During the 1840s, the United States saw a dramatic increase in settlers who left their homes in the east to resettle in the Oregon Territory or California, which at the time were only accessible by a very long sea voyage or a daunting overland journey across the American frontier. Margret Reed and her children were also now without a wagon. He returned shortly afterwards and died a few hours later. George Donner sliced his hand open while chiseling the wood but it seemed a superficial wound.[72]. The wagon wheels sank into it, in some cases up to the hubs. The weather and their hopes were not to improve. "[70], Faced with one last push over mountains that were described as much worse than the Wasatch, the ragtag company had to decide whether to forge ahead or rest their cattle. Not knowing how many cattle the emigrants had lost, the men believed the party would have enough meat to last them several months. 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