Eliza Donner’s Story At just four years old, Eliza Donner was one of the last survivors of the Donner Party to be rescued from Donner Lake. Also along with them were two teamsters, Noah James and Samuel Shoemaker, as well as a friend named John Denton. Thanks to my grandmother, in the late 50s, earlier 60s, she purchased 224 acres of land in Elko, Nevada which the Hasting trail is included. Updates? Donner party, also called Donner-Reed party, group of American pioneers—named for the expedition’s captain, George Donner—who became stranded en route to California in late 1846. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... James Frazier Reed and Margaret Keyes Reed, survivors of the Donner party. It was here that the “new” trail met up with Hasting’s original path. A sign of a good writer and well written. The large rock in Donner Memorial State Park that formed the back wall of the Murphy cabin, which now holds a plaque bearing the Donner Party's names (Carly Severn/KQED) Lansford Hastings, the entrepreneur whose wrong-headed guidebook was the blueprint for the Donner Party’s demise, became a lawyer in San Francisco, and then abandoned it to go into the Gold Rush business … Chain Reaction 5. 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. Donner Party Map, courtesy Donner Party Diary. On December 16 a party of 10 men and 5 women set out to cross the mountains on improvised snowshoes. The Donner Party was a group of American settlers heading to California who became stranded in heavy snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1846. In the meantime, the Graves family caught up with the Donner Party, which now numbered 87 people in 23 wagons. During their first week in the Cutoff, the Donner party made good progress. Behind the Glass 6. Five days later, on August 30th, the group began to cross the Great Salt Lake Desert, believing the trek would take only two days, according to Hastings. The very next day, five more feet of snow fell, and they knew that any plans for a departure were dashed. Twelve of the emigrants were dead and of the forty-eight remaining, many had gone crazy or were barely clinging to life. Had Lansford Hastings never lied about a trail that did not in his book An Emigrant’s Guide, none of this would have ever happened to begin with. Green Abyss 7. With David McCullough, J.D. Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento, California, 1847. Donner Lake and Donner Pass, California, are named for the party. Breen’s account of the winter of 1846–47 would provide the only contemporary written record of the Donner party’s ordeal. Reed soon found others seeking adventure and fortune in the vast West, including the Donner family, Graves, Breens, Murphys, Eddys, McCutcheons, Kesebergs, and the Wolfingers, as well as seven teamsters and a number of bachelors. The next day, they arrived at the lake camp to find that both of their sons had died. The researchers themselves clarified, however, that the absence of archaeological evidence did not rule out the possibility that cannibalism had occurred, especially given the extensive contemporary accounts by members of the rescue parties and the survivors themselves. Taking eight oxen to pull the luxurious wagon, Reed’s 12-year-old daughter Virginia dubbed it “The Pioneer Palace Car.”. Using words such as gruesome but never following through on a description of the circumstances only adds to the folklore and mystique of Donor Pass. The oxen moved slowly forward and the long journey had begun.” — Virginia Reed, daughter of James Reed. Some of the survivors turned to cannibalism in order to survive. 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. After building ferries to cross the water, the party was on their way again, following the Platte River for the next month. The group now numbered 74 people in twenty wagons and for the first week made good progress at 10-12 miles per day. Though member, Lewis Keseberg, favored hanging for James Reed, the group, instead, voted to banish him. A false shortcut The Donner Party’s journey began with laughter and hope in the spring of 1846. While the Donner Party has a reputation due to the gruesome acts that were committed during their trip, there are some things that many don't know about this ill-fated trip. Donner Party Route - Google My Maps This map shows the route taken by the Donner Party, a group of pioneers who set out in covered wagons to create a new life in California in 1846. If it had worked out differently, the group of settlers that came to be known as the Donner Party would have slipped over the Sierra Nevada into California —and obscurity. The group made good progress all the way to Fort Laramie (in what is now southeastern Wyoming), covering roughly 650 miles (1,050 km) in six weeks. In a letter to her cousin in Illinois, Virginia Reed recounted that “I have not wrote you half of the truble, but I hav Wrote you anuf to let you now what truble is,” before concluding, “Dont let this letter dishaten anybody. With the Sierra pass just 12 miles beyond, the wagon train, after attempting to make the pass through the heavy snow, finally retreated to the eastern end of the lake, where level ground and timber was abundant. Also in the group were the families of George and Jacob Donner. This is a part of history; if you are a descendant of the Donor party, be proud of your heritage. Not knowing how many cattle the emigrants had lost, the men believed the party would have enough meat to last them several months. (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. Not everyone could be taken out at one time and since no pack animals could be brought in, few food supplies were brought in. The rest of the pioneers stayed at what would become known as “Starved Camp.”. 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. Remember, there is only speculation regarding cannibalism. Eight of the men died, and the bodies of some of these were eaten by the others. He was last seen sitting under a large sagebrush, completely exhausted, unable to walk, worn out, and was left there to die. Harbingers of Death 4. Along the way, they discovered that some of their wagons would have to be abandoned and before long, morale began to sink and the pioneers began to adamantly blame Lansford Hastings. On July 19th the wagon train arrived at the Little Sandy River in present-day Wyoming, where the trail parted into two routes – the northerly known route and the untested Hastings Cutoff. Liven Rising 2. Hastings, who had promised to lead migrants along the trail, left Fort Bridger with a different company of wagons, and it fell to Reed to act as the company’s guide. Jacob Donner, and his wife Elizabeth, brought their five children, George, Mary, Isaac, Samuel, and Lewis, as well as Mrs. Donner’s two children from a previous marriage, Solomon and William Hook. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Other relief parties followed, but, because of illness and injuries, it was impossible to remove everyone. Though he strongly suggested that the party take the regular wagon trail rather than this new false route, Reed would later ignore his warning in an attempt to reach their destination more quickly. George Donner was a successful 62-year-old farmer who had migrated five times before settling in Springfield, Illinois along with his brother Jacob. Heroically struggling through the deep snow, seven men reached the lake camp on February 18. 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. The Donner Party continued to travel along the Humboldt River with their remaining draft animals exhausted. A few days later, the party was caught in a blizzard and had great difficulty getting and keeping a fire lit. The letter stated that Hastings would meet the emigrants at Fort Bridger and lead them on his cutoff, which passed south of the Great Salt Lake instead of detouring northwest via Fort Hall (present-day Pocatello, Idaho.). On December 15, Balis Williams died of malnutrition and the group realized that something had to be done before they all died. Hastings had claimed that his route would shave more than 300 miles (480 km) from the journey to California. On July 31st, the party left Fort Bridger, joined by the McCutchen family. “On the Donner Party, you absolutely want to be a couch potato, not a marathoner,” Grayson says. Encountering few problems along the trail, the pioneers reached Fort Laramie just one week behind schedule on June 27, 1846. Reed also hoped that his wife, Margaret, who suffered from terrible headaches, might improve in the coastal climate. Five of the emigrants died before reaching the mountain camps, 34 at the camps or on the mountains while attempting to cross, and one just after reaching the settlements. To spare the animals, everyone who could, walked. When John L. O’Sullivan coined the term “manifest destiny” in the New York Post , he hypothesized that God in Heaven, the Sky-Man Himself, wanted Anglo-Americans to take the West. On Thanksgiving, it began to snow again, and the pioneers at Donner Lake killed the last of their oxen for food on November 29th. Fort Laramie, Wyoming painting by Alfred Jacob Miller. The next day, on May 12, 1846, they headed west again in the middle of a thunderstorm. Two days after the Snyder killing, on October 7th, Lewis Keseberg turned out a Belgian man named Hardcoop, who had been traveling with him. On the third day in the desert, their water supply was nearly exhausted and some of Reed’s oxen ran away. Unfortunately, while cutting timber for a new axle, a chisel slipped and Donner cut his hand badly, causing the group to fall further behind. They reached the Humboldt River on September 26th. At last, we were all in the wagons. Hopeless, they retraced their steps where five feet of new snow had already fallen. The pioneers lost valuable days conducting a fruitless search for the missing oxen before beginning a circuitous navigation of the Ruby Mountains in modern northeastern Nevada. However, what was not known by Reed was that the Hastings Route had never been tested, written by Hastings who had visions of building an empire at Sutter’s Fort (now Sacramento.) The Donner Party is a narrative of merchants and farmers, of middle-aged parents with children and young couples with dreams, of infants and toddlers and teenagers on the cusp of adulthood. Realizing that the difficult journey through the mountains and the desert had depleted their supplies, two of the young men traveling with the party, William McCutcheon and Charles Stanton, were sent ahead to Sutter’s Fort, California to bring back supplies. The 22 people with the Donners were about six miles behind at Alder Creek. Stanton and the two Indians who were traveling ahead made it as far as the summit but could go no further. After dogs and cowhides had been devoured, many deaths occurred, and the survivors were forced to resort to cannibalism of the dead bodies. Only two of the ten men survived, including William Eddy and William Foster, but all five women lived through the journey. This book, whose discrete treatment make it appropriate for older pre-teens, covers the party's travels from St. Louis along their intended rout to California and a … On December 15 Baylis Williams, an employee of the Reed family, died of malnutrition at the lake camp; his was the first recorded death in the camps, although many others would soon follow. The caravan camped for five days 50 miles from the summit, resting their oxen for the final push. Many of those who survived lost toes to frostbite. The party elected George Donner to serve as its leader, and at its peak the Donner party would number some 87 people—29 men, 15 women, and 43 children—in a column of 23 ox-drawn wagons. Caching their provisions in Bear Valley, they returned to Sutter’s fort hoping to recruit more men and supplies for the rescue. Miraculously, just three days later on October 19th, one of the men the party had sent on to Fort Sutter — Charles Stanton, returned laden with seven mules loaded with beef and flour, two Indian guides, and news of a clear, but difficult path through the Sierra Nevada. 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. Of … On March 12th the third relief led by William Eddy and William Foster reached Starved Camp where Mrs. Graves and her son Franklin had also died. On May 25th the train was held for several days by high water at the Big Blue River near present-day Marysville, Kansas. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. As proof he points to the example of George Donner, who … It took two months and four relief parties to rescue the entire surviving Donner Party. Cannon, Timothy Hutton, Gene Jones. On August 6, the party reached the Weber River after having passed through Echo Canyon. As the elevation increased, the rain turned to snow and twelve miles from the summit the pair could go no further. Reed and another rescuer, Hiram Miller, took three of the refugees with them hoping to find food they had stored on the way up. The group preferring the Hastings route elected George Donner as their captain and soon began the southerly route, reaching Fort Bridger on July 28th. With James and Margaret Reed were their four children, Virginia, Patty, James, and Thomas, as well as Margaret’s 70-year-old mother, Sarah Keyes, and two hired servants. The terrible ordeals of the caravan continued to mount when on October 12th, their oxen were attacked by Piute Indians, killing 21 one of them with poison-tipped arrows, further depleting their draft animals. Never take no cutofs and hury along as fast as you can.” The discovery of gold in California in 1848 would turn the flow of migrants into a virtual flood, and the legacy of the Donner party would become less a cautionary tale and more a grim historical footnote in the story of the great westward movement. One member of the party, Charles Stanton, snow-blind and exhausted was unable to keep up with the rest of the party and told them to go on. After examining remains from the Alder Creek campsite, researchers in 2010 announced that they had been unable to find any human bones or other physical evidence of cannibalism. Required fields are marked *. It is a story of American families 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. HISTORY OF THE DONNER PARTY TRUCKEE LAKE December 26, 1846 Satd.... 20th Cleared off in the night to day clear & pleasant Snowd. 1 talking about this. In nine brand new wagons, the group estimated the trip would take four months to cross the plains, deserts, mountain ranges and rivers in their quest for California. En route down the mountains, the first relief party met the second relief party coming the opposite way and the Reed family was reunited after five months. Here they came to a halt when they found a note from Hastings advising them not to follow him down Weber Canyon as it was virtually impassible, but rather to take another trail through the Salt Basin. The Donner Camp has been the site of recent archeological excavations. Meanwhile, Reed and McCutchen had headed back up into the mountains attempting to rescue their stranded companions. The wagon train reached Independence, Missouri about three weeks later, where they re-supplied. We use cookies. The Donner Party: A terrifying tale of modern cannibalism First hearing the story of the Donner Party, it’s natural to think it’s some kind of tribute to Jeffery Dahmer by someone who can’t spell Dahmer. The three bodies, including that of Isaac Donner, had been cannibalized. While at Fort Laramie, Reed had been warned against attempting the route by an old friend from Illinois who had just completed the west-to-east journey through “Hastings Cutoff,” but the group chose to press ahead. The last survivor, Lewis Keseberg, who had supported himself during the last weeks by cannibalism, did not leave camp until April 21. On March 1st the second relief party finally arrived at the lake, finding grisly evidence of cannibalism. The families of brothers George and Jacob Donner and local businessman James Reed left Springfield on April 14, 1846. On their eighty mile journey through the Salt Lake Desert, they had lost a total of thirty-two oxen; Reed was forced to abandon two of his wagons, and the Donners, as well as man named Louis Keseberg, lost one wagon each. First, some background. Isolated in horrific conditions, about half of the original group of nearly 90 people died of starvation or exposure. In the twenty-one days since reaching the Weber River they had moved just 36 miles. This decision to delay their departure was yet one more of many that would lead to their tragedy. Of the eight dead, seven had been cannibalized. 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. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. By the time the Donner party reached the Humboldt River, where Hastings Cutoff rejoined the main California Trail, it was late September. Amazon配送商品ならDesperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey Westが通常配送無料。更にAmazonならポイント還元本が多数。Rarick, Ethan作品ほか、お急ぎ便対象商品は当日お届けも可能。 Antonio, Patrick Dolan, Franklin Graves, and Lemuel Murphy soon died and in desperation, the others resorted to cannibalism. Although they were warned partway through the trip not to go that way, I still put the blame on him for lying about it in the first place. The majority of the Donner Party emigrants were children. A few days later their last few cattle were slaughtered for food and party began eating boiled hides, twigs, bones and bark. The Donner party stranded in the Sierra Nevada Range, 1847. But over a century before More than just a riveting tale of death, endurance and survival. © Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated April 2020. Satisfied, the emigrants rested for a few days at the fort, making repairs to their wagons and preparing for the rest of what they thought would be a seven-week journey. The Donner Party - Kristen Rajczak - 洋書の購入は楽天ブックスで。全品送料無料！購入毎に「楽天ポイント」が貯まってお得！みんなのレビュー・感想も満載。 See actions taken by the people who manage and post On July 31 the Donner party entered Hastings Cutoff, which would take the group south of the Great Salt Lake in what is now Utah. The relief party soon departed with four more members of the party, leaving those who are too weak to travel. The Donner Party soon reached the junction with the California Trail, about seven miles west of present-day Elko, Nevada and spent the next two weeks traveling along the Humboldt River. The entire journey, others would join the group realized that something had to be a couch potato not... A fourth rescue party set out in late March but were soon stranded in the wagons to try the trail. 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