Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE DOOMED DONNER PARTY
In the 19th century, tens of thousands of people migrated west along the Overland Trail
with dreams of a better life in California. Among them was the ill-fated Donner Party.
When the families of George and Jacob Donner and their friend James Reed departed
Springfield, IL, in April 1846 with six wagons and a herd of livestock, they intended to
make the arduous journey as comfortable as possible. But the going was slow and, when
other pioneers told them about a shortcut that would save 200 miles, they jumped at the
chance.
However, there was no road for the wagons in the Wasatch Mountains, and most of the
livestock succumbed under the merciless heat of the Great Salt Lake Desert. Arguments
and fights broke out. James Reed killed a man, was kicked out of the group and left to
trundle off to California alone. By the time the party reached the eastern foot of the Sierra
Nevada, near present-day Reno, morale and food supplies ran dangerously low.
To restore their livestock's energy and reprovision, the emigrants decided to rest here
for a few days. But an exceptionally fierce winter came early, quickly rendering what later
came to be called Donner Pass impassable and forcing the pioneers to build basic shelter
near today's Donner Lake. They had food to last a month and the fervent hope that the
weather would clear by then. It didn't.
Snow fell for weeks, reaching a depth of 22ft. Hunting and fishing became impossible.
In mid-December a small group of 15 made a desperate attempt to cross the pass. They
quickly became disoriented and had to ride out a three-day storm that killed a number of
them. One month later, less than half of the original group staggered into Sutter's Fort
near Sacramento, having survived on one deer and their dead friends.
By the time the first rescue party arrived at Donner Lake in late February, the trapped
pioneers were still surviving - barely - on boiled ox hides. But when the second rescue
party, led by the banished James Reed, made it through in March, evidence of cannibal-
ism was everywhere. Journals and reports tell of 'half-crazed people living in absolute
filth, with naked, half-eaten bodies strewn about the cabins.' Many were too weak to
travel.
When the last rescue party arrived in mid-April, only a sole survivor, Lewis Keseberg,
was there to greet them. The rescuers found George Donner's body cleansed and
wrapped in a sheet, but no sign of Tasmen Donner, George's wife. Keseberg admitted to
surviving on the flesh of the dead, but denied charges that he had killed Tasmen for fresh
meat. He spent the rest of his life trying to clear his name.
