User:Karanacs/Donner

Rarick

• Rarick, Ethan (2008), Desparate Passage: the Donner Party's perilous journey West, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195305027

first part

p 7 left May 12, 1846 from Independence, MO

p 8 Tamzene and George Donner - 3 young daughters that were theirs, George had 2 older

daughters who were coming

George's brother Jacob and his wife Betsy, with 7 kids James and MArgaret Reed an 4 kids

these three families had left Springfield in April for the month-long trip to Independence,

which was "at the edge of the frontier"

the families had a wagon each, with each wagon having three yoke of oxen brought a few dairy cows with them

p 9 Independence was the edge of civilization - no cities much west of that; Santa Fe was South

and smaller than many cities

a few settlements in California and ORegon - 2000 miles away a few trading posts in the middle

many maps called the part in the middle the Great American Desert

p 10 took abt 5 months to get to the west coast by sea vs about 4 months overland sea travel usually more expensive, at least if overland might be able to sell oxen or wagon

p 11 in 1845, term manifest destiny coined - America wanted to occupy the whole contintent Polk had promised in his 1844 campaign to annex Texas and Oregon

California part of Mexico then

first wagon train went west in 1841 (organized by John Bidwell)

p 12 had to abandon their wagons to get over the mountains to california, so for the next few

years groups headed toward Oregon instead - a little easier

p 13 1844 STephens-Townsend-Murphy Party - 50 people (2 babies born en route for total of 52)

set out via wagon fro California followed Oregon Trail to Fort Hall and turned SW down Humboldt River unti is disappeared

then would generally go down eastern flank of Sierra until found a mountain pass

Stephens party went west instead of South from the end of the Humboldt - found a PAiute

Indian who led them to a river that came out of the Sierra Nevada (named it Truckee River)

p 14 STephens Party was first to get wagons over top of Sierra Nevada - half the wagons had to

be left behind on way down they had to abandon the wagons, and didn't get them until next summer

took a year for news of the victory to reach the East coast by Spring of 1846 people talking about this new wagon route to California

p 15 California now the favored destination

Tamzene Donner now 44

p 16 George had a total of 10 kids from his first two marriages

p 17 Donners were relatively wealthy, as were many who migrated - it was expensive to go

Donners hired people to come along as drivers

James Reed had been told he had to get to Independence by April 1 - mid-April at latest.

This was early - had to wait for Spring grasses so animals had something to eat

p 18 reached Independnece on May 10, however - most of the wagon trains had already left

they rested for a day and then left on May 12 to try to catch up to one of the trains that

had already left

in a week that reached one of them - led by William Henry Russell; almost 50 wagons, about

150 adults - safety-in-numbers

p 20 Margaret Reed had been sickly - the trip was partly to find a better climate for her

p 21 they were accepted into the group

Sarah Keyes was 70 and probably had tuberculosis - probably too sick to make the trip but

insisted

p 22 reached the Big Blue River a little bit late two companies had crossed safely the day before, but an overnight thunderstorm had made the

river unfordable

had to wait for the water level to drop

p 23 sarah Keyes died while they were waiting and she was buried just off the trail men stopped working on the raft they were building in order to have a funeral

when the raft was done, could transport wagons one at a time

p 24 took two full days to get all the wagons across

5 days lost to funeral and raft-building (good train could make 75 miles in that timeframe)

cold north winds, then a heat wave

made about 15-20 miles per day

early June reached the Platte River (first milestone)

p 25 reached Platte at what is now Kearney, Nebraska

turned west to work upstream on south bank

June 12 Reed shot an elk - first fresh meat for the company - they had been eating their

salted stores

next day, a few men shot a buffalo p 26 Reed led another expedition and they shot several buffalo - took what they could carry and

left the rest for scavengers

p 27 about 2 miles per hour

most wagons of the time had beds 4-5 ft wide and about 8-10 ft long this made it easier to go through canyons, forests, passes

wooden axles and wheels, although strips of iron wrapped around wheels no brakes

driver often walked alongside, controlling with only a whip and voice

p 28 oxen usually used - cheaper, durable, less likely to wander away but slow as molasses

p 29 Ediwn Bryant, a newspaperman, with them - he had studied medicine he was starting to get worried about the timing some people wanted to stop early and start late every day

p 30 lots of hunting at this time in a letter Tamzene wrote about a month after they left Independence, estimated they'd gone

450 miles and had 200 more to go to reach Fort Laramie wrote, "Indeed, if I do not experience something far worse than I have yet done, I shall

say the trouble is all in getting started."

p 33 this year, almost 500 wagons headed west (combined numbers to both California and ORegon) this group at the back of the pack some wrote home that they were travelling more slowly on purpose - didn't want to exhaust

animals now

baby born to Philippine Kesseberg on the trail- Lewis, Jr. only baby born in this group on the trip

p 34 Hiram Miller (teamster for Donners) kept a journey of early part of the trip didn't get noticed until 1946 - had been in a family's basement usually just wrote about distance traveled each day and where they pitched camp "allows us to trace the movements of the Donners and the reeds with some precision"

p 35 soil began getting more sandy, making it harder for the oxen

p 36 about six weeks after leaving Independence, stopped at Fort Bernard (small log building by

a trapper) eastern edge ofwhat is now Wyoming

8 mi east was Fort Laramie, also a private trading post

largest community they'd seen along the way

p 37 took July 4 off to celebrate

had learned a few days after they left Independence that US and Mexico at war along Rio

Grande

emigrants not sure what to expect when they got to California

p 38 also did not travel on July 5 - claimed they were observing Sabbath, but this was the first

SUnday they hadn't travelled author speculates the cause was hangovers

p 39 other companies nearby, so didn't feel they were in too much of a hurry

left the Platte about the time that they reached what is now Casper, WY now would follow the Sweetwater

temperatures very hot - for six days in a row averaged 102

p 40 next Sunday stopped to rest again

did make some progress - passed 3 other companies in one day about the time they passed

Devil's Gate

p 41 headed for South Pass it was lower than most passes (7550 ft vs 10000) and the upward grade was pretty gentle comparatively

P 42 Jul 17, they thought they had crossed the summit of the Divide, but not actually crossed it Saturday, July 18

couldn't find water so stopped at a small gully to camp the water was bad, and some of the livestock died - Donners lost two oxen

by this point, had travelled over 1000 miles and were about halfway there had been on trail just over 2 months

p 43 expected to reach California in mid-September

p 45 almost all westward travelers took same path from Independence to continental Divide -e

asiest way through the Rockies

west of the mountain, different routes depending on where going and personal preferences

p 46 needed water,w ood, and grass, so generally followed rivers and looked for easy mountain passes usually went NW for first 1000 miles from Independence, then turned SW toward where you are

going (partially because first trail was for going to Oregon), but also b/c of Platte River

and South Pass

traditional trail would take you north after the pass to Fort Hall (now in Idaho), before

going S to Califronia

book by Lansford Warren Hastings, briefly described a more direct route he had taken in 1842

p 47 book said they could leave Oregon Trail and head SW to Great Salt Lake rather than go NW to

Idaho

said to turn West at the lake, cross desert, then go to Califronia Hastings had never actually done this, so no detail

Hastings making big plans for more settlers, and wanted to convince people to come to CA

over OR; left CA in April, intending to travel his proposed route then show wagon trains

how to get there

with HAstins was James Clyman - completed first known circumnavigatio of Great Salt Lake

earlier in the century

p 49 Clyman and Reed had served in Black Hawk War together found each other at Fort Laramie and talked a lot - Clyman warned Reed about the

"desolation" in the Great Salk Lake Desert

Clyman's warning caused some of the people at Fort Laramie to change their plans and not

try for shortcut

p 50 however, two weeks later their train saw a rider, Wales Bonney, traveling by himself but

with a letter from Hastings offering to wait and guide the people on his new route

July 19 they reached a fork in the road known later as the PArting of the Wars - right went

NW to Fort Hall L was SW to Hastings Cut-off

most went right reeds, Donners and a few others decided to trust Hastings and go left about 70 people total

p 51 this split was "the true emergence of the Donner Party" before, there were so many wagons on same route that travelling arrangements changed frequently

now they would truly be on their own organized formally

other families included Breens - very Catholic big Irish family 7 kids with them; 6 boys and a baby girl

p 52 Levinah Murphy - a widow with 7 kids and 3 grandkids (although only 36) headed another

family; 2 sons-in-law came too

Illinois couple, William Eddy and Eleanor, with 2 kids; he was a carriage-maker by trade

group of native German speakers Keesburgs,...

p 55 edwin Bryant had decided that the wagon trains were moving too slowly for him, so at Fort

Bernard he traded his wagon for pack mules and rode ahead

he was about a week ahead of the Donners, and also chose to go towards the new route they reached Fort Bridger, a trading post along Black's Fork of the Green River (now SW WY)

a week before the Donners this was really the last chance to decide how to get to CA - trail split; to right went a

route via Fort Hall; to left was the Hastings Cut-Off

Lansford Hastings was waiting at Fort Bridger trying to get people to go his way also there was Joseph Walker, a mountain man who was not enthused about the new route

Bryant and his friends decided to go new way

p 56 Bryant was worried about the wagons -0 he thought they should not take the new way because

they would have to go more slowly, thus spending more time in the desert oxen required more water than the pack mules he also thought that famlies should not take this risk - keep the children safer via the

old route

he wrote letters for several of the men in the party, including James Reed, to let them

know his opinion

Donners reached the fort on July 27 (9 days after Bryant left)

p 57 Hastings had left already

Fort Bridger trading post owners had a vested interest in seeing emigrants use the new

route - it forced the emigrants to come via the trading post, ensuring they got more

business

in 1844, people had blazed what became known as the Greenwood Cut-Off, which was a shortcut

on the old route and didn't go near Fort Bridger

p 58 because of this, Bridger did not give the letters to the party

Instead, he told them enough to convince them to go this way - good rood, lots of grass and

water explained Hastings' absence by saying he wad gone to scout for an even easier trail

p 60 shortly after they left Fort Bridger, Edward Breen fell off his horse and broke his leg sent to Fort Bridger for a doctor the man who returned to help intended to amputate the leg

Edward begged his parents not to od that, and they agreed, even though if the leg didn't

set properly (hard to do in a bouncing wagon), he could get an infection and die

p 61 August 6 (6 days since left the fort), they found a note attached to a sagebrush from Hastings

wagons were at Weber Canyon at base of Wasatch Mountains

Hastings leading another group, the Harlan-Young Party, and they were a little ahead this group was going down the Canyon - not Hastings' intent, a guide led them that way

while he was gone

the note told the Donner Party to send a messenger ahead to get him so he could come back

and show them

p 62 another route through the Wasatch

group decided to send three men - James Reed, Charles Stanton, and Wiliam Pike (a Murphy

son-in-law) - to go find Hastings; the rest would wait

the 3 did catch up

Hastings agreed to come back with them

went part way back and then Hastings said he wasn't going to go any further; he instead

would just point out the route to Reed

Reed and Hastings climbed a peak the next morning and he vaguely pointed out where they

should go; then Hastings went back to the other wagons

p 63 Reed returned on August 10- four days after they had left

p 64 Reed convinced them that they could do this and they decided to follow the trail he had

been told about, rather than go down the canyon after Hastings or return and go the old

route

now they had to clear their own trail - lots of underbrush had to be cut away

one canyon, trail crossed same creek 13 times

p 65 near Big Mountain, they stopped the wagons because progress so slow. Men would go out in

the morning and make as much progress as they could and then return to the same campsite this road was a pass across Big Mountain

about now Stanton and Pike caught up with them - they had stayed behind to rest their

horses and had spent days trying to rejoin them

on other side of big Mountain, so much timber that wagons again couldn't move took 2 days before they could get down the canyon; at end, it was so thick that they didn't

think they'd make it through would need to take the wagons over a very steep hill at side of canyon

needed every ox to be hitched to one wagon to get it over without falling back (30-40

animals)

at the top they could see the Great Salt Lake valley

p 66 "More than at any other point on its long and emotionally powerful journey, the Donner

Party's passage theough the Wasatch created a tangible historical legacy."

The next year, this new route was used by Morman emigrants who were looking for a new home

took Donner Party 2 weeks to cross the Wasatch (35 miles); now August 22

Reed had estimated at Fort Bridger that it would take 7 weeks to reach california still had 600 miles to go

p 67 "If the Donner Party received any brief encouragement as it struggled against the Wasatch

Mountains, it must have come from the startling realization that other emigrants were even

farther behind."

while they were crossing the Wasatch, other families joined them 3 wagons, all belonging to Franklin and Elizabeth Graves

p 68 they had with them 9 children, one son-in-law and a teamster, John Snyder

Graves family had been part of last group that left St. Joseph, Missouri in late May most of their group went the traditional route, even though only 13 of them, they turned

towards the new route by themselves

their arrival confirmed that the Donner Party was one of the last groups headed towards

California

this was the final makeup of the party - no new arrivals

p 69 From the Wasatch, they reached the Great Salt Lake Desert, which the author calls "one of

the most inhospitable places on earth"

few european or American "parties" had crossed the main part of the desrt one wagon train had crossed northern section in 1841 - near death the southern portion, which the Donners were planning to cross, had been crossed twice, bot

times without wagons - Hastings earlier in the year and John C. Fremont in 1845

no written record of Indians crossing

p 70 "emigrant records make no mention of Indian trails, as they often do in other portions of

the West"

Luke Halloran now rode with George and Tamzene Donner he had tuberculosis and wanted to go west to see if he would get better at the PArting of the Ways he had been left behind by the family he was travelling with Donners invited him in he was very sick and died just after they came out of the Wasatch buried in the salty desert - next to the grave of someone who had died on a previous trip

found another note from Hastings at the edge of the Utah desert - had been torn apart when Tamzene put the pieces together, it seemed to say "2 days - 2 nights - hard driving -

cross - desert - reach water."

had been told before that the salt desert was 40 miles with no grass or water

p 71 wagons usually overpacked and couldn't carry much water (water is heavy!)

the note left at a spring, likely indicating this was the last water for a while

took the next day off to cut grass to carry for the oxen

intended to spend one night in desert, per Reed's diary

in 1986, archeoligists working in September (same time the Donners were trying to cross),

couldn't cross this part of the desert in modern four-wheel-drive trucks; had to get

all-terrain vehicles "semisolid mud flats" - quote in this book, from whom?

usually hot at daytime, frigid at night boggy, mud clung to wheels and hooves; mules could sink to their bellies

p 72 Bryant described the desert as "unearthly" "The hiatus in the animal and vegetable

kingdoms was perfect."

Sept 2 - had been marching through this for over 2 days with almost no sleep

3 days since they passed the last drinkable water

in efforts to keep animals alive, abandoned some of the wagons in hopes they could come

back for them after the animals rested

Reeds were near the end of the line - James Reed rode ahead to get water and come back

reached Pilot Peak about dark - most of other families had gotten there already

got some water and started back; passed the teamsters driving the oxen toward the spring

around midnight; his family behind with the wagons

teamsters didnt return that day, so they finally tried to walk to the spring

p 73 kids too tired to go all the way, so they slept in the open that night; their 4 pet dogs

curled around the kids to keep them warm

the Reed oxen had bolted into the desert when they got near the spring and were now missing

Reed left his family with the Donners (who were also with their oxenless wagon) and went to

the spring that night, Reed and JAcob Donner brought oxen to bring out the Donner wagons - now also

carried Reed family

took 5.5 days for the entire party to get across the desert

camped at the Pilot Peak spring for a week; resting and searching for cattle and going back

to retrieve wagons

p 74 per Reed's diary, he thought everyone had lost some stock, so they were looking for

everyone's; others thought they were looking specifically for his animals

Reeds had to leave behind two of their three wagons - including most of their household

goods - because could not find most of the anims

in crossing the desert the group lost 36 cattle (either ran away or collapsed) George Donner and Lewis Keesebeg each abandoned one wagon Reeds had only one ox and one cow and had to borrow an extra team to pull their sole wagon

- "the richest family in the train reduced to accepting frontier charity"

all animals now weaker and scrawnier (not as much meat)

"Perhaps most significant, the company was increasingly divided and dispirited, families

eyeing each other as sources of hindrance rather than help."

Reeds couldn't fit all their provisions into their one wagon, so distributed rest to the

others

"like most wagon trains, the Donner PArty had never been a truly inified force, but now it

was more fragmented than ever, wilting in both spirit and body"

p 75 John Breen later said that after the deret "Here our real hardships commenced"

each family inventoried what provisions they had left and proivided a written status report

to Reed, the de facto leader

Reed suggested that 2 people go on to Sutter's Fort to get fresh supplies and come back to

meet them - he wrote a letter personally guaranteeing payment

this would be a dangerous mission - two men alone asked for volunteers none of the family men volunteered, nor did the teamsters (either they unwilling or their

employers unwilling for them)

William McCutchan volunteered - he had a wife, Amanda, and a toddler, Harriet' they had

joined at Fort Bridger after having been left behind by another train; they had no wagon,

just a horse and mule he said he'd only go if the others would help his wife and daughter

p 76 Charles Stanton also volunteered to go if someone could give him something to ride;

McCutchan volunteered his mule

Edward Breen recovered okay from his broken leg

p 77 the Ruby Mountains, "the last obstacle on Hastings's ill-advised cut-off" on the other side was the Humboldt River, where they would find the traditional trail

Hastings had crossed on what became known as Secret Pass, but this was too steep for

wagons, so needed another way

they were at the northern edge of the mountains, so "the easiest and quickest choice" would

have been to turn north"

p 78 but no one had been that way before, and didn't know it would be easy

Hastings was now 2 days in front of the Donner Party he turned south and began to paralell the mountains to find another pass

Donners were following the wagon ruts of Hastings' party

took a day off one Friday - no reason given

Sept 26, the Donner Party reached the Humbolts, just west of now Elko, Nevada done with Hastings' Cut-Off

had left the trail 2 months previously Edwin Bryant now over a month ahead

"Ironically, it was the presumed advantage of Hastings's route that was in fact its central

flaw"

Hastings made his route be straight across - going across rather than around obstacles

p 79 "The traditional trail curved and buckled and detoured for a reason: Western terrain

demanded a circumspect and sinuous approach."

some of the paths this party had taken had wakened both people and animals

the Donners likely lost a full month doing this

---

p 80 John Snyder was teamster for Graves family

p 81 West was in drought conditions in 1846, and the Humboldt River was almost dry lots of dust everywhere

Mon, Oct 5 they reached a bad hill Snyder refused to double-hitch his team like the others had done - there was some jostling of teams and an argument ensued

between Snyder and Reed

Snyder hit Reed in the head with the butt of the ox whip Reed pulled a hunting knife and stabbed Snyder in the chest - Snyder was dead in minutes

camped in two groups that night - Graveses and their friends in one, the Reeds and possibly the Eddys together

p 82 opinion divided between whether Reed defending himself or a murderer Reed's friends and family later said that he was saddened by what he had done, and offered boards from his only wagon to make

the coffin

the Contintental Divide was technically edge of US territory, so they were not subject to American law

p 83 the Donners had gone ahead a few days before, so the group didn't have its elected leader no disinterested people in other trains to help determine what to do

conflicting eyewitness accounts and unsure what original dispute was - Snyder not double-teaming?, order or pace of climb?

tangled teams?

no agreement on who struck first some said Margaret Reed had been hit Reed's family said that Snyder's dying words were to take blame for the incident, but that disputed too

Snyder had been popular

p 84 Reed disliked for being haughty; also, he had advocated the cut-off

keeseberg advocated hanging - he propped up his wagon tongue most others opposed that

in a compromise, they decided on "the most common form of serious punishment meted out on the overland migration: banishment"

real possibility of death riding alone

p 85 Reed refused at first

likely considered taking his whoel family - he had 5 employees, so would have been a large group, and not completely uncommon

for a wagon to be traveling alone however, they were almost out of provisions, and they might have had to return the oxen they had borrowed

Margaret told her husband to ride ahead and return with supplies

some in group remembered that he left because he wanted to travel more quickly

set out on his own

caught up with donners and told them only that he was going to fetch provisions one of Reed's teamsters, Walter Herron, had been with the Donners and agreed to go with Reed

p 86 author said that when Reed left "the loss may have been greater for the others than for Reed"; Reed usually made

day-to-decisions, where to camp or water the stock

p 87 long journey and little grass meant the livestock were getting weaker; now everyone had to walk so that they didn't have to

carry that extra burden hard for Hardcoop

one day, he fell so far behind that when the others pitched camp they had to send a rider back for him - he was 5 miles down

the trail

p 88 the day after that rescue of Hardcoop, he again fell behind. it was late at night when they camped and noticed he was gone.

Too late to get him at that point. In the morning, Eddy wanted to rescue him, so asked if he could borrow a horse from

Patrick Breen or Franklin Graves both said no, it would be impossible to rescue him

Eddy and two others said they would walk back and look for him, but rest of group said they wouldn't wait; even if they found

the man, he was too weak to keep up and it would be the same problem every day

pp 88-89 "Keseberg has often been described as the villain of HArdcoop's abandonment, and there is littel doubt that he was a hard

man, if not an overtly mean one. Yet Keseberg should not shoulder the blame alone. Eddy was the main source for the story,

especially the details about his efforts at a morning rescue, yet even he admitted that the previous day he refused to let

Hardkoop [K note - yes, spelling was different here] ride in his wagon when the old man asked for help, and Eddy apparently

made no effort to learn what happened to him the rest of the day."

p 89 Reed and Herron had only one horse, so they took turns riding and walking made good time - one day almost 40 miles, most days at least 25 mi, per Reed's notes

p 90 Reed and Herron's provisions ran out a few days later, so had to hunt in Nevada desert near Truckee Lake, Reed said they'd just gone through "the worst road in creaton" (sic)

game grew scarce as they climbed into Sierra Nevada Herron wanted to kill the horse for meat, Reed said no, that was a last resort at one point, found 5 beans that had been dropped by other emigrants and that was their meal found some abandoned wagons, but no food

p 91 eventually found a group of emigrants and then ran into Charles Stanton, who was on his way back from Sutter's Fort with

flour and dried meat William McCutchan had been too sick to return, so he stayed at Sutter's fort STanton, who had no family or other connections to the group, was the one who came back

p 92 generally, Indians and emigrants on the trail were friendly to each other Indians often gave directions, provided water or firewood, and were hired to serve as guides, huards, etc

however, "almost all emigrants viewed the Indians with what we would regard as gross racism"

p 94 the peoples who lived along the Humboldt, however, often stole horses and livestock from the wagon trains

p 95 as soon as they reached the Humboldt, 2 Indians stole some of Graves's oxen; a few days late,r Graves lost a horse, probably

to theft; later, the rest of Graves's horses were stolen

in another night, 19 head of cattle missing then 21 more cattle disappeared while the guards were eating breakfast

loss of not only transportation, but also potential food supply

p 96 used the Humboldt to steer them towards Lone Mountain got to a big meadow that provided food for the livestock then reached the Sink, wher ethe river dried up ("Humboldt Lake" likely dry)

p 97 with the Humboldt gone, they had to cross 40 miles of desert to get to the Truckee River, which would lead to the pass into

California

the Donner Party tried to cross desert at night - cooler temperatures at 4 am, found a hot springs; water tasted bad but was drinkable once cooled

rested for a few hours, then drove all day and into the next night

last 10 miles was deep sand -hard for the animals

in 1849, a traveler on this stretch said that they stopped "every few yards" (quote from unknown traveler) t rest animals

three yoke of cattle for the Donner PArty died of exhaustion

p 98 for weeks, no trees, but along the Truckee were many trees and lots of clean water

Eddys had to abandon their wagon and all their possessions when the Indians stole the last of their cattle on the Humboldt,

so they were almost destitute decided to push ahead on foot, with Eleanor carrying the baby girl and William carrying their 3-yrd old son, 3 pounds of

suger, some bullets, and a powder horn (even though his rifle didn't work)

the Reeds had to abandon their wagon shortly after James left they borrowed one for a little while from the Graveses, but then had to abandon most of their property - just a change or two

of clothes, which the Breens agreed to haul for them

Reeds had two horses left, which they left 3-yr-old Thomas and 5-yr-old James ride "The fact that a three-year-old boy was not joined by another rider offered plain testimony to the pathetic condition of the

animals." other Reeds walked, although Donners occasionally let them ride in a wagon

a German named Wolfinger, who was supposed to be very rich, stopped just before the desert to "dig a cache for his wagon"

(what does this mean?) but "mysteriously disappeared"

p 99 surviving accounts don't really tell what happened to him

Stanton and McCutchan had been gone for a month now and no one sure if they were really coming or not had seen a few notes from Reed and Heron on the trailside but no one knew if they'd actually made it to the fort

two more men volunteered to go - both sons-in-law of Levinah murphy; William Foster married to the oldest daughter, William

Pike to the second oldest

Fosters had one small child, Pikes had two

William Pike was nephew of explorer Zebulon Pike (who discovered Pike's Peak) as they got supplies ready "a small pistol that was being loaded somehow fired, striking Pike in the back"

p 100 he lived for 30 minutes in great pain

gun accidents on the trail were pretty common - many emigrants new to weapons

"in less than a month, the Donner PArty had lost four of its members: Snyder stabbed, Harcoop abandoned, Wolfinger the victim

of an unknown fate, Pike shot accidentally" (yes, Harcoop spelled this way)

life in the West was hard; the new life insurance companies (founded 1843), refused to cover people if they traveled west of

the Missisippi b/c it was likely they'd have to pay up

p 101 along the Truckee that found Stanton with the supplies two Indians had accompanied him from Sutter's Fort to help him cross the Sieera also had news that Reed was ssafely over mountains - accoridng to Sutter, Reed had said that he had only gotten 3 meals in a

wek's time when they met

"To the bedraggled, half-starved members of the Donner PArty, it must have seemed that the worst of their problems had

passed. They had already endured more than many emigrants ever did" - forging their own road, crossing the Great Salt Lake

Desert

now they had food and a guide who knew where they were going

p 105 Sierra Nevada were 100 miles from Califronia "yet that final, brief stretch constituted a singular and frightening obstacle

as testing as any they had yet endured."

Sierra Nevada the "largest single mountain range" in US; Rockies and Appalachians cover greater area but are distinct chains in Sierras, over 500 peaks that are over 12,000 ft high

p 106 east side of Sierras was steep, west side was more gradual slope "this geology mattered to the overland migration because it meant that as the wagons creaked slowly toward the final obstacle

of the journey, they faced not a staircase of gently rising foothills but a dizzying cliff face of nearly vertical

escarpments"

mountains are some of snowiest in North America; sierra nevada means snowy mountain range

close to ocean, so storms get air from Pacific and head directly for peaks with orographic uplift clouds go higher as get to mountains, cooling off the air, which makes for lots of rain or snow

p 107 Donner Pass - not uncommon to have 15 ft of snow on the ground, and that not the most

p 108 some families in more of a hurry than others, so company split into two Breens and a few others in front, Donner families at the rear, a few small groups in the middle

Oct 31, the first group reached Truckee Lake the pass is up a "massive, nearly vertical slope" 1000 ft up

snow on the ground at the lake Stanton and the Indians (named Luis and Salvador) were at the rear of the group with snow, impossible for the first group to find the trail, so had to wait for the others to catch up

finish page 108

the next day they tried again, but heavy snowfall John Breen said they only made it about 2 miles and then had to stop a few other families pushed a little further = Reeds. Eddys, Graves, Stanton. Indians Keeseberg went on too = he could not walk because a few weeks before he had stapped on a willow stub and injured his foot

p 109 wagons abandoned in favor of pack animals lots of arguments on what to bring; oxen not very happy about this new load on their back

Stanton and one of the Indians went ahead and reached the summit when they reached the group again, found that the people had decided to stop andbuild a campfire; no one willing to move

that night, huge storm - almost buried them in snow. Margaret Reed stayed awake, brushing snow off her kids Keeseberg later said he woke up because he couldn't breathe very well - covered in snow

p 110 in morning realized that the snow was too deep to keep going turned around to return to the lake

if they had kept going the night before they could have been caught unprotected near the top of the pass and could have all

died of exposure

p 111 James Reed reached Sutter's fort as his family approached the Sierras McCutchan still there and now well the two men decided to rescue their families; Sutter told them that it was liekly too late - that the snow was ready to fall

p 112 Sutter did provide Indian guides and some flour and a hind-quarter of beef

Reed and McCutchan set out with packhorses Reed hoped that the families had already made it across the pass, but found no sign of them; did find another couple that

had been stranded from another company; that couple was starving and had just killed their dog for food. Reed and McC. gave

this couple some of the provisions

p 113 snow kept getting deeper until it covered all but the horses' noses and the top of their heads the Indians left because they thought it was no use next day, Reed and McC abandoned the horses and went on foot snow too deep to allow them to go close to the top of the mountains

neither Reed nor McC knew that the cattle had been lost along the Humboldt they turned back McC later wrote, "I state that it was utterly impossible for any two men to have done more than we did in striving to get in

to the people."

when they returned to Sutter's fort, Reed told Sutter what he knew of the provisions the families had when he left. At

sutter's calculations, that was enough meat to last until the spring thaw (didn't know about cattle losses)

p 114 at the lake, began working on shelter "It was not a hospitable place to spend the winter" lake was at elevation of 6,000 ft and averages 15 ft of snow each year lake was 3.5 mi long and .5 mi wide and easily freezes - it froze this year, so could not ice-fish

Truckee Meadows (now home to Reno) was 35 mi east and 1500 ft lower;

p 115 they had come through Truckee Meadows area to get to the lake

none of Donner Party ever mentioned whether they had considered this possibility

probably still hoped they would be able to press forward, or that Reed and McCutchan would bring supplies probably also exhausted and unwilling to go in the wrong direction most likely, they were ignorant of the realities of the territory

p 116 in the Midwest, storms rarely dropped more than 3 ft of snow most had no experience with mountain climate

there was already one cabin there - two years previously, another wagon train had abandoned their wagons and left one man

behind to guard their possessions until spring. He built a small cabin, which was in pretty bad shape, but it was there.

The cabin's existance might have influenced their decision

the Breens moved into the existing cabin - either because they were first back down or because they had the largest family

others began felling trees and building cabins Murphy family built theirs against a large rock - that was one wall Graves and Reed families built a shared cabin - fireplace at each end and a dividing wall down the middle

Amanda McCutchan and her daughter moved in with Graves family

p 117 Eddy family went with the Murphys Stanton and the two Indians moved in with the Reeds Keeseberg either wanted his own home or no one would let him stay with them; he built a lean-to against the side of the

Breens' cabin

Graves/Reed cabin was 1/2 mi from the others

two Donner families had been really far behind; front axle broke on one of their wagons before they reached Truckee Lake so

stopped to fix it

7 miles behind when the snow came; Tamzene wanted to keep going and try the pass; the men said no, so they set up camp near

Alder Creek

p 118 tried to build a cabin, but walls only 4 logs high when blizzard hit made a crude brush structure and made tents, likely out of quilts

total of 81 people trapped - 3/4 of them at Truckee Lake in 3 cabins, the rest at Alder Creek more than half of them were under 18; 25% were 5 or younger, with about 6 infants

food supplies were a problem immediately for most. Breens had a lot of cattle remaining; Eddys had few; Graves offered to

sell an emaciated ox for $25; that was usually the price for 2 healthy oxen at home; Eddy agreed to pay

Margaret Reed also low on food. She bartered that if people gave her one cow now she would give them 2 when they got to

California

p 119 she got 2 animals each from Franklin Graves and Patrick breen, but the animals were half-starved themselves and had little

meat

first storm dropped snow for 8 days

on Nov 12, 15 of them tried to walk over the pass - most were young and childless, although a few parents, like Franklin

Graves, went too Stanton and the two Indians went along as well but group made little progress- snow was already 10 ft deep and soft

Eddy managed to shoot som game, including a grizzly; almost got himself killed

p 120 the first shot had hit the bear in the heart, slowing it down, or he would likely have been killed; second shot hit bear in

arm, it fell and Eddy clubbed it animal weighed 800 pounds; Eddy convinced Graves to bring oxen to drag it back to camp - meat divided among Eddy, Graves, and

William Foster, who had loaned his gun to Eddy (he didn't have a rifle); Eddy said he gave some to the Reed family as well

in later years, specualtion that Eddy made this up - he was the only one to recount the tale - or that it was acutally a

smaller and less scary black bear; 1980s excavations, however, showed bear bones at the site of the Murphy cabin (where Eddy

lived), so the tale is likely true

good weather for a bit, so the snow melted almost completely at the lake a week after Nov 12 attempt, 22 people tried again; reached the top of the pass and started down other side, but the mules

couldn't go far as snow too soft and the animals were exhausted they wanted to butcher the animals and carry out what meat they could - or just leave them there - but Stanton said no

p 121 Stanton had promised to bring the mules back to Sutter and wanted to keep his word; Stanton said he and the two Indians

would take the mules back to lake lots of arguing, even promises to pay for the mules when they got there group couldn't really go on without Stanton - they had no idea which way to go, so they all had to turn back

p 122 Patrick Breen decided to keep a journal, and wrote daily entries for over 3 months - never missed a day usually short, practical entries - only surviving daily record kept during this captivity

first entry made Nov 20 - day before the attempt to get out that Stanton squashed

had already killed most of the cattle

p 123 Nov 21, the group left Nov 23, group returned back with STanton and mules

planned to try leaving again on Nov 26, but the night before there was a blizzard Breen wrote - "no liveing thing without wings can get about" (sic)

snow stopped Dec 3 and started again

the group had left the remaining cattle and horses unstaked

p 124 blizzard buried the aniamals, and no way to find the corpses under the snow even Stanton's mules lost under snow - "a tragic irony that made the circumstances of the previous escape attempt all the

more heartbreaking"

cabins completely snowed in

physical marks of starvation - first cheekbones, ribs, shoulder blades protrude; arms shrivel, joints ache, sitting gets

bainful because no fat on your bottom; skin dries and scales - texture of parchmant

irritable feel cold, and blood pressure low were weak, and most didn't venture out much even when it was not snowing

Dec 9 - Augustus Spitzer had been living with Keesebergs, but he got so weak he couldn't bear those harsh conditions staggered to Breen's door, they took him in, but had to nurse him to help him live

p 125 Stanton running low on food, but most unwilling to help him - author speculates because he refused to leave the mules

at the Donner campsite, everything wet - couldn't keep blankets or clothes dry while the Donners had been fixing their broken axle, George was holding wood for his brother to use axe to shape; axe slipped

and gashed George's hand - split open from wrist to little finger on the back of his hand, and he got an infection

jacob Donner always sickly anyway most of work now being done by Jen Baptiste Trudeau, who had hired on at Fort Bridges; only 16, but with a frontier

background

trudea searched for animal carcasses under hte snow = long pole with nail at end plunged into snow (but didn't work)

p 126 Tamzene entertained her daughters with Bible stories

Graves thought they should try again to escape. he began making snowshoes (he was from Vermont and had made them before;

used the oxbows and rawhide to make them

told everyone that the more people in camp, the quicker food would run out - that if the healthier adults left with minimal

rations, the food would strech longer, hopefully long enough to return with help

Milt Elliott and Noah James - teamsters - went to Alder Creek to tell the Donners

Stanton sent a note requesting George Donner's compass

p 127 the day Elliott and James left, weather turned bad again; when it cleared, they decided they need to leave immediately;

wouldn't wait for Elliott's return with compass - thought it likely Elliott and James had frozen to death

in first month they were trapped, no one had died

Dec 15, Baylis Williams died; he and his sister Eliza were employees of the Reed family

p 128 Patty later wrote that Baylis was an albino who worked at night and slept during the day Billy Graves later remembered that Williams went insane before dying just before the snowshoe party set out

p 129 cannibalism has a long history - thousands of years, many reasons - shame enemies, appease Gods, cure disease more recently, these stories of people who were isolated and starving - "survival cannibalism"; many stories from shipwrecks

p 132 shipwreck cannibalism "rarely produced feelings of shame among the participants or scorn among the public. Survivors often

made no attempt to conceal the evidence of their desperation."

p 133 "Although the emigrants didn't use the term at the time, the group eventually came to be known by a poetic nickname that

captured the moment's utter desperation, the idea that either this amll band would succeed or everyone would die" - Forlorn

Hope most of these people were in late teens/early twenties. Oldest woman was 23; several were parents - "William Eddy left his

wife and both his children and could never forget the look on his wife's face as he departed" William and Sarah Foster left their small son behind Amanda McCutchan and Harriet Pike left their kids, even though the fathers were already gone

p 134 others promised to care for the children oldest snowshoer was Franklin Graves, aged 57; he took his two grown daughters and a son-in-law but left wife and 7 other

kids behind

total of 17 people in Forlorn Hope - 10 men, 5 women, 2 Murphy boys (Lemuel, age 13 and William, age 10); had only 14 pairs

of snowshoes - two boys and one of the men would walk last, hoping the others would have created a firm surgace to walk on each took a blanket but no extra clothes or tents; one rifle between them and a few pistols and 1 hatchet; hoped that the

food they took would last 6 days if they rationed strictly

when they left, snow 8 ft deep at the lake Charles Burger - the one adult without snowshoes, turned back with William Murphy the first day - too hard to walk without

them

p 135 at night, snowshoe party had to build platforms of green logs to build the fire on - otherwise it would melt the snow and

they'd all sink

reached pass on 2nd day - Graves said that day was " a very slavish day's travel". at the pass, Graves remembered "The

scenery was too grand for me to pass without notice. Well do I remember a remark one of the company made here, that we were

about as near heaven as we could get."

next day bad snowstorm; Eddy supposedly kept a diary during this excursion. Since lost,but two men , including Reed, later

said they had seen it. Reed later "published what he said was a "synopsis" of Eddy's journal, which may be close to a

verbatim reproduction."

group was unprotected from elements

p 136 Stanton struggled more than most - got snow-blindness; on sixth day - Dec 21 - he stayed at the first when the others got

up; said he'd come soon. He didn't come to camp, and although they waited next morning he never appeared - no one had

strength to go look for him

his bones found in the spring

By Christmas Eve, snowshoers had no food for 3 or 4 days previously Eddy's wife had secrely put some bear meat in his bag, "but there is no evidence that he shared it" at this point "the women were still fairly strong, but some of the men were fading"

someone proposed a lottery to kill someone and eat them

p 137 not unanimous that they should do this, so dropped it Eddy suggested that two men should each get a pistol and fight - loser to be eaten; this also shot down

blizzard again - fire went out and could not relight it; Eddy tried to use gunpowder to relight it, and the powder horn blew

up, burning is face and hands

Christmas day, Antonio (a Mexican laborer) died; Franklin graves died a few days later - stories that he urged his daughters

to eat his flesh - "perhaps true"

so as not to freeze to death, they set in a tight circle and put blankets over their heads - snow built up on top of them -

"man-made snow cave"; had to sit this way for 3 days

Patrick DOlan - bachelor traveling with Breens - went nuts, took off his coats, hat, and boots and ran out into the weather

("behavior we now know might have reflected severe hypothermia") they caught him and made him sit down in the circle again,

but he died there soon after; Lemuel Murphy died next

when storm broke, Eddy managed to start a fire in a nearby tree

p 138 now that people had died naturally, one of the objections to cannibalism was moot "still, the exact moment and manner of the decision remain a mystery" (decision to eat the dead) survivors usually glossed over the situation

"As a rule, people resorting to cannibalism almost always choose outsiders as their first victims" - Forlorn Hope tried to

not eat relatives of living; Franklin Graves's two daughters were in the group, as was Lemuel Murphy's sister. that left

Antonio or Dolan

"Racial and ethnic minorities have often been the first victims of cannibalism," but Dolan instead chosen - possibly because

he was last to die, and his blood would still be warm

hard to butcher a human because we are large animals; if the body had started to freeze, would be even harder

p 139 usually, when butchering people, start by disfiguring corpse, so no reminders that you are eating someone you likely know heart and liver usually ocnsumed first flesh from arms, legs, and torso can be cooked, consumed raw, or dried in strips brain matter often eaten raw lungs and bone marrow have been eaten

after Dolan, they went to other bodies and cut and dried meat to take with them

left camp Dec 30 - two weeks after having left the lake; 5 people already dead (and most consumed), now down to 5 women and

5 men

according to Eddy, made 4 miles Dec 30 and 6 on the 31st

p 140 supply of slesh ran out, so ate rawhide strings from their snowshoes Luis and Salvador vanished -likely afraid they'd be eaten next

January 5, graves's son-in-law Jay Fosdick died and was eaten; his wife, Sarah, in the group Eddy shot a deer that day, but meat didn't last long

they were now lost - none of the remaining members had ever been in the group; tried to head west and downhill; progress

very slow, and ran out of food again

advanced stages of starvation -weight loss, apathy, listlessness; generally lose desire to do much of anything, even eat if

you had food available usually also get irritable

p 141 the Forlorn Hope members were desparate to keep moving, but started getting angry; now, as they were starving, started

thinking about murder Graves family said for years that Eddy tried to lure Mary Graves away from others to kill her

p 142 Eddy said that William Foster had suggested killing three of the women, but Eddy refused Eddy said that he had given Foster and club and picked up a knife to start a fight to the death, but the women stopped them

found tracks of Luis and Salvador - found the men cnear dath Foster shot them both, saying they would have died soon anyway; no one intervened, and the two were eaten these deahts the only time that anyone killed to be eaten; Foster never faced criminal charges, although his action was

later publicized

group was now at a lower altitude, so less snow. but still difficult to make; rested every 1/4 mile

finally found a trail and followed it to a Miwok Indian village; the Indians gave them acorn bread; Eddy couldn't eat that,

so ate grass

most of the group collapsed and couldn't go further; Eddy kept going with several Miwok guides ; covered 18 miles in one day before sunset he reached Johnson's ranch - "the first American settlement on the western side of the mountains"; found small

cabin of Matthew Dill Ritchie, who had gotten over mountains a few months before the Donner PArty; he asked Ritchie's

daughter for bread; she started crying when she was him

that was Jan 17- one month and 1 day after they left the lake men from the community went to get the other survivors; Eddy had left bloody footprints in his wake, and they followed those following morning the group was reunited 7 of them made it to this place - Eddy and Foster and all 5 of the women - Mary Ann Graves, Sarah Fosdick, Sarah Foster,

Amanda McCutchan, Harriet Pike (McCutchan was eldest at 23)

pp 143-179

p 144 Dec 20, four days after Forlorn Hope left camp, Milt Elliott came back - had been over a week since he'd left Elliott and James had reached the Donner tents the day the storm hit and had stayed there 10 days. Elliott came back alone

deaths at Alder Creek in that time frame - Jacob Donner and three single men - Joseph Reinhardt, Same Shoemaker, and James

Smith

p 145 in late December Breen's diary started to show more religious references, either because Christmas almost there of "seeking

comfort and fulfillment amid the harshest of ordeals" (quote is author words)

Breen suffering from kidney stones Margaret Reed had saved some food for a special Christmas meal - "too small under normal conditions even to make a meal, but

large enough now to constitute a feast" - apples, beans, tripe, one piece of bacon. Virginia Reed later said that "So bitter

was the misery relieved by that one bright day, that I have never since sat down to a Christmas dinner without my thoughts

going back to Donner Lake."

p 146 the camp was becoming mainly kids, because most healthy adults had left with forlorn hope; worse after Baylis Williams and

the 4 at Alder Creek died; of the 61 people at camp now, 2/3 were kids. Elizabeth Graves had 8 kids to care for by herself;

the Murphy cabin had Levinah and Eleanor Eddy taking care of 9 kids (5 toddlers)

p 147 food so scarce in camp that resorted to eating things considered inedible - hides cut into strips and put on fire until hair

burned off, then boiled to a paste like glue that could be eaten

gathering wood was hard - when a tree was cut down, it fell into the snow, which made it hard to get back up and drag to a

cabin

Charley Burger (who had turned back from Forlorn Hope with no snowshoes) was next to die; Spitzer took the man's coat and

waistcoast, Keseberg took the rest of his posessions - $1.50 in cash, two watches, razor, gold pin

Margaret Reed almost out of food, and few people had much left, and she had nothing else to trade for meat or hides

p 148 desparate, Margaret decided she, two employees and oldest child would walk to California she didn't know if Forlorn Hope had made it or died; she had no equipment, no snowshoes; also, Forlorn Hope had been gone

three weeks - she and others weaker now than they had been then

three youngest kids - Patty age 8, James age 5, and Thomas age 3, were too little to go; nobody could really afford to feed

three more, but Breens and Graves said they would take care of them. James just moved across to the Graves half of the

cabin, and the other two went to the Breen cabin

to travel - Margraret, Virginia (age 13), Milt Elliott, and Eliza Williams took the rest of the family's meat supply

p 149 Reed party left Jan 4 after a day Eliza Williams turned back finally the others turned back, 4 days after left got back to live

cabins had been built quickly and no roofs; the open area covered with hides of oxen; Reeds had run out of food sooner than

others and had started tearing down their roof to eat; she had left one hide for her remaining children, and now there was no

roof on their half of the cabin

Milt Elliott managed to get taken in by the Murphys; Eliza Williams went to live with the Graveses; Reeds went to Breen

cabin

p 150 Although PAtrick Breen didn't want to share what little meat they had left, his wife Peggy often gave a little bit to the

Reed children

Peggy convinced that Virginia was going to die and told Margaret to prepare for the girl's death

p 151 after Reed and McCutchan got back to Sutter's fort, Reed joined the militia - was had reached California Reed also claimed land in his name, his wife's and names of Baylis and Eliza Williams

p 152 Reed fought in battle of Santa Clara; he was promoted from first lieutenant to commander of the mission at San Jose

Reed began planting fruit trees and a little barley on his land

p 153 Patrick Dolan had ruined some of the meat in the Breen cabin (where he had lived) by throwing tobacco on it

p 154 they were desparate and ate it anyway, but it may Peggy and Edward sick

p 155 almost impossible to wash clothes - or diapers; people began to get lice. Harriet McCutchan screamed and screamed. They

had to tie her arms to her sides so she wouldn't scratch (was scratching until she bled). No one could calm her down

Milt Elliott getting weaker, but he didn't want to die with people he didn't know - didn't know the Murphys well; he liked

the Reeds and called MArgaret "Ma"

p 156 Elliott dragged himself to Breen cabin, but Patrick Breen didn't want his family to see someone die so he told Elliott to go

back; Margaret Reed walked with him Eliza Williams wouldn't eat hides, so Margaret wouldn't let her come live with them - had to stay with the Graves family

another blizzard started January 22 and lasted 4 days. During the storm Lewis Keseberg, Jr died - just a baby

p 157 Virginia vowed that if she survived she would join the Catholic Church - the Breens were Catholic and were constantly praying

Landrum Murphy turned 17 - he was the man of the family because his brother-in-law and older sisters were gone; helped his

mother with 3 younger siblings and 3 nieces/nephews got very sick in mid-January - bedridden. Lavinah begged Peggy Breen for a little meat to give him

p 158 Peggy gave her some food, but when she got back the book was too sick to eat. On January 31, about a week after the baby's

death, he died

now, deaths every two or three days. Feb 2, the McCutchan baby, Feb 4, Eddy baby; Feb 7, Eleanor Eddy, Feb 8, Augustus

Spitzer, Feb 9, milt Elliott (still with the Murphys) impossible to dig graves, so the dead were merely dragged outside and covered in snow

Margaret Eddy's body in the cabin for 3 days because everyone too sick to do anything. When her mother died, they were

buried together by John Breen

Reeds had one dog left, Cash - last of the family's 5 pets. Patty Reed speculated that he stayed alive by eating crickets in

the cabin - they had no food for him finally, they killed him for food;

p 159 lived off the dog for 1 week, and then no food again Reeds sometimes took the bones the Breens had left (Breens ate all the meat) and boiled them for days to get a mush

Breens refused to share their meat - "understandably calculating that it would be needed for the paramount goal of their own

survival"

p 163 rescue often difficult in the 19th century, unlike today. Even if you knew exactly where someone was, still difficult to get

to them - no helicopters, so had to go on foot or horseback/mule same reasons that made it difficult to save yourselves made it difficult for others to save you

p 164 Forlorn Hope had stopped at Johnson's Ranch, but not enough people there to try to rescue the others; people sent to

Sutter's Fort, 40 miles away, for men and equipment

lots of rain that winter in Northern California, so rivers often flooding and lots of mud everywhere to make travel very

difficult

to get from Johnson's to Sutter's first had to cross Bear River, which was too high to ford. Built a two-log raft and an

Indian messenger known as "Indian Dick" went across the river and on to Sutter's Fort on his own to ask for help

p 165 hard to get volunteers - "heading into the Sierra in the dead of winter was a life-threatening enterprise" Sutter also no longer in charge of his own fort - now under command of army lieutenant Edward Kern, who didn't have authority

to pay a rescue party... nevertheless, Kern made vague promises that implied there would be a payment and afterward asked his

supervisors if this was okay

only 3 men volunteered - not enough Setter and john Sinclair, the alcalde, offered to pay the men $3/day (pretty high). 4 more men then volunteered

rescuers claimed they didn't do it for money "and it's hard to discount their courage" Daniel Rhoads and his brother went along. Daniel said "For not to make any attempt to save them would be a disgrace to us

and to California as long as time lasted."

finally got together about 12 men - many had only recently arrived from the US, travelling that same route

gathered at Johnson's ranch to prepare. Sutter and Sinclair provided horses and provisions. the men slaughtered cattle and

dried meat. Got the supplies ready to build snowshoes when they were needed. Two women loaned sidesaddles to the rescuers

p 166 rescue party ready in early Feb - 3 weeks after Eddy had gotten to the ranch

p 167 so much mud that the rescuers sometimes had to unstrap all the gear from the mules, drag them out of the mud, then reload

them

reached snow on Tue, Feb 9 - six days after left; had travelled 40 miles

William Eddy had gone with the rescuers. The mules were getting too exhausted - often sank belly-deep in snow, so Eddy was

sent back with some of the animals. The men divided the meat up amongst themselves - 50-lb packs they had to carry, even

though now in deep snow

Feb 14, three of the rescuers said they weren't going on. Now only 7 left, and morale low Reason Tucker was one of the captains of the group and promised now to pay the men $5/day from the time they reached the

snow. Tucker had travelled briefly with the graves family before they joined the Donners

with the promise of more money, the men agreed to keep going.

Rescuers took turns leading - would sink knee-deep in snow every step. marked their trail by burning dead pine trees alon g the path. Every few days would hang meat in a tree, so would have it

for return trip and not need to carry it now

p 168 rescuers travelled between 3-8 miles per day Feb 17, they reached Yuba River headwaters. pass just above. said snow was probably 30 ft deep

reached the lake on Feb 18 took 2 weeks to get there, almost half of time it took Forlorn Hope to get out

they didn't see anyone, and at first thought everyone much have died of disease or starvation. One of the rescuers yelled

out to see if anyone would answer

p 169 Lavinah Murphy finally came out of her cabin to see

p 170 she asked "are you men from California or do you come from heaven?

"Conditions staggered the rescuers." Many of Donner Party were unable to walk or stand. bodies all over - many barely

covered. CAbins were filthy and stank

rescuers gave out what food they could spare - biscuits and jerky rescuers put a guard on the rest of the food so that the Donner Party wouldn't take it - needed it for return trip

next day, 3 of the men wen tot Alder Creek; found that the Donners in worse condition than the others. Rescuers insisted

they had to begin return march right away before the storms hit, but some were too weak to travel

families had to decide who would go and who would stay, knowing that those who stayed were likely going to die

rescuers said that more rescue parties were being raised - Sutter had promised to do this, but they didn't know if he

actually had;

p 171 claimed to know nothing about the Forlorn Hope other than eddy, who had started out with them

Betsy Donner had to stay behind. Her husband was dead and she had 7 kids, most too young to go. kept her oldest son,

Solomon (15) with her, "presumably deciding to risk his life so that he might help care for his youngest siblings" the next

two kids, William (12) and George (10), she sent with the rescuers

George Donner too sick to go - his hand was badly infected Tamzene was healthy but wouldn't go without him Tamzene sent her two stepdaughters Elitha (14) and Leanna (12) with the rescuers but kept her three children with her; all

were toddlers

rescuers cut down a tree so that the Donners left would have firewood, then left behing "a teacupful of flour, two small

biscuits, and a few thin pieces of jerked beef as long as a forefinger"

Tamzene tied a blanket around her stepdaughters' shoulders, so they would be warmer

p 172 Reason Tucker had been one of the ones who rescued the other members of the Forlorn Hope; he was one of three to go to the

Donner camp he collapsed going back to the lake and had to rest before he could make it back later that evening - "he reached the lake

cabins at sundown, narrowly avoiding the nocturnal cold that might have transformed him from rescuer to victim"). Leanna

Donner was having even more trouble - so weak that rescuers didn't think she'd make it over the first hill. Elitha kept

pushing her on, even though Leanna didn't think she could make it. They finally reahced the cabins - 7 miles away

p 173 she later said "Such pain and misery as I endured that day is beyond description"

morale up

rescuers said they needed to rest for 4 days total

Forlorn Hope had been mostly adults, as others could take care of the kids now, most of the adults were dead, sick, or had to stay in camp to take care of very small children

new group had healthy adults - the rescuers - with some provisions, so the parents willing to send their older children.

breens sent 2 of their kids (5 left) Elizabeth Graves sent her three oldest Levina Murphy sent 2 of the 3 children she had with her and 1 of her 2 remaining grandchildren Keseberg's foot still hurt

p 174 Keseberg's wife agreed to go and would carry their daughter Margaret Reed and all 4 of her children planned to go

23 emigrants in total, most 14 or younger, many with no parent with them

2 aged 14, 2 aged 13, 3 aged 12, 1 aged 11, 1 aged 10, 2 aged 8, 1 age 5, three aged 3 who were carried by others

two of the Reed kids - Patty (8) and Thomas (3) having lots of trouble Aquilla Glover was the other co-captain of the rescuers, and he told Margaret that those kids would have to stay behind;

he'd help them back and then he'd catch up. Margaret refused to leave them, but let her older kids go ahead with the

rescuers

Glover tried to convince her to keep going, because she'd be taking food that could go to the others, and she could help the

olde rchildren (Virginia and James). He even promised to come back for the kids himself if they didn't meet up with another

rescue party - "a courageous commitment that could have cost him his life"

Margaret asked him if he was a Mason (like James Reed). When Glover said yes, she made him swear on the honor of the

Masons. he did, and she agreed to go on without the kids. Patty said "Well, Ma, if you never see me again, do the best you

can"

p 175 Patty and Thomas had to return to Breen cabin. At first, the Breens refused to let the kids in - they had taken care of the

family for weeks and didn't want to have to feed two more still. The two rescuers who had brought the kids back pleaded,

saying new relief parties, with more supplies, would arrive soon. The Breens relented and let the kids in

three days after leaving the lake, John Denton collapsed (he had been with the group since before Sarah Keyes died). He was

stronger than many of the other single men - most of them had already died he couldn't go on, so asked to be abandoned. They made him a fire on a platform, gave him extra wood and a little food Reason Tucker gave Denton a blanket

p 176 Tucker vowed to send help, but knew it was pointless. Denton knew too, and gave Tucker the two pistols he had

Denton began to write down memories of his childhood. "Weeks later, rescuers found his body sitting against a snowbank, his

head down upon his chest"

Philippine was very tired, carrying three-year-old Ada, and offered to give $25 and a gold watch to anyone who would help her

carry the girl. No one agreed. Philippine kept going. That night, Ada died

Philippine refused to let go of her daughter. Ada had been born in Germany, and had been one of a set of twins. The other

daughter, Mathilde, had died two months after they arrived in US, when just a year old

p 177 Reason Tucker talked to her and Philippine finally agreed to let go. They buried the little girl in the snow. Tucker later

wrote "her sperrit went to heaven, her body to the wolves." (sic)

marched in single file, leaders had snowshoes, others didn't overnight, their clothes would freeze started walking as soon as it was light, befor ethe sun would start making the snow soft

many of the bags of food they had left for the return journey had been found by animals, and little was left Tucker rationed as evenly as possible

last bit of food they had was double rations - for dinner and breakfast the next day Leanna ate all of hers at once - a total of two strips of dried beef, about size of index finger

p 178 next morning, Elitha shared with her half of her breakfast allotment. Leanna later said that the little bit of food was

"more precious than gold or diamonds"

kids began to cut off the strips of leather at the bottom of Tucker's buckskin pants, and by 5th day on the trail, everyone

was doing the same they also roasted shoestrings

James Reed having the hardest time - he was the youngest of those walking. When he took a step he'd plunge in up to his

waist, have to hoist himself out of the snow, then repeat the process

Donners had told the rescuers that if they couldn't find the bodies of their cattle, they would start eating their dead

companions

day after rescue party left, Breens shot their dog, Towser. He was skeletal too p 179 Elizabeth Graves asked them if they would share Breen wrote "They think I have meat to spare, but I know to the Contrary. They have plenty hides. I live principally on the

same" (capitalization his)

Feb 26, Breen wrote that Levinah Murphy had come to tell him that she planned to eat the corpose of Milt Elliot

pp 180-210

p 180

Reed was discharged from military after Battle of Santa Clara. he rode on to Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) with a petition

(probably signed by San Jose residents) for the American naval commandar asking him to dispatch rescuers immediately to help

the Donner Party

Reed met with Capt. J. B. Hull, who said that the military couldn't pay for the whole thing, especially not during wartime

p 181 at Reed's prompting, local leaders called a public meeting Reed was supposed to make a talk but was too emotional to give his sppec. A Methodist minister, James Dunleavy (also newly

arrived from East) spole instead. Dunleavy spoke about the hardships of traveling overland - this was important because many

of the townspeople had come by sea and didn't know the terrain or the ordeals of the mountains. Dunleavy also guessed at

what the Donner party might be going through

community raised $800, with additional $300 from sailors aboard two ships docked nearby

leaders agreed to have two pieces to the expedition. Reed to go to Napa and Sonoma (40 mi north) to get more money and more

help. Supplies to be sent via river on a donated schooner overseen by Selim Woodworth, a naval officer who volunteered

the supplies and Reed and additional men to meet where Sacramento and Feather Rivers met, and then go on foot into Sierras

just before they were to leave Yerba Buena, word came of the Forlorn Hope and that Tucker had launched an initial relief

expedition. Also learned that some had starved to death and that the Forlorn Hope had resorted to cannibalism

"surrisingly, given later coverage of the tragedy, these first public disussions were remarkably muted and sympathetic"

p 181 Forlorn Hope didn't even try to cover up the cannibalism. Two papers broke their story on Feb 13; The Californian simply

said "the survivers were kept alive by eating the dead bodies"

per author, "Far from portraying the Donner Party as a collection of ghouls, these early stories seemed designed to generate

sympathy for the emigrants and support for the rescue efforts. Later, stories far different in tone would appear."

because they knew that another expedition had set out, Woodworth delayed his departure to try to raise more money from the

town. New plan - set up a base camp partway up mountain and to resupply the emigrants

eventually raised total of $1300 in donations (assume this covers the $110 previously mentioned, but doesn't say) and govt

added $400

the ship filled with supplies: 15 barrels flour, 400 lbs sugar, 17 lbs tobacco, blankets, socks, clothes, shoes, axes,

shovels, etc

set sail Sunday, Feb 7

p 182 took ship a long time, because headwinds impeded their progress - boat had to be dragged upriver against current and wind.

Reed got to the rendezvous point first

Reed and his men managed to cross river with help of a local with a boat and then marched to Johnson's ranch, where Johnson

set his Indian workers to butcher cattle and grind flour. Worked for 2 days around the clock

Feb 23, Reed and his party set off into mountains - assumed Woodworth would come when he could

Reed left behind spare equopment and supplies so mules wouldn't be so overloaded; now, mules each had a load of 80 lbs

p 183 the snow depth made it hard for the animals even with light load - "after only two hundred yards, the animals heaved and

sweated in the dawn chill"

Reed stopped to think about what to do - didn't know if Tucker's expedition had made it to provide help, but didn't know how

much good he could do without pack animals. Decided to go forward without animals. The loads were shifted to humans

on Feb 26, Reed and his men met up with 2 men sent ahead from First relief to look for supplies

p 185 Reed sent two men ahead with provisions for the First Relief on Feb 27 the two groups met, and Reed got to hug his wife and Virgina and James Jr. - first time he'd seen them in months,

since his banishmen Reed later described the survivors as "the poor unfortunate Starved people"

p 186 minutes later, after learning that two of his kids were still back there, Reed and the men began again

the remaining trapped members had some hope now - if one group of rescuers could make it in, maybe others could too. They

just needed to stay alive until then

"ironically, people who are starving can be killed by an overabundance of food." body starts eating itself - first fat, then

muscle, including organs that process food. In modern times, there are guidelines on how to gradually introduce food to

those who are starving

the basics of this (reintroducing food) wer eknown in the 19th century

p 187 2nd relief therefore careful to give only limited amounts of food to them. Adults understood this, but the kids didn't.

12-yr-old William Hook snuck into the supplies at night and gorged himself. He became extremely ill, and was given tobacco

juice to get him to vomit. Too sick to march when the others left, so one adult and two other weak kids were left behind

(Billy Murphy, age 11, who had frostbite on his feet, was one). William Hook died that day

Billy's shoes were cut off his feet, and he had to walk barefoot the rest of the way because no extra shoes 3 days later he and the other survivors met up with rest of First Relief again. 4 days later - March 7 - reached Johnson's

Ranch Virginia Reed said of this that "I really thought I had stepped over into paradise"

p 188 The Donners were getting desparate and their little kids were starving. They finally decided to eat the dead. first body

they found was Jacob Donner; his wife said it was okay if they used him for meat. Girls ate, but George couldn't even watch

p 189 Donners not only people around - Washoe Indians lived in eastern Sierra Nevada. Usually spent summer at Truckee Lake and

winter further down the mountain. Some parties of Washoe had noticed the Donner Party, but they were wary of approaching

them, because they had heard stories of missions in California where Indians were essentially enslaved

however, as Washoe noticed the increasing desparation, they decided to help a little. one man came to the cabins at Truckee

Lake all by himself. Left 5 or 6 small roots for them - tasted like sweet potatoes, looked like onions. Washoe didn't come

back

p 190 Reed estimated snow on the mountains at about 30 ft deep. The men woul d sink to their waists every time they took a step.

Difficult to make progress, even in the middle of the night the snow didn't harden enough

after two days of trying to walk at night and during the day, Reed decided they had to stop and get a full night's rest. r

men - Charles Cady, Nicholas Clark, and Charles Stone, wanted to keep going on their own

p 191 dangerous for a small group to split off like that - if a blizzard came, not enough bodies to try to keep warm. On the other

hand, Donner Party in very grave condition. Reed said the three could go on ahead. The three got within 2 mi of the lake

cabins and then saw a party of 10 Indians (probably incl the one who had given the roots). The three white men, however,

assumed the Indians were hostile and had likely killed the others. They stopped for the night and cont in the morning,

thinking no one would be alive

the three instead found emigrants who were alive, with partially butchered corpses lying around the cabins. At Alder Creek,

Jacob Donner's kids were eating his heart and liver raw when the rescuers arrived

p 192 that story about what they found was published in Illinois journal on Dec 9, 1847 and was upposed to be based on Reed's

notes, but written by someone else. Reed never mentioned discovering cannibalism, but never rejected the article either

likely that the story was exaggerated at least somewhat however, Donners had already told First Relief that they planned to eat the dead, and Lavinah Murphy had told Patrick Breen

the same. And, in the week since the First Relief had left, no one had died, despite the fact that the First Relief had left

very little food for them.

some of the survivors later talked about cannibalism. Mary Donner, almost 8 at the time, and Jean Baptiste Trudeau both

spoke of it, as did Georgia Donner, who was just 7. Georgia said that the children at Alder Creek ate the meat of the dead

but was not sure if the older people did

p 193 Eliza Donner, 4 at the time, later staunchly denied that anyone in her family cannibalised. She interviewed Trudeau many

years later and got him to recant his story of cannibalims - "but this occured decades after the entrapment, and he was

telling his interviewer exactly what she wanted to hear."

in 2005, archaelogists excavated the cooking hearth used by the Donners at Alder Creek. None of the bone fragments

conclusively proved to be human, which some said meant that there was no possibility of cannibalism. "But, in fact, it woudl

have been astonishing to find archaeological evidence of cannibalism at Alder Creek. In the acidic soil of the conifer

forests of the high Sierra, uncooked bone disintegrated quickly. The only bones found by the archaeologists - the only ones

still there to find - were cooked. But the likelihood is small that the families at Alder Creek would have cooked any human

bones. In typical cases of survival cannibalism, the desparate sufferers slice flesh form the cadavers and cook only this

gruesome 'meat'. Not until after the supply of flesh is exhausted ar ehte bones boiled, so they too can be eaten."

at Alder Creek, four adults had died, so unlikely that in the week since the First Relief left they would have gone through

all the meat and gotten to the bone. IF Georgia was right that the adults didn't participate, then the meat would have

lasted longer

p 194 Reed found his daughter Patty "sitting on the roof, her feet dangling on the snow", son Tommy was in the Breen caabin too

next day Reed and 3 others went to Alder Creek. Betsy Donner sold her husband Jacob's belongings to the rescuers - boots,

shoes, handkerchiefs. She raised $118.81, probably to be paid when they got to California. Likely did this so her children

would have some money if she died and they were orphaned

again, families had to decide who was strong enough to go with the rescuers. Betsy sent the three oldest kids she had with

her - Solomon, Mary, Isaac. She and the two youngest were too weak to go

Tamzene and her 3 girls were healthy, but George Donner was not

p 195 Tamzene didn't want to leave George, and Reed told her that he thought another rescue group would be there shortly, so

Tamzene decided to stay with her kids

next morning (2 days after they arrived), the Second Relief left with 17 members of the Donner Party - most were kids.

Elizabeth Graves and her 4 kids went, so now her cabin was empty. Breens and all 5 of their kids left

p 196 Breen's last diary entry said that the locals in the rescue party predicted the snow would be at the lake until June

Reed left 3 of his men to help take care of those who were left. Clark and Cady stayed at Alder Creek. Stone stayed at the

lake. Everyone assumed Woodworth would be there soon. 14 survivors left behind, most near death. "meager provisions could

be spared" to stay behind with them

when people in the 2nd relief left, they had been at Truckee for over 4 months

p 197 3 days from the lake, they had just gotten through the pass. They were at the most exposed point, and a blizzard was

building Reed's journal said of this day "The Sky look like snow and everything indicates a storm, god for bid....Night closing fast,

the Clouds still thicking. Terror, terror. I feel a terrible foreboding but dare not Communicate my mind to any. Death to

all if our provisions do not Come in a day or two and a storm should fall on us." (sic for two-word forbid, capitalization

his)

this journal entry was the most fear of any that had been recorded for the Donner Party

p 198 2nd relief on half rations - had left much of their supplies with the Donner survivors who remained behind

3 men went ahead to find supplies they'd hidden on their way in, but hadn't come back yet

snow started falling that night, and the wind blew horribly - camped in a tiomber area in a little valley just beneath

summit. This valley funneled the winds, so they seemed stronger. very, very cold

had a small fire, and they all circled it, with backs to the wind, and piled snow behind them to make a small windbreak

p 199 even though the 2nd relief fire was built on green logs, it had melted snow beneath and created a pit. John Breen (age 15),

fainted at one point and someone caught him before he rolled into the fire. Peggy put a small lump of sugar in his mouth,

and he regained consciousness

Reed went blind - delayed snow-blindness. other men too weak to help feed the fire to keep it going. William McCutchan and

Hiram Miller (who had been part of Donner Party originally - Milled had joined a mule train early during the journey) were

there, and they took responsibility for keeping the fire up. Later, many in the group said that without their efforts

everyone could have died

storm did not let up in the morning. Visibility under 20 ft. Snow pit was 15 ft deep. If fire fell in, it would be too far

away to provide warmth, so also had to keep up the platform over the pit.

p 200 ran out of wood, so the men had to go out in the blizzard to chop down a tree and cut it up. took 10-min shifts and then had

to sit by the fire to thaw out

pretty much the group had no food, and no hope of any as long as the storm kept going. This later known as Starved Camp

fire failed on 2nd night, but McCutchan managed to rekindle it Reed in an almost coma and close to death. McCutchan and Miller slapped him and shook him until he work up

p 201 Patty Reed remembered the men yelling and swearing at him not to die

Isaac Donner, aged 5, died in the night (2nd night) - no one noticed until morning. the next day, the storm stopped. at

Alder Creek, Nicholas Clark estimated that there was 6 ft of fresh snow from that storm. Would have been more at the summit

reed regained his sight before storm ended, and he made the group get up and walk. The advance party had survived but "had

been forced to head toward civilization" rather than return

p 202 some people now very ill. Elizabeth graves near death, and what to do with her kids without her? Mary Donner burned her foot in the campfire and couldn't walk well Patrick Breen was ill and two of their boys were very sick

Patrick Breen said that he and his family would have to stay at the camp - rather die by a fire than collapse in the snow.

possibility that relief would come

Reed said no, they all needed to travel, if not, they'd die for sure. Breen refused, and Reed finally asked the other

rescuers to be witnesses that he was not abandoning them, they chose to stay

5 of the combined Graves and Breen children were too little or too sick to walk Miller was strongest of the rescuers and said he could carry Tommy Reed; others unable to carry the chidren. Mary Donner

wanted to go, but couldn't walk on her foot. None of the other men agreed to help

p 203 Reed's diary doesn't mention that he tried to convince the Breens to keep going, but as time went on he "place[d] a greater

and greater emphasis on his efforts to exhort Breen to move."

those who were going on stacked a 3-day supply of wood for those staying behind. The Second RElief now had only 3 people who

had been rescued - Patty and Tommy Reed and Solomon Hook (Jacob Donner's stepson)

left at Starved Camp were 13 people, most of them children. no one thought any of these people would recover enough to walk

on their own. Were simply waiting for rescue or death

Woodworth had reached Sutter's Fort in mid-Feb. March 2, he metwith some members of First Relief, so turned around and

escorted them back, and made arrangements for them to get to Sutter's Fort. Woodworth then went ahead into the mountains.

during the blizzard that trapped Reed's group near the summit, his men likely camped at Bear Valley

"the reasons for his slow progress thus far would eventually become a topic of great debate." some say he had a hard time

recruiting because many had gone with earlier rescue parties and many men gone in military service

p 204 others say Woodworth either incompetent, cowardly or lazy Woodworth had only 2 or 3 men with him

Patrick Breen stopped keeping his journal when they left the lake Peggy Breen was fairly healthy, and she was interviewed later and gave most of the information about what happened at Starved

Camp at Starved Camp, Elizabeth Graves died first, then her son Franklin. the fire melted the snow and the platform sunk slowly, putting the fire - and their survival - further away

James Reed snowblind again, but kept moving. His feet bleeding b/c he had gotten bad frostbite during hte blizzard

p 205 Patty was exhausted and collapsed despite his own problems (almost died night before), James Reed made a sling for her out of a blanket and tied her on his

back. He fell a lot, and Miller (carrying Tommy Reed), kept helping him back up. Patty got weaker and weaker. James Reed

had previously held a sack that had once held dried meat over the fire until it thawed and then scraped the inside seam to

come up with likely less than a teasponful of crumbs. Without telling anyone, he had hidden this last bit of food in one of

his mittens. Now he thawed it in his own mouth and gave it to Patty. She revived enough for him to go on

Peggy would hold her hand over everyone's mouth to see if she could feel their breath. Did not feel it on her son James's

and she called for her husband to help. He told her to let the boy, because then he'd be better off than the rest of them.

Peggy said (per author's words) "her heart stood still when she heard her husband's words"

p 206 Peggy rubbed his chest and hands and put a little piece of sugar in his mouth, and he revived

p 207 the day after Second RElief left Truckee Lake, Stone hiked to Alder Creek. he and Cady decided they didn't want to stay.

Plenty of provisions here now, and they thought relief coming soon. Clark was out hunting and not part of the decision.

They agreed that for a fee they would take Tamzene's 3 girls. The other rescuers had turned down her offer, because they

didn't have enough strength to take care of the little girls. Possibly she offered as much as $500.

p 208 during the big blizzard, the girls and Stone and Cady were staying in the cabin with Levinah Murphy and Keseberg. When the

storm was over, Stone and Cady said they didn't intend to take the girls at all - would just leave them with Murphy

2 days later, STone and Cady reached Starved Camp. They noticed the site but didn't stop to help - did not share their

provisions, didn't offer to carry a child, left no additional firewood, may not have even stopped to talk. This despite the

fact that they were probably 2 of the strongest of the rescuers

p 209 although cady had frostbite on his feet "Cady and Stone had once displayed the admirable courage of all the rescuers, perhaps more. Their willingness to forge ahead

of the rest of the party on the way into the mountains showed both physical stamina and personal bravery. But at some point,

both men lost their moorings. Perhaps the horrors they saw at the camps overwhelmed them. For whatever reason, the same

teancity with which they first rushed into the wilderness on an errand of mercy was now displayed as they rushed out in a

desparate bid for self-preservation. Maybe the real surprise is that the other rescuers didn't do the same."

p 210 at Starved Camp, the fire had sunk so far that they couldn't feel it

p 211 to end

p 211 Peggy thought she could see dirt at the bottom

sent her teenager, John, down, using a tree top as a ladder, and he verified that it was dirt - the fire would not sink any

more

she woke everyone up and helped them climb down into the pit. Now, no more wind, and they were warmer. 11 people were alive

Wm Eddy and Wm Foster determined to rescue their sons who remained at the lake. Both had survived as part of Forlorn Hope;

Foster's wife alive and safe, Eddy knew his wife and daughter were dead

they were ready, and set off alone on borrowed horses, then walked when the snow too deep to ride

they caught up with Woodworth and his few men right as Woodworth met Reed coming doen. Stone and Cady had already rejoined

Reed. except for Clark, all the rescuers together

p 212 Reed told them that there were still people alive in 3 different places - Starved CAmp, Lake, Alder Creek

Woodworth now balked that he might have to do this rescue on his own. said he wouldn't go on his own, even though tracks

from Reed's descent were visible. Woodworth also told Foster and Eddy that this was too dangerous - they had already done it

with even less provisions and equipment than they had now Reed and Eddy both later said that Woodworth was a coward

Woodowrth finally said he wasn't going, but promised that the government would pay $3/day plus $50 extra if you carried out a

child that wasn't yours. However, Eddy and Foster later said they paid two of the men with their money

Hiram Miller and Charles Stone, who had just come down, offered to go back with this new party. 3 others (assume from

Woodworth's party) also agreed to go. Total of 7, with the two fathers

p 213 Mary Donner, age 7, was first at Starved Camp to suggest they eat the dead bodies. Said she had already done it at Aldre

Creek - "perhaps lessening the strain of breaking the great taboo" others agreed, and PAtrick Breen climbed up to get meat

"In an account of the story largely based on an interview with Peggy Breen, the writer Eliza Farnham maintained that only

Mary Donner and the remaining Graves children actually ate from the bodies, but it is simply not believable that the Breens

refused. Given the length of time of their entrapment and their condition, they must also have participated in the

cannibalism, as much a necessity for them as it had been for so many others in their company."

p 214 when rescue party arrived, found 3 "crudely butchered" corpses. They had first eaten bodies of children Isaac Donner and

Franklin Graves. Elizabeth Graves now missing breats, heart, liver, and lungs

pit itself likely disgusting - one corner would have been a latrine because they were too weak to climb up

"the fact that eleven of them survived almost a week, essentially without shelter, in the middle of the Sierra, at high

elevation, in winter, is astonishing."

most of the 11 still couldn't walk, and no way to bring in pack animals

Eddy, Foster, and two other men kept going towards the pass to reach the others who were trapped

3 rescuers stayed at Starved Camp.  Charles Stone and Howard Oakley each picked up a child and argued that they should leave 

those who couldn't travel and save a few. John Stark said absolutely not.

Stark's mother was Daniel Boone's cousin/ he had come west in 1846

p 215 Stark refused to leave, but there were 9 people left at the camp that needed rescuing - two oldest Graves children and all 7

Breens. Stark decided he'd carry the littles and somehow force the others down the mountain. HE already had a backpack,

blankets, axe with him. Would carry two small kids a little way, then go back to bring more to that spot. He also kept

morale up, joking and teasing with the kids. Most thought Patrick Breen couldn't walk, but Stark cajoled him into coming.

All of the survivors made it down safely! (Karen note: there is a truly special place in heaven for Stark. I'm finally

crying for a good reason.)

Woodworth later took credit for the rescue, to Peggy Breen's dismay. She later said, "I thank nobody but God and Stark and

the Virgin Mary."

p 216 at Alder Creek, Nicholas Clark confided to Jean Baptise Trudeau that he was going to leave. Several of hte Donners were near

death, Tamzene was healthy and could leave if she wanted, and he thought the other Donner kids were well on their way Clark didn't think he should risk his life cutting firewood for people about to die, and he feared starving to death

Trudeau could have left before - he was healthy

p 217 others had encouraged Trudeau to stay to help the Donner. Trudeau said he'd been there long enough and would go with Clark

they were very surprised to find Tamzene's daughters at the lake cabin. Clark went back to tell Tamzene that her girls were

there. She left her husband to go see about her daughters

when Eddy and Foster arrived, they learned that their kids had died and been eaten

pp 217-218 "By one account, Eddy grew so enraged with Keseberg over the cannibalism that he vowed to kill him later, a threat that was

never fulfilled."

p 218 there were still 4 living kids - three Donner girls and Simon Murphy. rescuers said they'd take these 4 kids. Clark and

Trudeau would go. Keseberg said no. Levinah Murphy too sick to go

p 219 Eddy and Foster said they would not go to Alder Creek - worried that a blizzard would come and wanted to be underway as soon

as possible. Also thought no real point. Tamzene was at the lake now, and from what she told them the people still there

not likely to live much longer. Tamzene refused to go, right away however - said she'd go check on her husband, and if he

was dead she'd come back with them. They refused to wait, and she went on anyway, knowing no other rescue likely coming

p 220 Frances Donner's shoes had been eaten by the pet dog before they had to kill it, so she was wearing a pair of her mother's

shoes that were much too big for her. Kept falling off her. One of the rescuers, Thompson, finally told her to leave the

shoes and walk in her stockings. He eventually gave her his mittens to use as moccasins, and he went bare-handed. He bribed

her with sugar too to keep her moving

Eliza and Georgia had been carried, but the men got tired and told them they had to walk a little. When the girls refused,

they were given spanking. These three girls were "some of the smallest children to make the long journey without either

parent present"

p 221 in late March, another party set out. These were mostly men who had been part of the previous efforts. they turned back

soon after they reached the snow. Some said the snow was too soft to go at all. ANother said that a new storm blew in and

they couldn't go on. - "Or perhaps they just gave up. The only people who could conceivably be rescued were Keseberg and

Tamzene Donner, and both of them had been healthy enough to travel when the previous party left the lake. Rescuers could be

forgiven for a reluctance to risk their own lives to save people who had failed to save themselves."

p 222 in mid-April, it had been one month since the Third Relief had left. The idea now to bring in their property.

John Sinclair, the alcalde, organized a small salvage group, led by William Fallon. they could keep half the property from

the Donner family camps, and the rest would be used for benefit of the Donner kids, now assumed to be orphans.

p 223 the salvage party came back two weeks later with a survivor

when the salvage party got to the lake, they found dead bodies everywhere - "terribly mutilated, legs, arms, and sculls

scattered in every direction." (quote from article in the California Star six weeks after Fallon's party came out; based on

Fallon's diary). didn't see any living person

at Alder Creek, Jacob Donner's tent had been ransacked, with stuff everywhere. Found pieces of body of George Donner in a

kettle - said he hadn't been dead for more than a few days. Ox carcass lay nearby, almost untouched

the men packed up as much as they could of the stuff, and gathered together more that they would come back for.

returned to lake and found Lewis Keeseberg there with a pan of fresh liver

Keseberg said that he was only one left alive. He said Tamzene had gotten lost trying to get back to Alder Creek and spent

the night outside. she finally reached Keseberg's tent and died soon after

p 224 Keseberg said he'd eaten her and she was "the best he had ever tasted". he said he didn't have any of the property of the

others, but they searched him and found a lot of stuff, including pistols that had belonged to George Donner and $225 in gold

rescuers threatened and cajoled to get him to tell the truth about Donner's property - Geo. Donner supposedly traveling witha

lot of gold. Finally, they threw a noose around his neck and said they'd hang him if he didn't tell the truth. Then,

Keseberg led them to where he'd buried the Donner's money

they asked K. why he didn't eat the ox meat, and he said it was too dry, that humans tasted better

Keseberg later disputed this version. Said that Levinah Murphy died and he ran out of provisions. After four days of no

food, he finally resorted to cannibalism so that he could live and one day support his family

p 225 quote from Keseberg - "I can not describe the unutterable repugnance with which I tasted the first mouthful of flesh. There

is an instict in our nature that revolts at the thought of touching, much less eating, a corpse. ... It has been told that I

boasted of my shame - said that I enjoyed this horrid food, and that I remarked that human flesh was more palatable than

California beef. This is a falsehood. It is a horrible, revolting falsehood. This food was never otherwise than loathsome,

insipid, and disgusting."

Keseberg further said that Tamzene arrived one day to let him know that George had died and she was going to walk to safety

on her own. He said she wouldn't eat human flesh, so he put her in bed to let her rest. She died during the night. He said

Tamzene had made him promise to get her family's money to use for her kids, so he walked over there to get it and bury it.

He said that on his way back he feell through the snow into a stream and dragged himself out, half-frozen. The next morning,

he saw the Fallon party

p 226 per K., he didn't tell them where the gold was so that he could keep his promise to Tamzene and see all the money go to the

kids

"In the common lore of the Donner Party, then and for 150 years to follow, Fallon's picture of Keseberg as a bloodthirsty

ghoul held sway, perhaps because it intermingled with and reinforced an image already in the public mind." soon after he

came down, rumor began to be that he had murdered Tamzene in order to eat her

"Surely the Fallon diary is, at best, half true. Donner Party scholars have long observed that the language ... is too

refined for Fallon's rough-hewn life. And there is a lyrical quality at points that seems foreign to a mountain man's pen."

newspaper later retracted claim that Eleanor Eddy's body had been near Keseberg's doo.r. In the summer, someone else found

George Donner's body - not mutilated

p 227 81 people had been trapped. 36 died and 45 survived

p 228 by mid-may, the survivors had recovered. Virginia said "We are all verry fleshey" (sic), with her mother now weighing 140

pounds. Virginia wrote a cousin that California "is a beautiful Country. It aut to be a beautiful Country to pay us for our

trubel getting there." (sic)

Virginia's letter was detailed account of what had happend

p 229 the letter said that there was even worse that happened that she did not write down. Also said her family the only one that

did not have to eat human flesh

encouraged others to come to California anyway, but advised "Never take no cutofs and hury along as fast as you can."(sic)

in summer, Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny was returning east and stopped at Truckee Lake - now beautiful, with flowers and grass,

deer and butterflies

human remains still laying around - flesh was mummifying, bones scattered in cabins

Edwin Bryant was with Kearney (remember, he had been with Donners in the beginning of trip." Bryant described it as "A more

revolting and appalling spectacle I never witnessed."

Kearny had his men dig a pit to bury the bones, then they torched the cabins

at Alder Creek, Kearny found George Donner's body. Tamzene had wrapped his remains in a sheet - "the closest approximation

of a decent burial she could provide."

p 230 Nancy Graves married a Methodist minister and had 9 kids. Never got over her part in cannibalism. refused to help C. F.

McGlashan and wrote to him only once to say "I have no information to impart, and do not wish my name mentioned. I hereby

notify you not to use my name in that connection." Mrs. R. W. Williamson

Eliza Donner "by contrast, cherished her place in history." married lawyer Sherman Houghton (later a Congressman). Published

her memoir and corresponded frequently with McGlashan

Reed family moved to San Jose

p 231 MArgaret Reed died at age 47 (15 years after the tragedy) Virginia eloped at 16 and had 9 kids. she became a Catholic, fulfilling her promise Patty had 8 kids neither Reed son had children - both lived with Patty for a while

Breens settled in Mission at San Juan Bautista, where people helped them a great deal Edward Breen's leg healed in full Patrick Jr, Simon, and James all died in 1899, within 3 months of each other

the Donner orphans were split up. two of Tamzene's daughters moved in with a German couple near Sutter's Fort. Others lived

with the Reeds murphy and Graves kids also orphans. Mary Murphy married local man Charles Covillaud., and town that grew near their farm

later known as Marysville, after her Simon Murphy returned to Tennessee

2 Graves girls married men who had tried to rescue them, although neither man ever made it. Sarah married William Dill

Ritchie (he was lynched 6 yrs later for stealing mules)

p 232 Mary Graves's feet had frozen so badly she couldn't wear shoes for 3 months after she made it down as part of Forlorn Hope married Edward Pyle Jr, who was murdered in 1848. She then cooked meals for the murderer so that he wouldn't die befor ehis

hanging

Billy Graves went east the next year William Eddy remarried twice. died Dec 24, 1859

Jean Bte Trudeau one of the only single men to survive. later worked as a fisherman

Lewis Keseberg later sued one of his rescuers for defamation, "the jury found in KEseberg's favor but concluded that his

slanderers had broken tarnished goods: Damages totaled one dollar. In time he became a public caricature" for a time he ran a hotel in sacramento, the Lady Adams he ended up very poor. Two daughters were born with disabilities

p 233 Selim Woodworth became a commodore in the navy during the Civil War Hiram Miller settled near the Reeds and they were friends for a long time. he lived with them for the last 5 years of his

life, after he had come down with smallpox and never fully recovered

William Fallon went east for a time but journeyed back to California in 1848. Got frustrated with slow pace of wagon train

and rode ahead with only one other man - killed by Indians

John Stark never mentioned in Woodworth's report - Woodworth took full credit. However, Stark became sheriff of Napa County

and later served in state legislature. died of a heart attack in 1875 (age 58)

Reason Tucker struck gold

p 234 Tucker died 1888. His gravestone said "An honest candid worthy man - one of the heroic rescuers of Donner Party"

Lansford Hastings became a delegte to California state constitutional convention in 1849 during Civil War he had plan to conquer Arizona for Confederacy died several years later while working on plan to send former southerners to Brazil

other parties did take the Hastings Cut-off to get to California, but not a popular route - "so far as is known, no one ever

traveled it twice"

when Elizabeth Graves ready to be rescued, she had gotten rescuers to help her recover gold and silver - about $800 worth -

from her wagon, she carried it with her but then decided it was too heavy and she'd have to hide it.

p 235 she hung back one day and buried it, but never told her children before she died where it was

in 1891, Edward REynolds digging for quartz near Truckee when saw gold. All the pieces dated 1845 or earlier. Graves kids

recognized one of the coins - it had bite marks b/c they used it as a teething ring. The money was returned to Billy Graves

Truckee Lake renamed Donner Lake. the pass now known as Donner Pass, the summit nearby is Donner PEak

within 25 years of the rescues, the transcontintental railroad laid across the pass now, lots of vacation homes around the lake Starved Camp area now a ski area

p 236 women survived better than men in the group - 28 men died, only 8 women died. this was first noted in J. Quinn Thornton's

Oregon and California in 1848; there were more men in the party anyway, but that shouldn't have accounted for such a

difference. Thornton didn't speculate on why

one theory was that men had the hardest physical labor, so they were weaker when they arrived, then weakened further at the

tasks they had to do at camp. However, in this time frame, women's work also hard - hauling water, cooking, stirring butter

churn, washing clothes

p 237 on plains, women had to gather firewoord, and everyone walked, so they were probably equally exhausted

modern science leans toward biology as the reason. Women have more body fat, percentage wise, than men -"fat acts as a

storehouse for energy, meaning that as women starve, they have greater reserves on which to draw". Men's bodies eat muscle

before women's do, then

women are smaller, so need fewer calories

per statistics, single biggest factor in survival was age - in most tragedies, youngest and oldest die first. In Donner

Party, kids under 5 had high death rate, as did adults over 40 only two older adults survived - Patrick Breen was about 51 and Peggy was about 40, but they had a larger supply of beef than

most families. The other 6 adults over 40 (both Donner couples and Franklin and Elizabeth Graves) all died

of ones in their twenties, only one woman (Eleanor Eddy) died, and only one man (William Eddy) lived - (k note- how is that

for irony?)

7 other men in 20s died, most of them pretty quickly in the ordeal

p 238 most of single men were traveleing along young women were married with extended families and/or kids

per modern research, if you have a lot of social connections you tend to be healthier - get not only physical assistance

(sharing food) but also meotional support

those with larger extended families in Donner Party had higher survival rates. 15 people were trapped without a relative.

Only 2 survived - Trudeau and Noah James; both were Donner employees

most of first to die were single people

4 men died at Alder Creek before Christmas - Sam Shoemaker, Joseph Rheinhard, and James Smith all had no family. Jacob

Donner had family but was sick even before trip began

p 239 James Reed later wrote that one of his teamsters, James Reed, died early, and that he didn't starve, he just gave up

only 2 families lost no members - Reeds and Breens. "This was especially remarkable for the Reed, since James Reed's

banishment left the couple's four children solely in the care of their mother, a woman who had once been so frail she had

been unable to rise from her sickbed for her own wedding." Reeds also had almost no food or supplies after their desert

crossing

"Even her husband, who had seen the pallor of his children's faces firsthand, could not quite seem to grasp the straits to

which his family had been reduced, or the magnitude of his wife's accomplishment." James Reed once asked his wife why, after

the kids had found gold flakes (probably) at the Lake, they hadn't saved some - she said that at the time finding food was a

little more important

p 240 early April 1847 California Star published a lurid story - accusing a woman of eating her just-deceased's husband's tongue,

of mother's eating their kids and kids eating their father

p 241 most of the stories false or exaggerated. Of 45 survivors, only about half ate human flesh. Maybe 6 or so of those who died

had eaten human - "A precise count is impossible, nor would one matter. The abiding mark of the Donner Party was an act of

desperation, nothing more."

stories continued to be embellished - now mothers accused of not feeding their kids so they would starve to death and could

be eaten - tall tales got taller. Some of the survivors even spread some "bizarre and incredible anecdotes" - Frances Donner

said that Eleanor Eddy had gone nuts and danced and danced until she died

"the Donner Party represented no great turn of history" migration to california down the next two years (cont)

p 242 but the migration downturn likely due to MExican-American War; once gold was found, people flocked

Between 1840 and 1860, when wagon trains at their peak, about 250,000 people crossed overland to the west - perhaps 4-6% died

en route, and many likely would have died in that time frame if they had been at home. - "Thus the tale of the Donner Party

is mismatched with its broader context, for it is a cautionary warning about an enterprise that was largely, from the

standpoint of the participants, a splendid success."

many early newspaper stories mentioned that most travelers had no problem getting to California before winter. Most of these

blamed the Party for being lazy or foolish - these types of stories appeared before first rescuers got to the cabins

p 243 author notes that the newspapers had an interest in getting people to emigrate - more customers, more Americans to take over

from the Mexicans

in 1879, a newspaper editor at Truckee published history of the Donner Party - little about canibalism and justified all the

emigrants' actions; the book changed public perception . In early 20th century, a monument was erected to them - statue of

pioneer family walking west, atop a pedestal that supposedly reflect height of snows in 1846; erected by Native Sons of the

Golden West

p 244 monument dedicated Jun 1918 - 8 survivors still alive; Patty Reed and Frances and Eliza Donner only ones to come to the

dedication

"in the traditional sense of the word hero (italics), some members qualify." - cites Stanton, who came back even though he

had no family there. Eddy, who pushed the Forlorn Hope on to safety

p 245 rescuers, especially Stark, were brave

"But more than the gleaming heroism or sullied villainy, the DOnner Party is a story of hard decisions that were neither

heroic nore villainous." - often were selfish and generous by turns. cites Breens, who shared meat when they thought they

could and hoarded otherwise. Amanda McCutchan abandoned her kid to save herself, but her actions as part of Forlorn Hope

helped save many more of them. Jean Bte TRudeau stayed to help when he could have left, and Tamzene left her daughters to

comfort her husband -- "to judge such decisions from the comfort of modern life is a fool's errand."

true attraction here - ordinary people acting as best as they could

p 247 per Rarick, this book written mostly on primary sources written close to event; secondarily, letters and memoirs written

later by those involved; tried to avoid relying on third-hand accounts

p 248 spellings used here - McCutchan, Tamzene based on spelling used by person involved (as best as could be told) - relied heavily on Kristin Johnson for this