The Donner Party - One Wrong Turn (Part 1)
Out where the handclasp's a little stronger,
Out where the smile dwells a little longer,
That's where the West begins;
Out where the sun is a little brighter,
Where the snows that fall are a trifle whiter,
Where the bonds of home are a wee bit tighter,
That's where the West begins.
- Arthur Chapman
The call west was answered by many.
Bird calls,
(Vast tracks of land, no railway)
Hundreds of thousands traveled the roughly 2,500 miles from Missouri to the pacific coast - chasing fertile soil, better fortune and predictable climate.
Among the thousands to have made this difficult journey westwards, no single group has garnered as much attention, or endured so much, as the roughly 87 people now referred to as the Donner Party …
Upon reaching their destination, 47 of the 87 remain… what happened?
INTRO TO ME AT THE LAKE
(But it’s almost like nothing had happened here):
My dog Noodles and I walking the shore around Donner Lake - the location of perhaps one of the darkest settler stories in American history.
At this point, I had a vague recollection of the Donner story - but upon further research, I might have skipped the lake all together.
To get to the lake you pass a statue of a man holding his wife and a small child who clings tightly to both - desperation and fear line each face….
They stand prominently above a 22 foot high base … the presumed depth of the Sierra Snow during the winter of 1886
A plaque at the bottom reads
Virile to risk and find; kindly withal and a ready help.
Facing the brunt of fate; indomitable, - unafraid”
END OF ME AT LAKE
Every settler has the same goal in 1846 - to make it safely west.
By then, this isn’t a wild hope because The Oregon Trail and the Californian Trail are well traveled and relativley reliable…
There are few reasons to doubt your families safe passage, that is, if you stay on the path …
Its March, 1846.
And in Springfield Illinois, two families prepare to head west.
The Donners and the Reeds:
Here are four key characters.
George Donner
A well-to-do-decent-farmer, affectionately called “Uncle George” by neighbors and friends
He seems to have had an adventurous streak because, at 62 George initiates the move to California with his wife and 5 children.
Despite his popularity, for much of the trek George plays a passive role in decisions made by the party.
Tamsen Donner
George’s wife, Tamsen Donner also plays a key role in the story to come.
Bright eyed, supportive, curious - and dreams of starting a girls school in California. The group depends upon her stability.
James Reed
A respected - if temperamental and deeply impulsive businessman.
This impulsivity - as we’ll see, set’s the group down on a deeply sinister path.
Finally,
Margarete Reed, the wife of James - who is perhaps the most optimistic about the move. She is in constant poor health and has hopes the California Climate will improve her condition.
To make passage more comfortable for Margerate, James outfits their main wagon with an iron stove, cushioned seats and bunks for sleeping. Dubbed by fellow travelers, the palace car, this behemoth vessel would prove to be a hindrance as the journey continues…
This arrogance does the party no favors in decisions going forward…
It’s now mid-April, weeks later than the recommended departure time …
Unbothered, the party of roughly 31, leave Springfield never to return….
Music
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST
Music
Not always great advice, incidentally, Mr Frost - you see, if the party had continued on the well warn path perhaps the Donner and Reed families would have faded into obscurity…
Birds chirping music, wagon wheels
The party meets up with a multitude of others traveling through independence Missouri and onto the main trail … and, for the next 650 miles,,, times are good.
Birds and music
It would have continued this way if not for terrible recommendation of Landsford Hastings, a guide and explorer, albeit, a poor one…
Because in making this “recommendation” - in researching this route - Lansford essentially looks at a map, draws a line between two already established paths - the Oregon and California - and calls it a day … without regard for terrain or simple logistics logistics… OR, perhaps more crucially, without traversing the path himself!
Enter, James Reed… he’s a businessman, an opportunist, why travel more than you have to?
Reed manages to convince the party to take this apply named “Hastings Cutoff”
Despite being warned several times by other, more travelled personal, of the many perils along this new road.
Only one person objects to this route, Tamsen Donner.
And where they should have headed her advice, the party instead leaves the main trail heading southwest from what is now Wyoming…
The die is cast…
With George Donner - “Uncle George” as the newly elected leader - the group of some now 87 people forge ahead.
29 men, 15 women, and 43 children set off into unknown terrain.
Desert noises - music
“The desert is so huge, and the horizon so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent.”
- Paulo Coelho
Desert noises - music
To start, they expect the path to save them 300 miles of hard travel - Not so ,,, the aptly named “Hastings Cutoff” is actually 125 miles longer than the established paths they had just left.
It also cuts straight through some of the harshest terrain in the country.
Oblivious to this crucial fact, the Donner Party creates a fresh path through the jagged Wasatch Mountains.
But forging new paths takes resources, patience and time… all of which are dwindling in supply.
Still, somehow they manage to cross … at the eastern base of the mountains they pause …
Sand
Reluctantly, they step to cross the Great Salt flats of Utah...
-
The sun cooks the travelers as they walk
The available water only makes those who drink it sick
Tensions run high
Fighting noises ….
On October 5th, James Reed, arguable the sole reason for the groups plight - fatally stabs someone in the heat of an argument.
Fighting noises
Some within the group want to hang Reed for the foul play but a majority opt for simple banishment.
Essentially, the group assumes, a death sentence in itself.
Riding a lone horse, James Reed disappears into the horizon, leaving Margaret and his children behind.
When next the party sees Reed, circumstances will be much … much different.
Music - desert sounds
The desert, Hastings has said, should take 2 days and 2 nights …
It costs the party, 5 long, brutal days, dozens of cattle and supplies their oxen could no longer carry.
But perhaps the most valuable resource, that of time - came to front of mind.
Because the winds of winter, could be felt as they crossed the Ruby mountains towards the Sierra Nevada foothills …
Music and snow
“Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up, and after a while you don't have the strength to fight it.”
― George R.R. Martin
Music and snow
Me AT THE LAKE
“it’s hard to put myself in their shoes”
The winter at what is now called Donner Lake is bad at the best of times, but the winter of 1846 came early and hard.
ME AT THE LAKE
Exhausted, mal nourished and increasingly cold the Donner Party stand at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada; looking up they see feet of unseasonably deep snow making the mountains impassable.
They had missed passage through their last supreme obstacle by a mere two days …
At this moment California has never felt further away…
James Reed miraculously makes it to California after banishment, while Margaret and their children shutter at a cold; a mountain between them.
Tamsen and George Donner comfort their children as they watch snow pile deeper like a time glass …
A chilling conclusion collectively is reached, as they stare at the ice-still lake … it can only get worse.
- - - - -
Wind blows ….
And Jesus does it get worse, hypothermia, murder and sadly canibalism are all characteristics of the well known Donner story - and we’ll get into all of that in part two, but for now I hope to have provided some context and building blocks for the escalation of this crazy story ….
Standing at the lake, I kept thinking to myself, this would be such a beautiful, untainted place, if not for an arrogant businessman, a foolish explorer and one wrong turn.
The rest, my friends, is a story for another day.