The Donner Party - One Wrong Turn (Part 2)
“Death was the rule, life the exception. Life was at best a transitory dream, set in a universe that was entirely indifferent to his fate.”
― Daniel James Brown, The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party
Cold settles within bones.
Continuous snowfall marks the steady passage towards winter.
The Donner Party gaze upon a path whose crossing grows less likely with each passing day.
For the now 80 settlers, death by cold or slow starvation is now - very much - a looming reality.
“We were as near to heaven as we could get.”
- An unknown member of the Donner Party
Wind and music
The pass ahead stands at some 7,000 feet before extending towards the Sacramento Valley.
Its east slope is difficult to traverse, even in favorable conditions.
Less than three miles from the summit, two frightening options become apparent to the Donner Party - abandon your remaining supplies and brave the grueling 10 day snow-laden trek across the mountains…
OR
Choose to retreat and wait out for a clearing in the weather.
Neither, encourage optimism.
Audio CLip
“As you look across the lake “
Two people kayak nearby as we walk the shores of Donner Lake …
It’s a beautiful sight with the mountains as their backdrop…
But dark stories can tarnish even the most beautiful views ….
Wood chopping noise
Almost immediately after arriving at the lake, George Donner, injures his hand…. And what starts as a simple cut, rapidly develops into a debilitating infection…
The Donners, used to midwestern weather patterns, believed that in waiting the snow would clear once the weather passed.
With their leader crippled, the choice was easy.
They would play it safe and wait until George and the weather improved.
They choose a site at Alder Creek Meadows, six miles from the what is now called Donner Lake.
Meanwhile the remaining party stay at the lake … and actually attempt a passing but are forced to retreat as the snow thickens behind them.
Winter has arrived in the high Sierra ….
“Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars. This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”
― John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra
Surrounded by indifferent beauty, the Donner Party is now stuck for an unknowable amount of glorious Sierra days, furiously attempting to survive it’s unforgiving landscape…
A few manage to find previously build cabins … some build makeshift shelters and still others - particularly the single male hired hands - brave the elements alone.
Food will soon become a problem, large animals leave the mountains to hibernate, the remaining few cattle are starving as well and so provide little meat and the only animals that remain are too small to shoot.
The tribe now known as the northern Washoe knew better than to camp in such an inhospitable area - their oral tradition tells of a group of starving settlers high in the mountains - whom they once tried to help but kept their distance after witnessing the desperate and terrible measures the group would take to survive….
Audio Clip -
“There is snow - it’s 50 some degrees…
Where it’s nice and beautiful for me traverse the rocks of Donner Lake - my mind drifts towards the settlers plight - as I stair at the snow lined mountains beyond the lake …
“They were having a hard time walking normally now, staggering as if drunk at times and needing to stop to rest every quarter of a mile or so.”
― Daniel James Brown, The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party
Attempts are made to find help but none are successful. The cold is too bitter - the snow is too deep.
The party is now forced to boil animal Hydes into a tasteless pulp-like substance for sustenance …
With a growing urgency, a group - now ominously referred to as “The forlorn Hope” - decide to either cross the path or die in the attempt.
In the end, 17 members leave the camp …
Wearing poorly constructed snow shoes…. the group sets up the mountain… leaving behind the long-suffering Donner Party in a final bid to find help.
As they slowly ascend the rough terrain, the scene below is Grimm.
Tamsen Donner can only watch as her husbands condition worsens.
The sickly, Margaret Reed, attempts to comfort her starving children …
Meanwhile across the mountain James Reed - the banished businessmen - attempts to raise money for a rescue party.
The Forlorn Hope continues on …
The clock is ticking …
The climb is excruciating.
The poorly constructed snow shoes become heavier with each labored step.
The cold wind is relentless…
The group of 17 know that if they do not succeed in finding help … the friends and family they left behind would likely die as well.
Nights are brutal ; they have no shelter, only increasingly damp blankets and the warmth of each others bodies.
Days are no better, many go snow blind sweat surfacing in the effort of the hike would quickly freeze …
Despite this, they have reason for optimism: They expect to make it across within 10 days and carry with them enough provisions for that to be feasible…
And they are right for their optimism, because they could have been successful - if not, for another fatal miscalculation
For if the group chose to climb a hill - which they elected not to out of exhaustion - they would have made it within the allotted 10 days.
They however go downwards into a deep valley …
“Bones have their secrets, but they tell no lies.”
― Daniel James Brown, The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride
The storm lasts 36 hours, travel is impossible …
They awake screaming, wrapped in frost covered blankets.
One by one, many freeze to death
“Father died on Christmas night at 11 O clock in the commencement of the snowstorm”
- Mary Ann Graves - the daughter of the party leader
In a desperate bid for survival, the remaining settlers in the forlorn hope cannibilize the frozen dead
They remove the arms, head and legs - to make the act appear less gruesome, and roast the remaining parts over a fire …
Everyone averts their gaze, as they cry in silence - lamenting the action they feel they must take to survive…
Two hired Native American guides, Luis and Salvador refuse to partake in the gruesome deed, watching the act from afar.
Later, smartly, choosing to leave to party only to run into the forlorn hope later on… although it’s said the ill fated pair may have died - many assume Luis and Salvador were murdered and canibilized….
On January 1st, feet bloody and frostbitten, carrying the dried remains of fellow settlers, the remaining 7 members stumble down the west sloop of the Sierras
One member, forges blindly ahead and stumbles upon a house.
Dilussional and exhausted, he tells of the rest of his party and those still trapped on the other side of the Sierra Nevada…
A rescue group is mustered from nearby Johnson’s Ranch, who retrace the man’s bloody footprints to find six other survivors lying in the mud…
What was estimated to take 6 to 10 days for the Forlorn Hope took 33 days…
New’s quickly spreads of the remaining Donner Party members still trapped in the mountains …
Rescue party’s are formed …
What they find waiting back across the mountains haunts many for the remainder of their lives
“I told [the guides] I would go too, for to go back and hear the cries of hunger from my little brothers and sisters was more than I could stand. I would go as far as I could, let the consequences be what they might.”
Mary Ann Graves
Some risk the trek back to Donner Lake because they have family trapped at the camp - this includes James Reed who plays a key role in organizing rescue efforts. Others feel morally obliged to do so and still others did it for the money …
Regardless of intent, all rescue parties witness the worst conditions possible upon arriving across the Sierra…
Mutilated bodies of the dead, children dazed with hunger and unimaginable conditions…
In total, four relief parties are sent over time but because of injury, illness or lack of supplies it is impossible to remove everyone at once.
The last survivor, Lewis Keseberg, who had supported himself during the last few weeks by cannibilzing the dead, does not leave the camp until April 21st…
George Donner, who’s infection never improved, dies and was likely canniballized.
Tamsen Donner, who refuses to leave her husband until his death dies - her body never found.
Margerate Reed along with her children are rescued by the 1st relief party. In what is perhaps the largest showing of irony, the man most responsible for the unraveling atrocities, makes it to California, his family in tact.
In the end, 48 of the original 87 survive the track out west with and estimated 22 of the dead cannibalized by the survivors.
“Death was the rule, life the exception. Life was at best a transitory dream, set in a universe that was entirely indifferent to his fate.”
― Daniel James Brown, The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party
Why continue to tell this story (morbid as its details are)?
Does it show humanities willingness to embrace the cruel extremes of life or does it display our enduring spirit?
Is it a story of flaws or our greatest attributes?
Greed or hope?
Perhaps we continue to tell this story because it contains everything at once…
Thank you for listening to Backroad Odyssey …
Do not fret next week will be a happy story!