American Experience (1988) s05e03 Episode Script
The Donner Party
1
Man reading:
"IT IS ODD TO WATCH
WITH WHAT FEVERISH ARDOR
"AMERICANS PURSUE PROSPERITY
"EVER TORMENTED BY
THE SHADOWY SUSPICION
"THAT THEY MAY NOT HAVE CHOSEN
THE SHORTEST ROUTE TO GET IT.
"THEY CLEAVE TO
THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD
OF "THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE".
"AS IF ASSURED
THAT THEY WILL NEVER DIE
"AND YET RUSH TO SNATCH ANY
THAT COMES WITHIN THEIR REACH
"AS IF THEY EXPECTED
TO STOP LIVING
"BEFORE THEY HAD RELISHED THEM.
"DEATH STEPS IN IN THE END
AND STOPS THEM
"BEFORE THEY HAVE GROWN TIRED
OF THIS FUTILE PURSUI
OF THAT COMPLETE FELICITY
WHICH ALWAYS ESCAPES THEM."
ALEXIS de TOCQUEVILLE.
McCullough:
IT BEGAN IN THE 1840s
SPURRED ON BY FINANCIAL
PANIC IN THE EAS
BY OUTBREAKS OF CHOLERA
AND MALARIA
AND BY THE CEASELESS AMERICAN
HANKERING TO MOVE WEST.
WHEN THE PIONEER MOVEMENT BEGAN
FEWER THAN 20,000
WHITE AMERICANS
LIVED WEST OF
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
TEN YEARS LATER, THE EMIGRATION
HAD SWELLED TO A FLOOD
AND BEFORE IT WAS OVER
MORE THAN HALF A MILLION
MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
HAD STEPPED OFF
INTO THE WILDERNESS
AT PLACES LIKE
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI
AND HEADED OUT OVER THE LONG
ROAD TO OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
IN PLACES, THEIR WAGON WHEELS
CARVED RUTS SHOULDER-DEEP
IN THE ROCKY ROAD.
THE SETTLERS THEMSELVES KNEW
THEY WERE MAKING HISTORY.
"IT WILL BE RECEIVED,"
ONE EMIGRANT WROTE
"AS A LEGEND ON
THE BORDERLAND OF MYTH."
BUT OF ALL THE STORIES
TO COME OUT OF THE WES
NONE HAS CUT MORE DEEPLY
INTO THE IMAGINATION
OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
THAN THE TALE OF
THE DONNER PARTY
HIGH IN THE SIERRA NEVADA
IN THE WINTER OF 1846.
Man:
HUMAN ENDEAVOR AND FAILURE,
BLUNDERS, MISTAKES
AMBITION, GREED
ALL THE ELEMENTS.
AND IF YOU CALL THE RESCUE
OF THE SURVIVING PARTIES
A HAPPY ENDING,
IT'S A HAPPY ENDING.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE
THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT?
THAT TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE.
I THINK WE'RE CURIOUS, YOU KNOW
ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE
EXPERIENCED HARDSHIP
WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH
TERRIBLE ORDEALS
AND CERTAINLY
THE DONNER PARTY, YOU KNOW
87 PEOPLE WENT THROUGH
A CRISIS
THE LIKE OF WHICH FEW
HUMAN BEINGS HAVE EVER FACED.
AND WE'RE CURIOUS ABOUT THAT.
IT CAN TELL US SOMETHING,
I THINK, ABOUT OURSELVES
AND ABOUT THE LIMITS
OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
Man reading:
"MARCH 3, 1846.
"THE TIDE OF EMIGRATION
IS UNPARALLELED
"IN THE ANNALS OF HISTORY.
"THE EYES OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
ARE NOW TURNED WESTWARD
"AND THOUSANDS ARE GAZING
"WITH A MOST INTENSE
INTEREST AND ANXIETY
"UPON THE PACIFIC SHORES
"WITH A FULL DETERMINATION
TO MAKE ONE MORE
ONE LAST MOVE MORE
TO THE FAR WEST."
LANSFORD W. HASTINGS.
McCullough:
AS 1846 BEGAN, THOUSANDS OF
AMERICANS WERE ON THE MOVE WES
EAGER TO BRING OREGON, TEXAS,
NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA
INTO THE AMERICAN SPHERE.
NO ONE WAS KEENER
TO POSSESS CALIFORNIA
THAN LANSFORD W. HASTINGS
AN AMBITIOUS 27-YEAR-OLD LAWYER
FROM MOUNT VERNON, OHIO
WHOSE VISIONS OF EMPIRE WOULD
BE THE DONNER PARTY'S DOOM.
IN 1842, HE WANDERED WES
TO CALIFORNIA
WHAT HE SAW THERE AMAZED HIM.
HE DREAMED OF TAKING
CALIFORNIA FROM MEXICO
AND OF ESTABLISHING
AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
WITH HIMSELF AT ITS HEAD.
HOPING TO SEND A TIDE
OF AMERICANS FLOODING WES
TO OCCUPY THE PROVINCE
HE PUBLISHED THE EMIGRANTS'
GUIDE TO OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
IT PAINTED CALIFORNIA
AS A SECOND EDEN
AND ADVERTISED A NEW AND FASTER
ROUTE ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN
A SHORTCUT NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN
INCLUDING HASTINGS HIMSELF.
Schindler:
LANSFORD HASTINGS IS
PROBABLY AMBITIOUS
PROBABLY VERY SURE OF HIMSELF
AND HE SAYS, "COME WITH ME,
I'LL TAKE YOU, I'VE BEEN THERE."
AND THAT IS NOT QUITE THE TRUTH.
IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIM
BUT IT KILLED PEOPLE.
IT'S A SIREN CALL
AND IT WAS BAD NEWS
BAD NEWS.
Man:
IT'S ALL MIXED UP
WITH THE ROMANCE
AND THE SO-CALLED HEROISM
OF THE WESTWARD MIGRATION
AND THE BIG AMERICAN DREAM.
THE AMERICAN DREAM HAS
SOME NIGHTMARES ATTACHED TO I
AND THIS IS ONE OF THE WAYS
THE AMERICAN DREAM COULD GO.
THE AMERICAN DREAM PROBABLY
RESULTED IN
FOR MOST OF THE PEOPLE
WHO FOLLOWED I
LIKE A MARSH LIGH
IN DISASTER.
McCullough:
ON APRIL 16, 1846, NINE
BRAND-NEW COVERED WAGONS
RATTLED SLOWLY OU
OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
AND HEADED WEST.
THE FAMILIES
OF GEORGE AND JACOB DONNER
AND JAMES FRAZIER REED
WERE OFF
TO MAKE A NEW LIFE
FOR THEMSELVES
IN THE VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA.
GEORGE DONNER WAS
A 62-YEAR-OLD FARMER
WHO HAD MIGRATED FIVE TIMES
BEFORE SETTLING IN SPRINGFIELD
WHERE HE AND HIS OLDER
BROTHER JACOB
HAD MADE ENOUGH MONEY
NEVER TO HAVE TO MOVE AGAIN.
THEN LAND FEVER SWEPT ILLINOIS
AND KINDLED THE URGE
TO MOVE ONE LAST TIME.
THE ORIGINATOR
OF THE SPRINGFIELD PARTY
WAS AN INTELLIGENT,
HEADSTRONG BUSINESSMAN
NAMED JAMES FRAZIER REED
WHO WAS PROUD OF THE FORTUNE
HE'D MADE IN ILLINOIS
BUT CONVINCED HE COULD DO
EVEN BETTER OUT WEST.
HIS WIFE MARGARET SUFFERED
FROM TERRIBLE SICK HEADACHES
THEY HOPED WOULD IMPROVE
IN A BETTER CLIMATE.
WITH THEM WERE
THEIR FOUR CHILDREN:
VIRGINIA, PATTY, JAMES
AND LITTLE THOMAS.
MARGARET'S ELDERLY MOTHER,
SARAH KEYES, CAME, TOO
SO SICK WITH CONSUMPTION
SHE COULD BARELY WALK
BUT UNWILLING TO BE SEPARATED
FROM HER ONLY DAUGHTER.
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
MADE A LAVISH ENTOURAGE
32 MEN, WOMEN
AND CHILDREN IN ALL
COUNTING THE REEDS'
TWO HIRED SERVANTS
AND THE SEVEN TEAMSTERS WHO
HAD ANSWERED GEORGE DONNER'S AD
TO DRIVE THE BIG WAGONS.
BUT THE MOST EXTRAVAGANT LUXURY
WAS THE REED'S FAMILY WAGON
A TWO-STORY AFFAIR
WITH A BUILT-IN IRON STOVE
SPRING-CUSHIONED SEATS
AND BUNKS FOR SLEEPING.
IT TOOK EIGHT OXEN
TO PULL THE MAMMOTH ARK
THAT 12-YEAR-OLD VIRGINIA REED
CALLED "THE PIONEER PALACE CAR."
NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN
ANYTHING LIKE IT.
Woman reading:
"MY FATHER, WITH TEARS
IN HIS EYES, TRIED TO SMILE
"AS ONE FRIEND AFTER ANOTHER
GRASPED HIS HAND
"IN A LAST FAREWELL.
"MAMA WAS OVERCOME WITH GRIEF.
"AT LAST WE WERE ALL
IN THE WAGONS
"THE DRIVERS CRACKED THEIR WHIPS
"THE OXEN MOVED SLOWLY FORWARD
AND THE LONG JOURNEY HAD BEGUN."
VIRGINIA REED.
McCullough:
THEIR IMMEDIATE DESTINATION
WAS INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI
THE MAIN JUMPING OFF POIN
FOR THE OREGON
AND CALIFORNIA TRAILS.
ONCE BEYOND INDEPENDENCE,
HOWEVER
THEY WERE STEPPING OFF
INTO THE UNKNOWN.
ALL THEY KNEW WAS THAT THE LONG
AND DANGEROUS JOURNEY
WOULD TAKE THEM 2,500 MILES
ACROSS A HUGE WINDSWEPT PLAIN,
THREE GREAT MOUNTAIN RANGES
AND HALF A DOZEN
SCORCHING DESERTS.
TIME WAS EVERYTHING.
THE GRUELING JOURNEY
COULDN'T BEGIN
UNTIL THE SPRING RAINS
HAD SUBSIDED
AND HAD TO BE OVER
BEFORE SNOW BLOCKED
THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.
THAT SPRING TALK WAS EVERYWHERE
OF A NEW AND FASTER WAY.
IN THE BOTTOM
OF JACOB DONNER'S SADDLEBAG
WAS A COPY OF LANSFORD
HASTINGS' EMIGRANTS' GUIDE
WITH ITS TANTALIZING TALK
OF A FASTER ROUTE
TO "THE GARDEN OF THE EARTH."
THE SAME DAY
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
ROLLED WES
OUT OF SPRINGFIELD
LANSFORD HASTINGS PREPARED
TO HEAD EAST FROM CALIFORNIA
TO SEE WHAT THE SHORTCUT HE
WAS PROMOTING WAS REALLY LIKE.
Schindler:
HE'D HEARD THAT YOU COULD GO
SOUTH OF THE LAKE.
THE IDEA WAS THAT THE PART JUS
BEFORE YOU GOT TO FORT BRIDGER
GOING THROUGH THE WASATCH,
SOUTH OF THE LAKE
ACROSS THE SALT DESERT, THROUGH
THE RUBIES, INTO CALIFORNIA.
PROBLEM WAS, HE HAD
NEVER REALLY DONE I
HAD NEVER DONE IT WITH A WAGON
AND YET IT WAS HIS AMBITION TO
LEAD WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT TO BE
7,000 WAGONS HEADING WES
THAT YEAR AND
LANSFORD HASTINGS WAS GOING
TO TRY AND LEAD HIS SHARE BACK.
Man reading:
"MR. HASTINGS, OUR PILO
"IS LOOKING FOR SOME FORCE
FROM THE STATES
"WITH WHICH IT IS DESIGNED
TO REVOLUTIONIZE CALIFORNIA.
"HE'S ANXIOUS TO TRY THIS ROUTE
"BUT MY BELIEF IS
THAT IS VERY LITTLE NEARER
AND NOT SO GOOD A ROAD
AS THAT BY FORT HALL."
JAMES CLYMAN.
Woman reading:
"INDEPENDENCE, MAY 11, 1846.
"MY DEAREST ONLY SISTER:
"I CAN GIVE YOU NO IDEA
"OF THE HURRY OF THIS PLACE
AT THIS TIME.
"IT IS SUPPOSED THERE BE
7,000 WAGONS THIS SEASON.
"WE GO TO CALIFORNIA,
TO THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO
"A FOUR MONTHS' TRIP.
"I AM WILLING TO GO,
AND HAVE NO DOUB
"IT WILL BE AN ADVANTAGE
TO OUR CHILDREN AND TO US.
"FAREWELL, MY SISTER.
YOU SHALL HEAR FROM ME AS SOON
AS I HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY."
TAMSEN DONNER.
McCullough:
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
REACHED INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI
IN THE SECOND WEEK OF MAY.
HEAVY SPRING RAINS HAD TURNED
THE UNPAVED STREETS TO MUD.
WAGONS BOGGED TO THE HUBS;
DRIVERS CURSED AND WHIPPED
THE STRAINING OXEN;
EMIGRANTS HURRIED FROM STORE
TO STORE, PURCHASING SUPPLIES
AND ANXIOUSLY INQUIRING
AFTER THE LATEST NEWS.
Man reading:
"SINGULAR AS IT MAY APPEAR
"THERE IS AS MUCH
ELECTIONEERING HERE
"FOR THE CAPTAINCY
OF THIS EXPEDITION
AS THERE IS FOR THE PRESIDENCY
OF THE UNITED STATES."
EDWIN BRYANT.
Woman reading:
"WE HAVE SOME OF THE BEST PEOPLE
IN OUR COMPANY
AND SOME TOO
THAT ARE NOT SO GOOD."
TAMSEN DONNER.
McCullough:
DAY BY DAY, WEEK AFTER WEEK
WAGONS ROLLED OU
OF INDEPENDENCE.
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
GOT STARTED ON MAY 12.
Man reading:
"NOT A LIVING OR A MOVING
OBJECT OF ANY KIND
"APPEARS UPON THE FACE
OF THE VAST EXPANSE.
"THE WHITE-TOPPED WAGONS
"AND THE MEN AND ANIMALS
BELONGING TO THEM
"ARE THE ONLY RELIEF
TO THE TOMBLIKE STILLNESS
OF THE LANDSCAPE."
"A LOVELIER SCENE
WAS NEVER GAZED UPON
NOR ONE OF MORE
PROFOUND SOLITUDE."
McCullough:
A FEW DAYS OUT,
TWO RIDERS OVERTOOK THEM.
THEY BROUGHT MAIL
FROM INDEPENDENCE
AND NEWS THAT HOSTILITIES
HAD BROKEN OU
BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES
AND MEXICO ON THE RIO GRANDE.
EACH NIGHT VIOLENT THUNDERSTORMS
BROKE OVER THE WAGON TRAIN
SCATTERING CATTLE
AND DRENCHING THE ENCAMPMENTS.
EACH MORNING THE SKIES CLEARED,
BUT THE TRAIL HAD TURNED TO MUD.
THE REED'S PALACE WAGON HAD TO
BE LABORIOUSLY DOUBLE-TEAMED
OVER EVEN MODERATE INCLINES
TO THE IMMENSE IRRITATION
OF THOSE FORCED
TO CRAWL ALONG BEHIND.
ON MAY 27, THE WAGON TRAIN
CAME TO A STANDSTILL
ON THE EAST BANK OF
THE BIG BLUE RIVER
TOO SWOLLEN BY RAIN
TO BE FORDED.
THE COMPANY WENT INTO CAMP
TO BUILD A MAKESHIFT FERRY.
BY THEN, THE JOURNEY
HAD BECOME TOO MUCH
FOR MARGARET REED'S MOTHER.
Woman reading:
"GRANDMA BECAME SPEECHLESS
THE DAY BEFORE SHE DIED.
"WE MADE A NEAT COFFIN
AND BURIED HER UNDER A TREE.
"WE MISS HER VERY MUCH.
"EVERY TIME WE COME
INTO THE WAGON
WE LOOK AT THE BED FOR HER."
VIRGINIA REED.
McCullough:
ON MAY 31, TWO DAYS AFTER
THE BURIAL OF SARAH KEYES
THE LAST OF THE WAGONS
WAS FERRIED SAFELY
OVER THE BIG BLUE.
( thunder)
Woman reading:
"JUNE 16.
"WE ARE NOW ON THE PLATTE,
200 MILES FROM FORT LARAMIE.
"I NEVER COULD HAVE BELIEVED
"WE COULD HAVE TRAVELED SO FAR
WITH SO LITTLE DIFFICULTY.
"INDEED, IF I DO NOT EXPERIENCE
"SOMETHING FAR WORSE
THAN I HAVE YET DONE
I SHALL SAY THE TROUBLE
IS ALL IN GETTING STARTED."
TAMSEN DONNER.
McCullough:
ONE JUNE 27, JUST ONE WEEK
BEHIND SCHEDULE
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
REACHED FORT LARAMIE
AN ISOLATED TRADING POS
IN THE FOOTHILLS
OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
THERE, JAMES REED FOUND
AN OLD FRIEND FROM ILLINOIS
A 54-YEAR-OLD MOUNTAIN MAN
NAMED JAMES CLYMAN
WHO HAD JUST COME EAS
FROM CALIFORNIA
USING HASTINGS' CUTOFF.
"WE CAMPED WITH THEM,"
CLYMAN REMEMBERED
"AND CONTINUED THE CONVERSATION
UNTIL A LATE HOUR."
REED, ANXIOUS TO MAKE UP
FOR LOST TIME
ASKED CLYMAN WHAT HE THOUGH
OF HASTINGS' NEW ROUTE.
Man reading:
"I TOLD HIM ABOU
THE GREAT DESER
"AND THE ROUGHNESS
OF THE SIERRAS
"AND THAT A STRAIGHT ROUTE MIGH
TURN OUT TO BE IMPRACTICABLE.
"I TOLD HIM TO TAKE
THE REGULAR WAGON TRACK
"AND NEVER LEAVE IT.
"IT IS BARELY POSSIBLE TO GE
THROUGH IF YOU FOLLOW I
AND IT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE
IF YOU DON'T."
CLYMAN, WHO HAS JUST BEEN
SOUTH OF THE LAKE ON HORSEBACK
COMING EAS
WITH LANSFORD HASTINGS
SAYS, "DON'T DO IT."
"DON'T DO IT, BECAUSE YOU
CAN'T TAKE WAGONS THAT WAY.
GO THE OLD ROUTE, BE SAFE
YOU'LL PERISH."
AND REED SAYS,
"THERE'S A NIGHER ROUTE
AND WE MIGHT AS WELL TAKE IT."
Man:
WHY REED DIDN'T TAKE THE ADVICE
HE GOT AT FORT LARAMIE IS
I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S
AN ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
HE WAS AN INTELLIGENT MAN,
DECISIVE
I DON'T KNOW.
IT'S ALWAYS, I GUESS,
OUR INSATIABLE DESIRE
TO TAKE A SHORTCUT IN LIFE,
THINKING IT'LL GET US THERE.
AND INVARIABLY IT DOESN'T.
McCullough:
THE NEXT DAY,
CLYMAN BID REED GOOD-BYE
AND CONTINUED EAST,
MOVING FAST DOWN THE PLATTE.
ON JULY 15, HE CROSSED
THE BIG BLUE RIVER
AND CAME TO THE GRAVE
OF MARGARET REED'S MOTHER.
FOR A LONG TIME, HE STOOD
LOOKING DOWN AT THE INSCRIPTION
WONDERING WHAT DROVE
HIS COUNTRYMEN WEST.
Man reading:
"THIS STONE SHOWS US
THAT ALL AGES AND ALL SECTS
"ARE FOUND TO UNDERTAKE
THIS LONG, TEDIOUS
"AND EVEN DANGEROUS JOURNEY
FOR SOME UNKNOWN OBJEC
"NEVER TO BE REALIZED EVEN
BY THOSE THE MOST FORTUNATE.
"AND WHY?
"BECAUSE THE HUMAN MIND
CAN NEVER BE SATISFIED
"NEVER AT REST, ALWAYS ON
THE STRETCH FOR SOMETHING NEW
SOME STRANGE NOVELTY."
McCullough:
SARAH KEYES HAD BEEN A MEMBER
OF WHAT WOULD SOON BE CALLED
"THE DONNER PARTY."
SHE WAS THE FIRST TO DIE.
ON JULY 17, AS THE REEDS
AND THE DONNERS
TOILED SLOWLY UP TOWARDS
THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
A LONE HORSEMAN CAME RIDING DOWN
FROM SOUTH PASS
BEARING AN OPEN LETTER
FROM LANSFORD HASTINGS
ADDRESSED TO ALL EMIGRANTS
NOW ON THE ROAD.
IT URGED THEM TO PRESS ON
IN ONE GROUP TO FORT BRIDGER
WHERE HASTINGS HIMSELF
WOULD BE WAITING
TO ESCORT THEM
OVER THE NEW TRAIL.
ON JULY 18, THEY CROSSED
THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
THEY WERE IN WHAT THE MOUNTAIN
MEN CALLED "OREGON COUNTRY" NOW
A THOUSAND MILES
FROM INDEPENDENCE
WITH MORE THAN A THOUSAND MILES
STILL TO GO.
THEY MOVED ON, SPELLBOUND BY
THE ALTITUDE AND THE LANDSCAPE
AND THE ENDLESS SEA OF SAGE.
ONCE YOU GOT BEYOND FORT LARAMIE
THERE WAS NO TURNING BACK.
A LOT OF EMIGRANTS TURNED BACK
BY THE TIME THEY GO
TO FORT LARAMIE
REALIZING THEY WERE INTO
SOMETHING THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT.
BUT AFTER THAT, YOU WERE PRETTY
MUCH COMMITTED ALL THE WAY.
EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT LIKE
TO BE ABLE TO
THERE WAS HARDLY A CHANCE
OR OPPORTUNITY.
IT JUST WOULDN'T WORK.
McCullough:
ON JULY 20, THE WAGON TRAIN
REACHED THE LITTLE SANDY RIVER.
IT WAS THE PARTING OF THE WAYS.
MOST OF THE EMIGRANTS
HEEDED JAMES CLYMAN'S WARNING
AND TURNED RIGHT.
BUT 20 WAGONS,
INCLUDING THE NINE
BELONGING TO THE DONNERS
AND THE REEDS
TURNED LEFT TOWARDS
FORT BRIDGER
AND THE ENTRANCE
TO HASTINGS' CUTOFF.
THE NEXT DAY, THE NEW PARTY ME
TO ELECT A CAPTAIN.
JAMES REED WAS
THE OBVIOUS CHOICE
BUT HIS ARISTOCRATIC MANNER
AND HIS WEALTH
HAD RUBBED TOO MANY FAMILIES
THE WRONG WAY.
THEY CHOSE GEORGE DONNER
INSTEAD.
ONE WEEK LATER, THE DONNER PARTY
ROLLED INTO FORT BRIDGER
TWO LOG CABINS AND A CORRAL
RUN AS A TRADING POS
BY A CELEBRATED MOUNTAIN MAN
NAMED JIM BRIDGER.
LANSFORD HASTINGS WASN'T THERE.
THE PROMOTER HAD STARTED WES
A WEEK EARLIER
AT THE HEAD OF ANOTHER GROUP
OF WAGONS
LEAVING INSTRUCTIONS
FOR ANY EMIGRANTS WHO WISHED
TO FOLLOW ALONG BEHIND.
THEY SPENT FOUR DAYS RESTING
THEIR OXEN AND MAKING REPAIRS.
Man reading:
"JULY 31, 1846.
"HASTINGS' CUTOFF IS SAID TO BE
A SAVING OF 350 OR 400 MILES
AND A BETTER ROUTE."
"THE REST OF THE CALIFORNIANS
WENT THE LONG ROUTE
"FEELING AFRAID
OF HASTINGS' CUTOFF.
"BUT MR. BRIDGER INFORMS ME
THAT IT IS A FINE, LEVEL ROAD
WITH PLENTY OF WATER AND GRASS."
"IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 700 MILES
"WILL TAKE US
TO CAPTAIN SUTTER'S FOR
WHICH WE HOPE TO MAKE
IN SEVEN WEEKS FROM THIS DAY."
JAMES REED.
McCullough:
ON JULY 31, THE NINE FAMILIES
AND 16 SINGLE MEN
OF THE DONNER PARTY
LEFT FORT BRIDGER
AND ENTERED HASTINGS' CUTOFF.
FOR A WEEK THEY MADE GOOD TIME
TEN, SOMETIMES 12 MILES A DAY
WORKING THEIR WAY DEEPER
INTO THE RUGGED MOUNTAINS
FOLLOWING THE TRACK
OF HASTINGS' WAGONS.
THEN, ON AUGUST 6,
AT THE BOTTOM OF ECHO CANYON
THE PARTY CAME TO A HALT.
STUCK IN THE TOP OF SOME SAGE
NEAR THE TRAIL WAS A NOTE.
IT WAS FROM LANSFORD HASTINGS.
IT STATED THAT THE ROAD AHEAD
WAS VIRTUALLY IMPASSIBLE
AND ADVISED THEM TO WAIT UNTIL
HE COULD SHOW THEM A BETTER WAY.
IT TOOK JAMES REED FIVE DAYS
TO FIND HASTINGS.
WHEN HE DID, THE PROMOTER
REFUSED TO COME BACK
TO LEAD THE COMPANY HIMSELF
POINTING OUT WHAT HE THOUGH
MIGHT BE A MORE MANAGEABLE ROUTE
FROM A HIGH PEAK INSTEAD.
THE NEXT DAY, WITH JAMES REED
AS THEIR PILO
THE PARTY TURNED OFF THE TRACK
INTO THE TANGLED WILDERNESS.
WHEN THEY COMMITTED THEMSELVES
TO CROSS THE WASATCH
WHEN THEY DECIDED LEGITIMATELY
TO ENTER THE GREAT BASIN
TO TACKLE EMIGRATION CANYON,
AS WE KNOW I
AND ECHO CANYON, AS WE KNOW I
THEY WERE EATING UP DAYS
THAT WERE VITAL TO THEM
AND THEY HAD NO WAY
OF KNOWING IT.
McCullough:
THEY CRAWLED ALONG, MAKING
SCARCELY TWO MILES A DAY
FIGHTING THEIR WAY
THROUGH A CHAOS OF CANYONS
CHOKED WITH WILLOW TREES,
COTTONWOODS AND ASPEN.
TIME AND AGAIN
THE HOSTILE TERRAIN
BROUGHT THEM TO A STANDSTILL
WHILE THE MEN CURSED AND TOILED
AND HACKED A ROAD THROUGH
THE DENSE UNDERGROWTH.
IT TOOK SIX DAYS ALONE
TO CHOP THEIR WAY EIGHT MILES
UP BIG MOUNTAIN.
Woman reading:
"FINALLY, WE REACHED
THE END OF THE CANYON
"WHERE IT LOOKED AS THOUGH
"OUR WAGONS WOULD
HAVE TO BE ABANDONED.
"IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE
FOR THE OXEN TO PULL THEM
"UP THE STEEP HILL
AND THE BLUFFS BEYOND.
BUT WE DOUBLE-TEAMED, AND THE
WORK WAS AT LAST ACCOMPLISHED."
"WORN WITH TRAVEL
AND GREATLY DISCOURAGED
"WE REACHED THE SHORE
OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
IT HAD TAKEN AN ENTIRE MONTH,
INSTEAD OF A WEEK."
McCullough:
ON AUGUST 22, THE 87 MEMBERS
OF THE DONNER PARTY
SPILLED OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS,
EXHAUSTED AND SHAKEN.
SOME BLAMED REED FOR THE DELAY
BUT THERE WAS LITTLE TIME
FOR RECRIMINATION.
SUMMER WAS UNRAVELING FAS
AND THERE WERE STILL
600 MILES TO GO.
Man reading:
"TUESDAY, AUGUST 25.
"LUKE HALLORAN DIED
OF CONSUMPTION THIS EVENING.
"WE MADE HIM A COFFIN AND BURIED
HIM AT THE FORKS OF THE ROAD
IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE."
JAMES REED.
McCullough:
THE WORRIED EMIGRANTS
HURRIED ON
FOLLOWING THE TRACK
OF HASTINGS' WAGONS
WEST, THEN SHARPLY SOUTH
FOR A FEW MILES
TO A CLUSTER
OF CLEAR, FRESH SPRINGS.
THERE, THEY FOUND THE TATTERED
REMNANTS OF ANOTHER NOTE.
Woman reading:
"MOTHER KNELT DOWN
AND BEGAN THOUGHTFULLY FITTING
"THE RAGGED EDGES
OF PAPER TOGETHER.
"THE PROCESS WAS WATCHED
WITH SPELLBOUND INTERES
"BY THE ANXIOUS
GROUP AROUND HER.
"THE WRITING WAS
THAT OF HASTINGS
"AND HER PATCHWORK BROUGHT OU
THE FOLLOWING WORDS:
"'TWO DAYS, TWO NIGHTS
"'HARD DRIVING, CROSS DESER
REACH WATER.'"
ELIZA DONNER.
McCullough:
TAKING ON AS MUCH WATER
AND GRASS AS THEY COULD
THE EMIGRANTS CLIMBED THROUGH
A RANGE OF GNARLED HILLS.
BEYOND THEM, TO THE WES
STRETCHED A GLITTERING
PLAIN OF SALT.
ON AUGUST 30,
THEY STARTED ACROSS.
Schindler:
WELL, YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO GE
CAUGHT OUT ON A SALT DESERT.
EVEN TODAY, IT'S A MAN-KILLER.
BUT FOR PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THEY
COULD GO THROUGH IN TWO DAYS
AND EQUIP A WAGON WITH GRASS
AND WATER FOOLISHNESS.
IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY
THE MOISTURE UNDER THE SURFACE
BUBBLES TO THE TOP
TURNS IT INTO A GUMBO.
IF YOU'RE IN A WAGON,
YOU CAN COUNT ON GOING DOWN
A COUPLE OF FEE
IN SOME OF THOSE THINGS.
I'M NOT SAYING A FEW INCHES
BUT YOU COULD GO
RIGHT UP TO THE HUBS.
McCullough:
ON THE THIRD DAY,
THE WATER RAN OUT.
THAT NIGHT, CRAZED WITH THIRS
THE REEDS' OXEN
BOLTED INTO THE DESER
AND COULD NOT BE FOUND.
THE FAMILY TOOK WHAT BELONGINGS
THEY COULD CARRY
AND STARTED OUT.
Woman reading:
"PAPA CARRIED THOMAS
"AND ALL THE REST OF US WALKED.
"WE GOT TO THE DONNERS' WAGON
AND THEY WERE ALL ASLEEP
"SO WE LAID DOWN ON THE GROUND.
"WE SPREAD ONE SHAWL DOWN
AND SPREAD ANOTHER OVER US
"AND THEN PUT THE DOGS ON TOP.
"THE WIND BLEW VERY HARD
"AND IF IT HAD NO
BEEN FOR THE DOGS
WE WOULD HAVE FROZEN."
McCullough:
THE NEXT DAY
THE SHATTERED IMMIGRANTS
STUMBLED OUT OF THE SALT DESERT.
IT HAD BEEN A DISASTER.
IT HAD TAKEN THEM FIVE DAYS
TO CROSS THE 80-MILE DESER
HASTINGS HAD ASSURED THEM
WAS ONLY HALF AS WIDE.
SEVERAL EMIGRANTS HAD
ALMOST DIED OF THIRST.
36 OXEN WERE LOST.
WAGONS WOULD HAVE
TO BE ABANDONED
THE REEDS' PIONEER
PALACE CAR AMONG THEM.
Woman reading:
"ANGUISH AND DISMAY
NOW FILLED ALL HEARTS.
"HUSBANDS BOWED THEIR HEADS
"APPALLED AT THE SITUATION
OF THEIR FAMILIES.
"SOME CURSED HASTINGS
"FOR THE FALSE STATEMENTS
IN HIS OPEN LETTER
"AND FOR HIS BROKEN PLEDGE
AT FORT BRIDGER.
"THEY CURSED HIM ALSO
FOR HIS MISREPRESENTATION
"OF THE DISTANCE
ACROSS THIS CRUEL DESERT.
"MOTHERS, IN TEARLESS AGONY
"CLASPED THEIR CHILDREN
TO THEIR BOSOMS
"WITH THE OLD, OLD CRY
"'FATHER, THY WILL,
NOT MINE, BE DONE.'
"IT WAS PLAIN
THAT TRY AS WE MIGH
"WE COULD NOT GET BACK
TO FORT BRIDGER.
WE MUST PROCEED, REGARDLESS
OF THE FEARFUL OUTLOOK."
ELIZA DONNER.
Woman reading:
"AN INVENTORY OF
PROVISIONS WAS TAKEN
"AND IT WAS FOUND THA
THE SUPPLY WAS NOT SUFFICIEN
"TO LAST US THROUGH
TO CALIFORNIA.
"AS IF TO RENDER
THE SITUATION MORE TERRIBLE
"A STORM CAME ON
DURING THE NIGH
AND THE HILLTOPS
BECAME WHITE WITH SNOW."
McCullough:
SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TO
RIDE AHEAD TO CALIFORNIA
AND BRING BACK RELIEF.
A BIG MISSOURI FARMER
NAMED WILLIAM McCUTCHEON
AND CHARLES STANTON,
A BACHELOR FROM NEW YORK
VOLUNTEERED.
FINALLY, ON SEPTEMBER 26
THE DONNER PARTY
REACHED THE HUMBOLDT RIVER
WHERE THE SHORTCU
REJOINED THE OLD TRAIL.
HASTINGS' CUTOFF HAD PROVED
NOT ONLY MORE TREACHEROUS
THAN THE OLDER ROUTE;
IT WAS 125 MILES LONGER,
AS WELL.
Stegner:
THEY DID SEEM TO BE DOOMED.
EVERYTHING WENT WRONG FOR THEM.
AND THEY HAD STARTED SO BLITHELY
WITH SUCH BIG EXPECTATIONS
AND SUCH LOADS OF POSSESSIONS.
THEY WERE GOING INTO THE
NEW COUNTRY AND WIN IT BY STORM.
BUT THEY MADE THE GREAT MISTAKE
OF LISTENING
TO LANSFORD HASTINGS.
HE CAUSED ALL THEIR TROUBLE
BECAUSE THEY LOS
THEIR WAY IN THE WASATCH
AND THEY LOST HALF OF THEIR
ANIMALS AND A LOT OF THEIR HOPE
CROSSING THE DESER
SOUTH OF GREAT SALT LAKE.
McCullough:
IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, LANSFORD
HASTINGS RODE INTO SUTTER'S FOR
AT THE HEAD OF A BATTERED TRAIN
OF 80 WAGONS.
EXCEPT FOR THE DONNER PARTY,
ALL THE EMIGRANTS OF 1846
HAD MADE IT SAFELY THROUGH
TO CALIFORNIA.
BY THE TIME THEY GET, CERTAINLY,
INTO THE HUMBOLDT RIVER
TEMPERS ARE PRETTY FRAYED,
VERY EASY TO TRIGGER OFF
AND THERE'S A LO
OF INCIDENTS, ANGER.
AGAIN, I THINK
THAT'S A HUMAN CONDITION.
WHEN WE'RE UNDER
AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF STRESS
VERY OFTEN THAT CAN BRING
OUT THE MOST HEROIC IN US
AND IT CAN ALSO BRING OUT,
YOU KNOW, THE WORST IN US.
McCullough:
ON OCTOBER 5, THE EMIGRANTS
WERE DOUBLING THEIR TEAMS
UP A STEEP, SANDY HILL
WHEN THE GRAVES FAMILY WAGON
BECAME ENTANGLED
WITH THE REED WAGON.
TEMPERS FLARED, AND THE
GRAVES' DRIVER, JOHN SNYDER
BEGAN BEATING THE OXEN
WITH THE BUTT OF HIS BULLWHIP.
JAMES REED
HURRIED OVER TO STOP I
BUT ONLY ENRAGED SNYDER FURTHER
WHO STRUCK HIM SAVAGELY
ON THE HEAD WITH HIS WHIP.
REED DREW HIS HUNTING KNIFE
AND AS SNYDER RAISED HIS ARM
TO STRIKE AGAIN
DROVE IT INTO
THE TEAMSTER'S CHES
JUST BELOW THE COLLARBONE.
SNYDER STAGGERED A FEW YARDS
UP THE HILL AND DIED.
Woman reading:
"MR. REED AND FAMILY
WERE TAKEN TO THEIR TEN
"AND GUARDED BY THEIR FRIENDS.
"AN ASSEMBLY WAS CONVENED
TO DECIDE WHAT SHOULD BE DONE.
"THE MAJORITY
DECLARED THE DEED MURDER
AND DEMANDED RETRIBUTION."
McCullough:
A GERMAN EMIGRAN
NAMED LEWIS KIESBURG
PROPPED HIS WAGON TONGUE ON END
AND DEMANDED THAT REED
BE HANGED FROM IT.
WHEN MARGARET REED
BEGGED FOR MERCY
THE COMPANY CHOSE
BANISHMENT INSTEAD.
AT FIRST, REED REFUSED TO GO,
BUT THERE WAS NO CHOICE.
THE NEXT DAY,
HE HELPED BURY JOHN SNYDER
THEN RODE WEST, OUT OF CAMP.
Woman reading:
"WE TRAVELED ON, BU
THE HOURS DRAGGED SLOWLY ALONG.
"EVERY DAY WE WOULD SEARCH
FOR SOME SIGN OF PAPA
"WHO WOULD LEAVE A LETTER
BY THE WAYSIDE.
BUT A TIME CAME WHEN WE FOUND
NO LETTER AND NO TRACE OF HIM."
VIRGINIA REED.
McCullough:
THE DONNER PARTY LIMPED DOWN THE
HUMBOLDT AS FAST AS IT COULD GO.
EVERYONE WHO STILL COULD,
WALKED BESIDE THE WAGONS NOW
TO SPARE THE EXHAUSTED OXEN.
THEY WERE RACING
AGAINST TIME AND THE WEATHER
DESPERATE TO GET OVER THE
MOUNTAINS AND INTO CALIFORNIA
BEFORE SNOW BLOCKED THE HEIGHTS.
THERE WAS NO SIGN OF
STANTON OR McCUTCHEON
OR OF THE RELIEF THEY PROMISED
TO BRING FROM SUTTER'S FORT.
WITH THE DEATH OF SNYDER
AND THE BANISHMENT OF JAMES REED
THE DONNER PARTY
WAS COMING APART.
ON OCTOBER 7, LEWIS KIESBURG
TURNED AN AGING BELGIAN EMIGRAN
NAMED HARDKOOP OUT OF HIS WAGON.
NO ONE ELSE WOULD TAKE HIM IN.
THE OLD MAN FELL
FARTHER AND FARTHER BEHIND
AND WAS LAST SEEN SITTING
BY THE ROAD, UNABLE TO WALK.
ON THE NIGHT OF OCTOBER 12
PAIUTE INDIANS KILLED 21 OXEN
WITH POISONED ARROWS.
THE COMPANY HAD NOW LOST MORE
THAN A HUNDRED HEAD OF CATTLE.
FROM THE BLUFFS ABOVE THE RIVER
THEY COULD HEAR THE PAIUTES
LAUGHING AT THEIR PLIGHT.
ON OCTOBER 16
THE BATTERED PARTY FINALLY
REACHED THE TRUCKEE
THE NARROW, RUSHING RIVER THA
SERVED AS GATEWAY TO THE SIERRA.
Man reading:
"THE WEATHER WAS
ALREADY VERY COLD
"AND THE HEAVY CLOUDS HANGING
OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO THE WES
"WERE STRONG INDICATIONS
OF AN APPROACHING WINTER.
"SOME WANTED TO STOP
AND REST THEIR CATTLE.
"OTHERS, IN FEAR OF THE SNOW
WERE IN FAVOR OF PUSHING AHEAD
AS FAST AS POSSIBLE."
JOHN BREEN.
McCullough:
ON OCTOBER 19,
THEIR FOOD WAS NEARLY ALL GONE
WHEN CHARLES STANTON FINALLY
RETURNED FROM SUTTER'S FOR
THE SEVEN MULES LOADED
WITH FOOD, TWO INDIAN GUIDES
AND NEWS THA
THE HIGH PASS OF THE SIERRA
WOULDN'T BE BLOCKED
BY SNOW FOR ANOTHER MONTH.
THE EMIGRANTS' HOPES ROSE.
THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE I
AFTER ALL.
THEY CAMPED FOR FIVE DAYS,
50 MILES FROM THE SUMMI
RESTING THEIR OXEN
FOR THE FINAL PUSH.
THE PARTY STARTED
UP THE RIVER AGAIN.
ON OCTOBER 31
THE FRONT AXLE OF GEORGE
DONNER'S FAMILY WAGON BROKE.
CUTTING TIMBER FOR A NEW ONE,
GEORGE GASHED HIS HAND
AND THE FAMILY
FELL FURTHER BEHIND.
THE REST OF THE PARTY
HURRIED ON TOWARDS THE SUMMIT.
Man:
"WE PUSHED ON AS FAST AS
OUR FAILING CATTLE COULD HAUL
"OUR ALMOST EMPTY WAGONS.
"AT LAST WE REACHED
THE FOOT OF THE MAIN RIDGE
"NEAR TRUCKEE LAKE.
"IT WAS SUNDOWN.
"THE WEATHER WAS CLEAR, BU
A LARGE CIRCLE AROUND THE MOON
INDICATED AN APPROACHING STORM."
JOHN BREEN.
McCullough:
THAT NIGHT, THEY CAMPED
A THOUSAND FEET BENEATH
THE DARK GRANITE SUMMI
WAITING ANXIOUSLY FOR
THE DONNER WAGONS TO CATCH UP
PRAYING THA
THE WEATHER WOULD HOLD.
THE DONNERS DIDN'T COME
AND UP ON THE SUMMIT, DURING
THE NIGHT, IT BEGAN TO SNOW.
THE NEXT MORNING, THE PARTY
MADE A FRANTIC DASH FOR THE PASS
BUT FIVE FEET HAD
ALREADY FALLEN HIGHER UP
AND THE WAGONS BEGAN TO SLIP
ON THE STEEP, ROCKY ASCENT.
Woman reading:
"DESPAIR DROVE MANY
NEARLY FRANTIC.
"THE FARTHER WE WENT UP,
THE DEEPER THE SNOW GOT.
"THE WAGONS COULD NOT GO.
"THE MULES KEPT FALLING DOWN
IN THE SNOW, HEADFOREMOS
"AND THE INDIAN SAID
HE COULD NOT FIND THE ROAD.
"THE WOMEN WERE SO TIRED
CARRYING THEIR CHILDREN
THAT THEY COULD NO
GO OVER THAT NIGHT."
McCullough:
STANTON AND ONE OF THE INDIANS
MADE IT AS FAR AS THE SUMMI
THEN TURNED BACK.
THE EXHAUSTED EMIGRANTS
THEY WERE GUIDING
COULD GO NO FARTHER.
AS DARKNESS CAME,
THEY SAT OR LAY HUDDLED
AGAINST THE SIDE
OF THE MOUNTAIN.
THE WIND PICKED UP,
THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED
AND THE SNOW AND SLEE
CAME LASHING DOWN.
Woman reading:
"WE MADE A FIRE
AND GOT SOMETHING TO EAT.
"MA SPREAD A BUFFALO ROBE
AND SAT UP BY THE FIRE.
"THE INDIANS KNEW
WE WERE DOOMED
"AND ONE OF THEM WRAPPED
HIS BLANKET ABOUT HIM
AND STOOD ALL NIGH
UNDER A TREE."
McCullough:
WHEN THEY AWOKE NEXT MORNING
THE PASS WAS COMPLETELY BLOCKED.
THEY HAD COME 2,500 MILES
IN SEVEN MONTHS
TO LOSE THEIR RACE
WITH THE WEATHER BY ONE DAY
ONLY 150 MILES FROM SAFETY
AT SUTTER'S FORT IN CALIFORNIA.
THEY RETRACED THEIR STEPS
TO THE LAKE
AND STARTED BUILDING
A WINTER CAMP.
DOWN BY THE LAKE
AND UP ON THE DARK SUMMI
ABOVE THEM IT SNOWED
AND IT SNOWED
AND IT SNOWED.
Man reading:
"NOVEMBER 6, SUTTER'S FORT.
"ALL THINGS REMAIN QUIET HERE.
"THE WEATHER IS BAD.
"I AM FEARFUL
THE SNOW IS TOO DEEP
"FOR THE LAST COMPANY
OF EMIGRANTS
TO CROSS THE MOUNTAINS."
GEORGE McKINSTRY.
McCullough:
FOR WEEKS, THE AMERICANS
AT SUTTER'S FOR
HAD WAITED ANXIOUSLY
FOR THE DONNER PARTY TO COME IN.
THEY WERE SHOCKED WHEN,
IN LATE OCTOBER
JAMES REED STUMBLED OU
OF THE MOUNTAINS
MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE.
DESPERATE TO SAVE HIS FAMILY
REED PRESSED JOHN SUTTER
FOR HORSES AND SUPPLIES
AND RUSHED BACK UP
INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
TWO DAYS OUT,
IT STARTED TO RAIN.
HIGHER UP,
THE RAIN TURNED TO SNOW.
12 MILES FROM THE SUMMIT,
REED COULD GO NO FURTHER
AND TURNED BACK AGAIN
TO SUTTER'S FORT FOR HELP.
THIS TIME
SUTTER HAD NONE TO GIVE.
EVERY ABLE-BODIED MAN
IN THE VALLEY HAD GONE SOUTH
TO FIGHT THE MEXICANS.
THE RELIEF EFFORT WOULD
HAVE TO WAIT.
ON NOVEMBER 20, 1846
AN IRISH EMIGRANT NAMED PATRICK
BREEN BEGAN TO KEEP A DIARY.
Man reading:
"FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1846.
CAME TO THIS PLACE ON THE 31st
OF LAST MONTH THAT IT SNOWED."
"WE WENT ON TO THE PASS;
"THE SNOW SO DEEP WE WERE
UNABLE TO FIND THE ROAD
"THEN TURNED BACK
TO THE SHANTY ON THE LAKE.
"WE NOW HAVE KILLED
MOST OF OUR CATTLE
"HAVING TO STAY HERE
UNTIL NEXT SPRING.
"IT SNOWED DURING
THE SPACE OF EIGHT DAYS
WITH LITTLE INTERMISSION."
McCullough:
THE 81 MEMBERS
OF THE DONNER PARTY
25 MEN, 15 WOMEN AND 41 CHILDREN
INCLUDING SIX NURSING INFANTS
WERE NOW HUDDLED MISERABLY
IN TWO MAKESHIFT WINTER CAMPS.
THE BREENS AND
THEIR SEVEN CHILDREN TOOK OVER
AN ABANDONED SHACK,
NOT FAR FROM TRUCKEE LAKE.
PEGGY BREEN DID WHAT SHE COULD
TO CALM THE YOUNGER CHILDREN.
LEWIS KIESBURG BUIL
A ROUGH LEAN-TO FOR HIS FAMILY
AGAINST ONE SIDE
OF THE BREEN'S SHACK.
NEARBY, THE EDDYS CROWDED INTO
A HASTILY CONSTRUCTED LOG CABIN
WITH THE MURPHYS,
THE FOSTERS AND THE PIKES.
A SECOND DRAFTY CABIN HOUSED
THE FAMILY OF FRANKLIN GRAVES
AT ONE END
AND MARGARET REED AND
HER FOUR CHILDREN AT THE OTHER.
SIX MILES AWAY, ON ALDER CREEK
THE TWO DONNER FAMILIES
HUDDLED IN TENTS
WHERE THE STORM HAD CAUGHT THEM.
Woman reading:
"WE HAD NO
THE FIRST THING TO EAT.
"WE SELDOM THOUGHT OF BREAD
"FOR WE HAD NOT ANY
SINCE I REMEMBER.
"MA MADE ARRANGEMENTS
FOR SOME CATTLE
"AND THE CATTLE WAS SO POOR
THEY COULD NOT GET UP
WHEN THEY LAID DOWN."
McCullough:
DURING BREAKS IN THE STORM,
THEY SCANNED THE SUMMI
HOPING TO SEE A RELIEF PARTY
INCHING ITS WAY DOWN.
NO ONE CAME.
TWO MORE ATTEMPTS TO GET OVER
THE PASS ENDED IN FAILURE;
THE EMIGRANTS FLOUNDERING
IN THE 20-FOOT DRIFTS.
THIN AND PALE WITH HUNGER
THREE-YEAR-OLD ELIZA DONNER
WHILED AWAY
THE SHORT WINTER DAYS.
Woman reading:
"AFTER THE FIRST STORM, A LITTLE
SUNBEAM STOLE DOWN THE STEPS
"AND MADE A BRIGHT SPO
UPON OUR FLOOR.
"I SAT DOWN UNDER IT,
HELD IT ON MY LAP
"PASSED MY HAND UP AND DOWN
IN ITS BRIGHTNESS.
"I GATHERED UP A PIECE OF I
IN MY APRON
"AND RAN TO MY MOTHER.
"GREAT WAS MY SURPRISE WHEN
I CAREFULLY OPENED THE FOLDS
AND FOUND THA
I HAD NOTHING TO SHOW."
McCullough:
ON THANKSGIVING,
IT BEGAN SNOWING AGAIN.
Man reading:
"SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29.
"STILL SNOWING.
"NOW ABOUT THREE FEET DEEP.
"KILLED MY LAST OXEN TODAY.
"MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30.
"SNOWING FAST,
ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE FEET DEEP.
"LOOKS AS LIKELY TO CONTINUE
AS WHEN IT COMMENCED.
"NO LIVING THING WITHOUT WINGS
CAN GET ABOUT.
"DECEMBER 1, TUESDAY.
"OUR CATTLE ALL KILLED
BUT THREE OR FOUR OF THEM.
"THE HORSES
AND STANTON'S MULES GONE
"SUPPOSED LOST IN THE SNOW.
NO HOPES OF FINDING THEM ALIVE."
McCullough:
THEY BEGAN TO MIX
WHAT LITTLE MEAT REMAINED
WITH ANYTHING THEY COULD CHEW
AND SWALLOW:
BOILED HIDES, CHARRED BONES,
TWIGS, BARK, LEAVES.
ON DECEMBER 15
ONE OF THE REEDS' HIRED MEN,
BALIS WILLIAMS
DIED OF MALNUTRITION.
IN MID-DECEMBER
15 OF THE STRONGEST EMIGRANTS
FIVE WOMEN, NINE MEN
AND A BOY OF 12
RESOLVED TO MAKE
ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO BREAK OUT.
AN OLD VERMONT FARMER,
FRANKLIN GRAVES
FASHIONED CRUDE SNOWSHOES
FROM OXBOWS AND RAWHIDE.
ON DECEMBER 16,
WITH WILLIAM EDDY
AND THE INDIANS
LEWIS AND SALVADORE IN THE LEAD
THEY STARTED OUT FOR THE SUMMIT.
THEY TOOK SIX DAYS'
STARVATION RATIONS A PIECE.
THEY CALLED THEMSELVES
"THE FORLORN HOPE."
WITH EACH STEP, THEY SANK A FEW
INCHES INTO THE 20-FOOT DRIFTS
BUT THE CRUDE SNOWSHOES
BUOYED THEM UP.
IT TOOK TWO GRUELING DAYS
TO SCALE THE SUMMIT.
ONCE OVER THE PASS,
THE SUN BEGAN TO BLIND THEM.
ON THE SIXTH DAY,
THEIR FOOD RAN OUT.
CHARLES STANTON, TOO BLIND
AND WEAK TO CARRY ON
URGED HIS EXHAUSTED FRIENDS
TO GO ON WITHOUT HIM.
HE WAS LAST SEEN SITTING IN THE
SNOW, CALMLY SMOKING HIS PIPE.
BY THE NINTH DAY OU
THEY WERE HOPELESSLY LOS
HIGH IN
THE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS.
ON CHRISTMAS EVE,
IT BEGAN TO SNOW AGAIN.
Woman reading:
"WHAT TO DO WE DID NOT KNOW.
"SOME OF THOSE WHO HAD CHILDREN
AND FAMILIES WISHED TO GO BACK
"BUT THE TWO INDIANS SAID
THEY WOULD GO ON.
"I TOLD THEM I WOULD GO TOO
"FOR TO GO BACK AND HEAR
"THE CRIES OF HUNGER
FROM MY 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 GRAVES.
McCullough:
DARKNESS CAME, AND SOMEHOW
THEY MANAGED TO LIGHT A FIRE.
THEY HAD BEEN THREE DAYS
WITHOUT FOOD OF ANY KIND
AND MOST OF THEM WERE FAR GONE.
EVEN IN THEIR DELIRIUM,
THEY KNEW THEY WERE DYING.
Woman reading:
"EVEN THE WIND
SEEMED TO HOLD ITS BREATH
"AS THE SUGGESTION WAS MADE
"THAT: WERE ONE TO DIE,
THE REST MIGHT LIVE.
"THEN THE SUGGESTION WAS MADE
THAT LOTS BE CAS
"AND WHOEVER DREW THE LONGES
SLIP SHOULD BE THE SACRIFICE.
"THE SLIPS OF PAPER
WERE PREPARED
AND PATRICK DOLAN DREW
THE FATAL SLIP."
McCullough:
NO ONE HAD THE HEAR
TO KILL HIM.
Man reading:
"ABOUT 11:00, THE STORM
INCREASED TO A PERFECT TORNADO
"AND IN AN INSTANT BLEW AWAY
EVERY SPARK OF FIRE.
"THE COMPANY WERE NOW ENGAGED
IN IMPLORING GOD
"FOR MERCY AND RELIEF.
"THAT NIGHT'S BITTER CRIES,
ANGUISH AND DESPAIR
NEVER CAN BE FORGOTTEN."
McCullough:
SOMEHOW, WILLIAM EDDY GO
HIS DYING COMPANIONS
TO SIT TOGETHER IN A RING,
AND PULLED BLANKETS OVER THEM.
A CANOPY OF SNOW QUICKLY COVERED
THE STARVING GROUP.
ANTONIO, A MEXICAN TEAMSTER,
DIED.
FRANKLIN GRAVES WAS NEXT.
HE DIED IN THE ARMS OF
HIS DAUGHTERS, MARY AND SARAH.
PATRICK DOLAN WENT INSANE
AND HAD TO BE HELD DOWN
BY HIS COMPANIONS.
AT LAST HE SLIPPED
INTO A COMA AND DIED.
12-YEAR-OLD LEM MURPHY LAY
SHUDDERING, ALL BUT DEAD.
IT STOPPED SNOWING.
WILLIAM EDDY CRAWLED OU
OF THE WHITE TOMB
WHERE THE DEAD
AND DYING EMIGRANTS LAY
AND MANAGED TO RELIGHT THE FIRE.
SOMEONE CUT THE FLESH FROM THE
ARMS AND LEGS OF PATRICK DOLAN.
THEY ROASTED THE MEA
AND ATE I
AVERTING THEIR FACES
FROM EACH OTHER AND WEEPING.
ONLY THE TWO INDIANS, LEWIS
AND SALVADORE, REFUSED TO EAT.
THE HIDEOUS FOOD REVIVED THEM.
THE TEN SURVIVING MEMBERS
OF THE FORLORN HOPE
BUTCHERED WHAT REMAINED
OF THEIR FOUR DEAD FRIENDS
WRAPPED AND CAREFULLY
LABELED THE PIECES
SO THAT NO ONE HAD
TO EAT THEIR KIN
AND STAGGERED ON
THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
CURSING LANSFORD HASTINGS.
THREE DAYS LATER, THERE WAS
AGAIN NOTHING LEFT TO EAT.
WILLIAM FOSTER PROPOSED
MURDERING THE INDIANS FOR FOOD.
WILLIAM EDDY TRIED
TO TALK HIM OUT OF I
THEN TOLD LEWIS AND SALVADORE
OF THE WHITE MAN'S PLAN.
THE INDIANS STOOD DISBELIEVING
FOR A MOMEN
THEN SILENTLY DISAPPEARED
INTO THE SNOWY WOODS.
Man reading:
"MONDAY, DECEMBER 21."
"MILT GOT BACK LAST NIGH
FROM THE DONNERS' CAMP.
"SAD NEWS:
"JACOB DONNER, SAM SHOEMAKER,
JOSEPH RHINEHAR
"AND JAMES SMITH ARE DEAD;
"THE REST OF THEM
IN A LOW SITUATION.
SNOWED ALL NIGHT."
"THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31,
LAST OF THE YEAR.
"MAY WE, WITH GOD'S HELP
"SPEND THE COMING YEAR
BETTER THAN THE PAS
"WHICH WE PROPOSE TO DO
IF ALMIGHTY GOD WILL DELIVER US
"FROM OUR PRESEN
DREADFUL SITUATION
"WHICH IS OUR PRAYER IF THE WILL
OF GOD SEES IT FITTING FOR US.
AMEN."
"FREEZING HARD EVERY NIGHT.
"LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER STORM.
SNOWSTORMS ARE DREADFUL TO US."
PATRICK BREEN.
( marching drums)
McCullough:
ON JANUARY 10, 1847, THE UNITED
STATES MARINES TOOK LOS ANGELES
FROM THE MEXICANS.
IN ALL BUT NAME, CALIFORNIA NOW
BELONGED TO THE UNITED STATES.
WITH THE FIGHTING OVER, JAMES
REED RUSHED TO SAN FRANCISCO
TO RAISE MONEY AND MEN
FOR THE RELIEF OF HIS FAMILY
AND FRIENDS.
AT SUNSET ON JANUARY 17
IN THE FOOTHILLS
OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
HARRIET RITCHIE HEARD A KNOCK ON
THE DOOR OF HER FAMILY'S CABIN.
IN THE DOORWAY STOOD
A BLEEDING SKELETON OF A MAN.
IN A FAINT VOICE, HE ASKED
IF HE COULD HAVE SOME BREAD.
HARRIET BURST INTO TEARS AND
HELPED WILLIAM EDDY INTO BED.
THE SIX OTHER SURVIVORS
OF THE FORLORN HOPE LAY
A SHORT WAY UP THE TRAIL.
ONLY TWO OF THE TEN MEN
HAD MADE IT THROUGH.
ALL FIVE WOMEN HAD SURVIVED.
WHEN HE WAS WELL ENOUGH TO SPEAK
WILLIAM EDDY TOLD
A HELLISH STORY.
HE SPOKE OF THE CAMP OF DEATH
AND OF WANDERING 18 DAYS MORE
LOST IN THE DEEP MOUNTAIN SNOWS;
OF SARAH FOSDICK,
WHO HAD TO WATCH HER HUSBAND DIE
THEN SEE HIS HEAR
ROASTING ON A STICK;
OF THE BLOODY FOOTPRINTS THA
LED THEM TO WHERE THE INDIANS
LEWIS AND SALVADORE, WHO HAD
FLED AS FAR AS THEY COULD
WERE LYING SIDE BY SIDE
IN THE SNOW, TOO WEAK TO MOVE;
HOW WILLIAM FOSTER, INSANE, SHO
EACH OF THE MEN THROUGH THE HEAD
AND HOW THE STARVING SURVIVORS
USED THE MURDERED MEN FOR FOOD.
THE ALARM WENT OUT.
Man reading:
"FEBRUARY 3.
"THEY GAVE THE ALARM
THAT THE PEOPLE WOULD ALL DIE
"WITHOUT ASSISTANCE.
"IT WAS TWO WEEKS BEFORE
ANY PERSON WOULD CONSENT TO GO.
"FINALLY, WE CONCLUDED
WE WOULD GO OR DIE TRYING
"FOR NOT TO MAKE ANY ATTEMP
TO SAVE THEM WOULD BE A DISGRACE
TO US, AND CALIFORNIA,
AS LONG AS TIME LASTED."
DANIEL RHOADS.
McCullough:
ON FEBRUARY 5, THE FIRS
SMALL RELIEF PARTY
LEFT JOHNSON'S RANCH
AND STRUGGLED SLOWLY UP
INTO THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS.
A SECOND PARTY LED BY JAMES REED
WAS TWO DAYS BEHIND THEM.
Man reading:
"FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5.
PEGGY VERY UNEASY FOR FEAR WE
SHALL ALL PERISH WITH HUNGER."
"WE HAVE BUT A LITTLE MEAT LEFT,
AND ONLY PART OF THREE HIDES."
"MRS. REED HAS NOTHING LEF
BUT ONE HIDE
AND IT IS ON GRAVES' SHANTY."
"EDDY'S CHILD, MARGARET,
DIED LAST NIGHT."
"MONDAY, THE EIGHTH.
"SPITZER DIED LAST NIGH
ABOUT 3:00.
WE WILL BURY HIM IN THE SNOW."
"MRS. EDDY DIED
ON THE NIGHT OF THE SEVENTH."
"WEDNESDAY, THE TENTH.
"MILT ELLIOT DIED LAST NIGH
AT MURPHY'S SHANTY.
"MRS. REED WENT THERE
THIS MORNING
TO SEE AFTER HIS EFFECTS."
PATRICK BREEN.
Woman reading:
"EVERYONE HAD GONE TO BED,
BUT I COULD NOT SLEEP.
"LOOKING UP THROUGH THE DARKNESS
WITH MY HANDS CLASPED
"I MADE A VOW THA
IF GOD WOULD SEND US RELIEF
AND LET ME SEE MY FATHER AGAIN,
I WOULD BE A CATHOLIC."
VIRGINIA REED.
McCullough:
ONE AFTERNOON, PEGGY BREEN
MOTIONED MARGARET REED OUTSIDE
TO TELL HER THA
HER DAUGHTER VIRGINIA WAS DYING.
THEY WERE ALL DYING.
ON FEBRUARY 19, 1847,
SEVEN FREEZING, EXHAUSTED MEN
OF THE FIRST RELIEF PARTY
STRUGGLED OVER THE SUMMI
AND CAME WITHIN SIGH
OF THE LAKE.
Man reading:
"AT SUNSET WE CROSSED
TRUCKEE LAKE ON THE ICE
"AND CAME TO THE SPO
WHERE WE HAD BEEN TOLD
"WE SHOULD FIND THE EMIGRANTS.
"WE LOOKED ALL AROUND
"BUT NO LIVING THING EXCEP
OURSELVES WAS IN SIGHT.
"WE RAISED A LOUD 'HELLO'
"AND THEN WE SAW A WOMAN EMERGE
FROM A HOLE IN THE SNOW.
"AS WE APPROACHED HER, SEVERAL
OTHERS MADE THEIR APPEARANCE
"IN LIKE MANNER,
COMING OUT OF THE SNOW.
"THEY WERE GAUNT WITH FAMINE
"AND I NEVER CAN FORGE
"THE HORRIBLE, GHASTLY SIGH
THEY PRESENTED.
"THE FIRST WOMAN SPOKE IN A
HOLLOW VOICE VERY MUCH AGITATED
"AND SAID, 'ARE YOU MEN
FROM CALIFORNIA
OR DO YOU COME FROM HEAVEN?'"
McCullough:
THE RESCUERS WERE SHOCKED
BY WHAT THEY FOUND.
12 EMIGRANTS HAD DIED,
AND BODIES LAY EVERYWHERE
ON TOP OF THE SNOW
COVERED WITH QUILTS.
48 STILL CLUNG TO LIFE,
BUT SOME HAD GONE MAD
AND OTHERS WERE TOO FAR GONE
TO BE REVIVED.
SOMEHOW, MARGARET REED
HAD MANAGED
TO KEEP ALL HER CHILDREN ALIVE.
SO HAD PEGGY BREEN
AND TAMSEN DONNER.
SO FAR, NONE OF THE SURVIVORS
AT THE LAKE
HAD BEEN FORCED
TO EAT HUMAN FLESH.
THERE WAS NO TIME TO WASTE.
THE RESCUERS COULD TAKE ONLY
24 OF THE STARVING EMIGRANTS
OUT WITH THEM.
THE BREENS AGREED TO WAI
FOR THE NEXT RELIEF PARTY;
SO DID THE DONNERS.
GEORGE WAS TOO SICK TO MOVE, AND
TAMSEN WOULD NOT LEAVE HIS SIDE.
ON FEBRUARY 22, THE FIRS
RELIEF PARTY STARTED BACK.
THERE WAS ALMOST NO FOOD
TO SPARE
FOR THE 31 DESPERATE PEOPLE
LEFT BEHIND.
Man reading:
"FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26.
HUNGRY TIMES IN CAMP."
"MRS. MURPHY SAID SHE THOUGH
SHE WOULD COMMENCE ON MIL
AND EAT HIM."
"I DON'T THINK
SHE HAS DONE SO YET.
IT IS DISTRESSING."
PATRICK BREEN.
McCullough:
THE ORDEAL OF THE DONNER PARTY
WAS FAR FROM OVER.
FOR TWO MORE MONTHS,
FOUR RELIEF PARTIES BATTLED
THE TERRIBLE SNOW AND COLD
OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
TO TRY TO SAVE
THE STARVING EMIGRANTS.
THE SCENES ENACTED
IN THE MOUNTAINS
DURING THOSE TWO MONTHS
WOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
WHEN THE FIRST RELIEF PARTY
LEFT THE LAKE
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD PATTY REED
VOLUNTEERED TO STAY BEHIND
TO CARE FOR HER THREE-YEAR-OLD
BROTHER THOMAS
WHO WAS TOO SMALL TO WALK
THROUGH THE HUGE DRIFTS.
"WELL, MA," SHE TOLD HER
ANGUISHED MOTHER
"IF YOU NEVER SEE ME AGAIN,
DO THE BEST THAT YOU CAN."
Woman reading:
"WE WENT OVER THE GREAT HIGH
MOUNTAIN AS STEEP AS STAIR STEPS
"IN SNOW UP TO OUR KNEES.
"LITTLE JAMES WALKED
THE WHOLE WAY OVER
"IN SNOW UP TO HIS WAIST.
"HE SAID EVERY STEP HE TOOK
HE WAS GETTING NIGHER PA
AND SOMETHING TO EAT."
McCullough:
TWO CHILDREN HAD DIED,
AND MORE WERE FAILING FAS
WHEN THE FIRST RELIEF PARTY
CAUGHT SIGHT OF SOMETHING
MOVING TOWARDS THEM
THROUGH THE TREES.
IT WAS THE SECOND RELIEF PARTY.
JAMES REED WAS LEADING IT.
Man reading:
"HERE I MET MY OWN WIFE
AND TWO OF MY LITTLE CHILDREN.
"TWO, STILL IN THE MOUNTAINS.
"I CANNOT DESCRIBE
THE DEATHLIKE LOOK OF THEM.
"'BREAD, BREAD, BREAD, BREAD'
WAS THE BEGGING OF EVERY CHILD
AND GROWN PERSON."
McCullough:
WHEN SHE HEARD
HER HUSBAND'S VOICE
MARGARET REED STUMBLED
IN THE SNOW AND ALMOST FAINTED.
THEY HAD BEEN SEPARATED
FOR FIVE MONTHS.
REED WAS CERTAIN HIS FAMILY
HAD PERISHED.
WHEN JAMES REED AND THE SECOND
RELIEF PARTY REACHED THE LAKE
PATTY AND THOMAS WERE
STILL ALIVE.
THE REST OF THE CAMP WAS
A SHAMBLES.
TEN MORE EMIGRANTS HAD DIED
AND THE SURVIVORS HAD BEGUN
TO EAT THE DEAD.
Man reading:
"AMONG THE CABINS
LAY THE FLESHLESS BONES
"AND HALF-EATEN BODIES
OF THE VICTIMS OF THE FAMINE.
"THERE LAY THE LIMBS,
THE SKULLS AND THE HAIR
"OF THE POOR BEINGS
WHO HAD DIED FROM WAN
"AND WHOSE FLESH
PRESERVED THE LIVES
"OF THEIR SURVIVING COMRADES
"WHO, SHIVERING BENEATH
THEIR FILTHY RAGS
"AND SURROUNDED BY THE REMAINS
OF THEIR UNHOLY FEAS
"LOOKED MORE LIKE DEMONS
THAN HUMAN BEINGS.
"THEY HAD FALLEN
FROM THEIR HIGH ESTATE
THOUGH COMPELLED BY THE FELL
HAND OF DIRE NECESSITY."
McCullough:
THE FIERCEST STORM OF THE WINTER
BROKE OVER THE SECOND
RELIEF PARTY
AS THEY STRUGGLED
TO CROSS THE MOUNTAINS.
FOR TWO DAYS,
THE EMIGRANTS AND RESCUERS
HUDDLED AROUND A FIRE THA
SANK SLOWLY INTO THE SNOW.
IT WAS THERE THAT THE THIRD
RELIEF PARTY FOUND THEM
TEN DAYS LATER.
Man reading:
"THE PICTURE OF DISTRESS
WAS SHOCKING INDEED.
"THEY HAD CONSUMED
TWO CHILDREN OF JACOB DONNER.
"MRS. GRAVES' BODY
WAS LYING THERE
"WITH ALMOST ALL THE FLESH CU
AWAY FROM HER ARMS AND LIMBS.
"HER BREASTS WERE CUT OFF, AND
HER HEART AND LIVER TAKEN OUT.
"HER LITTLE CHILD, ABOUT 13
MONTHS OLD, SAT AT HER SIDE
"WITH ONE ARM UPON THE BODY
OF ITS MANGLED MOTHER
"SOBBING BITTERLY
CRYING, 'MA MA MA'"
McCullough:
WHEN THE THIRD RELIEF PARTY
REACHED THE LAKE
ONLY SEVEN EMIGRANTS
REMAINED ALIVE.
TAMSEN DONNER WAS AMONG THEM
STILL REMARKABLY STRONG
FOR ALL SHE'D BEEN THROUGH.
GEORGE, WHO WAS DYING,
BEGGED HER TO LEAVE.
TAMSEN REFUSED.
SHE WOULD NOT LE
HER HUSBAND DIE ALONE.
THE FOURTH RELIEF PARTY
WAS DELAYED ONE FULL MONTH
BY THE NINTH AND FINAL BLIZZARD
OF WHAT WAS THE WORS
WINTER EVER RECORDED
IN THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.
THEY FOUND LEWIS KIESBURG
IN HIS CABIN
DELIRIOUS, SURROUNDED
BY THE HALF-EATEN DEAD.
NO ONE ELSE WAS ALIVE.
TAMSEN DONNER'S BODY
WAS NEVER FOUND.
KIESBURG CONFESSED
TO EATING HER REMAINS.
ON APRIL 21, THE LAS
RELIEF PARTY LEFT THE LAKE.
ON APRIL 25, THEY REACHED
BEAR VALLEY.
ALL OF THE SURVIVORS
OF THE DONNER PARTY
HAD NOW COME OU
OF THE MOUNTAINS.
IT HAD BEEN ONE YEAR
ALMOST TO THE DAY
SINCE THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
HAD LEFT THEIR HOMES
IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.
Man reading:
"IT WAS LONG AFTER DARK WHEN
WE GOT TO JOHNSON'S RANCH
"SO THE FIRST TIME I SAW I
WAS EARLY IN THE MORNING.
"THE WEATHER WAS FINE
"THE GROUND WAS COVERED
WITH GREEN GRASS
"THE BIRDS WERE SINGING
FROM THE TOPS OF THE TREES
"AND THE JOURNEY WAS OVER.
"I COULD SCARCELY BELIEVE
THAT I WAS ALIVE.
"THE SCENE THA
I SAW THAT MORNING
"SEEMS TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED
ON MY MIND.
"MOST OF THE INCIDENTS
ARE GONE FROM MEMORY
BUT I CAN ALWAYS SEE THE CAMP
NEAR JOHNSON'S RANCH."
JOHN BREEN.
Woman reading:
"CALIFORNIA, MAY 16, 1847.
"MY DEAR COUSIN:
"I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY
TO WRITE TO YOU
"TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE
ALL WELL AT PRESENT.
"I AM GOING TO WRITE TO YOU
ABOUT OUR TROUBLES
"IN GETTING TO CALIFORNIA.
"WE HAD GOOD LUCK
TILL WE COME TO BIG SANDY.
"WE HAD TO STAY IN
THE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS
"ALL WINTER WITHOUT PA.
WE HAD NOT THE FIRS
THING TO EAT."
McCullough:
OF THE 87 MEN, WOMEN AND
CHILDREN IN THE DONNER PARTY
46 SURVIVED.
41 DIED: FIVE WOMEN,
14 CHILDREN AND 22 MEN
COUNTING JOHN SUTTER'S
INDIANS LEWIS AND SALVADORE
WHO HAD RISKED THEIR LIVES
TO SAVE THE EMIGRANTS.
TWO-THIRDS OF THE WOMEN
AND CHILDREN MADE IT THROUGH.
TWO-THIRDS OF THE MEN PERISHED.
OF ALL THE FAMILIES,
THE DONNERS SUFFERED THE MOST.
ALL FOUR ADULTS
AND FOUR OF THE CHILDREN DIED.
ALL OF THE REEDS SURVIVED.
SO DID ALL OF THE BREENS.
THE STORY OF
THE DONNER DISASTER
QUICKLY SPREAD
ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
NEWSPAPERS PRINTED EVERY WORD
OF ALL THE LETTERS AND DIARIES
ALONG WITH WILD TALES
OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAD GOTTEN
TO ENJOY EATING HUMAN FLESH.
EMIGRATION TO CALIFORNIA
FELL OFF SHARPLY
AND HASTINGS' CUTOFF
WAS ALL BUT ABANDONED.
THEN, IN JANUARY 1848,
GOLD WAS DISCOVERED
IN JOHN SUTTER'S CREEK.
BY LATE 1849, MORE THAN 100,000
PEOPLE HAD RUSHED TO CALIFORNIA
TO DIG AND SIFT NEAR
THE STREAMS AND CANYONS
WHERE THE DONNER PARTY
HAD SUFFERED SO MUCH.
IN 1850, CALIFORNIA ENTERED
THE UNION AS THE 31st STATE.
YEAR BY YEAR
TRAFFIC OVER WHAT WAS NOW
CALLED DONNER PASS INCREASED.
THE LAKE BECAME
A TOURIST ATTRACTION
AND A FAVORITE VACATION
SPOT YEAR ROUND.
THE TERRIBLE ORDEALS
OF THE DONNER PARTY
PASSED INTO HISTORY
AND LEGEND.
RELICS FROM THE CAMPS
BITS OF CHINA, BUTTONS AND NAILS
WOOD SHAVINGS FROM THE CABINS
BECAME POPULAR SOUVENIRS.
ALMOST A CENTURY LATER
TREES THE EMIGRANTS HAD SHORN
OFF AT SNOW LEVEL STILL STOOD
AS A VIVID REMINDER OF
THE FIERCE WINTER OF 1846.
Stegner:
OH, IT'S GOT EVERYTHING.
IT'S A GREEK TRAGEDY.
IT'S A GREAT TES
OF HUMAN CHARACTER.
SOME PEOPLE CAME
THROUGH IT HEROICALLY
AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN THA
PARTY WERE FAR FROM HEROES
AND THEY GOT WORSE
AS THE CONDITIONS GOT WORSE.
SO IT WAS AS IF THE SHEEP
AND THE GOATS
THE BLESSED AND THE UNBLESSED
SORTED THEMSELVES OU
AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF
TERRIBLE HARDSHIP AND TRAGEDY.
McCullough:
MOST OF THE MEN, WOMEN AND
CHILDREN OF THE DONNER PARTY
WERE RAPIDLY ABSORBED INTO
THE POPULATION OF CALIFORNIA.
MARY GRAVES, SURVIVOR
OF THE FORLORN HOPE
WAS MARRIED IN MAY, BEFORE
THE SNOWS HAD EVEN MELTED.
THE BREENS SETTLED
IN SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
WHERE PATRICK BECAME
A PROMINENT RANCHER.
ALONE AMONG THE SURVIVORS
LEWIS KIESBURG SPOKE OPENLY
OF EATING HUMAN FLESH
AND WAS REVILED AS
A MAN-EATER AND GHOUL.
DURING THE GOLD RUSH
HE MADE HIS FORTUNE
AND IN 1851, OPENED
A RESTAURANT IN SACRAMENTO.
GEORGE AND TAMSEN DONNER'S
ORPHANED CHILDREN
WERE SOON SPLIT UP.
ELIZA AND GEORGIA WERE ADOPTED
BY A SWISS COUPLE
WHO LIVED NEAR SUTTER'S FORT.
Woman reading:
"MY DEAR COUSIN:
"WE ARE ALL VERY WELL
PLEASED WITH CALIFORNIA.
"IT IS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY.
"IT OUGHT TO BE
A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
"TO PAY US FOR OUR TROUBLE
GETTING THERE.
"TELL HENRIETTA IF SHE
WANTS TO GET MARRIED
"TO COME TO CALIFORNIA.
SHE CAN GET A SPANIARD ANYTIME."
McCullough:
TO HER FATHER'S DISMAY
VIRGINIA REED KEP
THE VOW SHE'D MADE
IN THE CABIN BY THE LAKE
AND CONVERTED TO CATHOLICISM.
WHEN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD PATTY REED
ARRIVED IN CALIFORNIA
SHE PULLED FROM HER RAGGED
DRESS A LITTLE BUNDLE.
IN IT WAS A LOCK OF
HER GRANDMOTHER'S HAIR
AND A TINY DOLL SHE HAD
CARRIED WITH HER
ALL THE WAY FROM SPRINGFIELD.
SHE DIED IN 1931,
AT THE AGE OF 93.
JAMES REED NEVER SPOKE IN PUBLIC
OF THE KILLING OF JOHN SNYDER.
HE SETTLED HIS FAMILY
IN SAN JOSE
MADE MONEY
IN REAL ESTATE AND GOLD
AND BECAME ONE OF THE TOWN'S
LEADING CITIZENS.
MARGARET REED'S SICK HEADACHES
DISAPPEARED AND NEVER RETURNED.
LANSFORD HASTINGS MOVED TO SAN
FRANCISCO AND WENT BACK INTO LAW
BUT WAS TOO RESTLESS
TO MAKE A GO OF IT.
DURING THE CIVIL WAR, HE
PROPOSED LEADING AN ARMY WES
TO SEIZE ARIZONA
FOR THE CONFEDERACY.
AFTER THE WAR, HE PUBLISHED
THE EMIGRANTS' GUIDE TO BRAZIL
AND DIED IN 1870,
TRYING TO ESTABLISH
A COLONY OF EX-CONFEDERATES
IN SOUTH AMERICA.
Woman reading:
"OH, MARY, I HAVE NOT WROTE YOU
HALF OF THE TROUBLE WE HAVE HAD
"BUT I HAVE WROTE YOU ENOUGH
TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT TROUBLE IS.
"BUT THANK GOD.
"WE ARE THE ONLY FAMILY
THAT DID NOT EAT HUMAN FLESH.
"WE HAVE LEFT EVERYTHING
BUT I DON'T CARE FOR THAT.
"WE HAVE GOT THROUGH
WITH OUR LIVES.
"DON'T LET THIS LETTER
DISHEARTEN ANYBODY.
"REMEMBER: NEVER TAKE NO CUTOFFS
AND HURRY ALONG
AS FAST AS YOU CAN."
VIRGINIA REED.
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE
IS A PROUD SUPPORTER
OF "THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE".
AND BY HELPING PEOPLE
LIVE SAFER, MORE SECURE LIVES,
WE'RE ALSO PROUD SUPPORTERS
OF THE AMERICAN DREAM.
Man reading:
"IT IS ODD TO WATCH
WITH WHAT FEVERISH ARDOR
"AMERICANS PURSUE PROSPERITY
"EVER TORMENTED BY
THE SHADOWY SUSPICION
"THAT THEY MAY NOT HAVE CHOSEN
THE SHORTEST ROUTE TO GET IT.
"THEY CLEAVE TO
THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD
OF "THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE".
"AS IF ASSURED
THAT THEY WILL NEVER DIE
"AND YET RUSH TO SNATCH ANY
THAT COMES WITHIN THEIR REACH
"AS IF THEY EXPECTED
TO STOP LIVING
"BEFORE THEY HAD RELISHED THEM.
"DEATH STEPS IN IN THE END
AND STOPS THEM
"BEFORE THEY HAVE GROWN TIRED
OF THIS FUTILE PURSUI
OF THAT COMPLETE FELICITY
WHICH ALWAYS ESCAPES THEM."
ALEXIS de TOCQUEVILLE.
McCullough:
IT BEGAN IN THE 1840s
SPURRED ON BY FINANCIAL
PANIC IN THE EAS
BY OUTBREAKS OF CHOLERA
AND MALARIA
AND BY THE CEASELESS AMERICAN
HANKERING TO MOVE WEST.
WHEN THE PIONEER MOVEMENT BEGAN
FEWER THAN 20,000
WHITE AMERICANS
LIVED WEST OF
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
TEN YEARS LATER, THE EMIGRATION
HAD SWELLED TO A FLOOD
AND BEFORE IT WAS OVER
MORE THAN HALF A MILLION
MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
HAD STEPPED OFF
INTO THE WILDERNESS
AT PLACES LIKE
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI
AND HEADED OUT OVER THE LONG
ROAD TO OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
IN PLACES, THEIR WAGON WHEELS
CARVED RUTS SHOULDER-DEEP
IN THE ROCKY ROAD.
THE SETTLERS THEMSELVES KNEW
THEY WERE MAKING HISTORY.
"IT WILL BE RECEIVED,"
ONE EMIGRANT WROTE
"AS A LEGEND ON
THE BORDERLAND OF MYTH."
BUT OF ALL THE STORIES
TO COME OUT OF THE WES
NONE HAS CUT MORE DEEPLY
INTO THE IMAGINATION
OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
THAN THE TALE OF
THE DONNER PARTY
HIGH IN THE SIERRA NEVADA
IN THE WINTER OF 1846.
Man:
HUMAN ENDEAVOR AND FAILURE,
BLUNDERS, MISTAKES
AMBITION, GREED
ALL THE ELEMENTS.
AND IF YOU CALL THE RESCUE
OF THE SURVIVING PARTIES
A HAPPY ENDING,
IT'S A HAPPY ENDING.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE
THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT?
THAT TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE.
I THINK WE'RE CURIOUS, YOU KNOW
ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE
EXPERIENCED HARDSHIP
WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH
TERRIBLE ORDEALS
AND CERTAINLY
THE DONNER PARTY, YOU KNOW
87 PEOPLE WENT THROUGH
A CRISIS
THE LIKE OF WHICH FEW
HUMAN BEINGS HAVE EVER FACED.
AND WE'RE CURIOUS ABOUT THAT.
IT CAN TELL US SOMETHING,
I THINK, ABOUT OURSELVES
AND ABOUT THE LIMITS
OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
Man reading:
"MARCH 3, 1846.
"THE TIDE OF EMIGRATION
IS UNPARALLELED
"IN THE ANNALS OF HISTORY.
"THE EYES OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
ARE NOW TURNED WESTWARD
"AND THOUSANDS ARE GAZING
"WITH A MOST INTENSE
INTEREST AND ANXIETY
"UPON THE PACIFIC SHORES
"WITH A FULL DETERMINATION
TO MAKE ONE MORE
ONE LAST MOVE MORE
TO THE FAR WEST."
LANSFORD W. HASTINGS.
McCullough:
AS 1846 BEGAN, THOUSANDS OF
AMERICANS WERE ON THE MOVE WES
EAGER TO BRING OREGON, TEXAS,
NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA
INTO THE AMERICAN SPHERE.
NO ONE WAS KEENER
TO POSSESS CALIFORNIA
THAN LANSFORD W. HASTINGS
AN AMBITIOUS 27-YEAR-OLD LAWYER
FROM MOUNT VERNON, OHIO
WHOSE VISIONS OF EMPIRE WOULD
BE THE DONNER PARTY'S DOOM.
IN 1842, HE WANDERED WES
TO CALIFORNIA
WHAT HE SAW THERE AMAZED HIM.
HE DREAMED OF TAKING
CALIFORNIA FROM MEXICO
AND OF ESTABLISHING
AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
WITH HIMSELF AT ITS HEAD.
HOPING TO SEND A TIDE
OF AMERICANS FLOODING WES
TO OCCUPY THE PROVINCE
HE PUBLISHED THE EMIGRANTS'
GUIDE TO OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
IT PAINTED CALIFORNIA
AS A SECOND EDEN
AND ADVERTISED A NEW AND FASTER
ROUTE ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN
A SHORTCUT NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN
INCLUDING HASTINGS HIMSELF.
Schindler:
LANSFORD HASTINGS IS
PROBABLY AMBITIOUS
PROBABLY VERY SURE OF HIMSELF
AND HE SAYS, "COME WITH ME,
I'LL TAKE YOU, I'VE BEEN THERE."
AND THAT IS NOT QUITE THE TRUTH.
IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIM
BUT IT KILLED PEOPLE.
IT'S A SIREN CALL
AND IT WAS BAD NEWS
BAD NEWS.
Man:
IT'S ALL MIXED UP
WITH THE ROMANCE
AND THE SO-CALLED HEROISM
OF THE WESTWARD MIGRATION
AND THE BIG AMERICAN DREAM.
THE AMERICAN DREAM HAS
SOME NIGHTMARES ATTACHED TO I
AND THIS IS ONE OF THE WAYS
THE AMERICAN DREAM COULD GO.
THE AMERICAN DREAM PROBABLY
RESULTED IN
FOR MOST OF THE PEOPLE
WHO FOLLOWED I
LIKE A MARSH LIGH
IN DISASTER.
McCullough:
ON APRIL 16, 1846, NINE
BRAND-NEW COVERED WAGONS
RATTLED SLOWLY OU
OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
AND HEADED WEST.
THE FAMILIES
OF GEORGE AND JACOB DONNER
AND JAMES FRAZIER REED
WERE OFF
TO MAKE A NEW LIFE
FOR THEMSELVES
IN THE VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA.
GEORGE DONNER WAS
A 62-YEAR-OLD FARMER
WHO HAD MIGRATED FIVE TIMES
BEFORE SETTLING IN SPRINGFIELD
WHERE HE AND HIS OLDER
BROTHER JACOB
HAD MADE ENOUGH MONEY
NEVER TO HAVE TO MOVE AGAIN.
THEN LAND FEVER SWEPT ILLINOIS
AND KINDLED THE URGE
TO MOVE ONE LAST TIME.
THE ORIGINATOR
OF THE SPRINGFIELD PARTY
WAS AN INTELLIGENT,
HEADSTRONG BUSINESSMAN
NAMED JAMES FRAZIER REED
WHO WAS PROUD OF THE FORTUNE
HE'D MADE IN ILLINOIS
BUT CONVINCED HE COULD DO
EVEN BETTER OUT WEST.
HIS WIFE MARGARET SUFFERED
FROM TERRIBLE SICK HEADACHES
THEY HOPED WOULD IMPROVE
IN A BETTER CLIMATE.
WITH THEM WERE
THEIR FOUR CHILDREN:
VIRGINIA, PATTY, JAMES
AND LITTLE THOMAS.
MARGARET'S ELDERLY MOTHER,
SARAH KEYES, CAME, TOO
SO SICK WITH CONSUMPTION
SHE COULD BARELY WALK
BUT UNWILLING TO BE SEPARATED
FROM HER ONLY DAUGHTER.
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
MADE A LAVISH ENTOURAGE
32 MEN, WOMEN
AND CHILDREN IN ALL
COUNTING THE REEDS'
TWO HIRED SERVANTS
AND THE SEVEN TEAMSTERS WHO
HAD ANSWERED GEORGE DONNER'S AD
TO DRIVE THE BIG WAGONS.
BUT THE MOST EXTRAVAGANT LUXURY
WAS THE REED'S FAMILY WAGON
A TWO-STORY AFFAIR
WITH A BUILT-IN IRON STOVE
SPRING-CUSHIONED SEATS
AND BUNKS FOR SLEEPING.
IT TOOK EIGHT OXEN
TO PULL THE MAMMOTH ARK
THAT 12-YEAR-OLD VIRGINIA REED
CALLED "THE PIONEER PALACE CAR."
NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN
ANYTHING LIKE IT.
Woman reading:
"MY FATHER, WITH TEARS
IN HIS EYES, TRIED TO SMILE
"AS ONE FRIEND AFTER ANOTHER
GRASPED HIS HAND
"IN A LAST FAREWELL.
"MAMA WAS OVERCOME WITH GRIEF.
"AT LAST WE WERE ALL
IN THE WAGONS
"THE DRIVERS CRACKED THEIR WHIPS
"THE OXEN MOVED SLOWLY FORWARD
AND THE LONG JOURNEY HAD BEGUN."
VIRGINIA REED.
McCullough:
THEIR IMMEDIATE DESTINATION
WAS INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI
THE MAIN JUMPING OFF POIN
FOR THE OREGON
AND CALIFORNIA TRAILS.
ONCE BEYOND INDEPENDENCE,
HOWEVER
THEY WERE STEPPING OFF
INTO THE UNKNOWN.
ALL THEY KNEW WAS THAT THE LONG
AND DANGEROUS JOURNEY
WOULD TAKE THEM 2,500 MILES
ACROSS A HUGE WINDSWEPT PLAIN,
THREE GREAT MOUNTAIN RANGES
AND HALF A DOZEN
SCORCHING DESERTS.
TIME WAS EVERYTHING.
THE GRUELING JOURNEY
COULDN'T BEGIN
UNTIL THE SPRING RAINS
HAD SUBSIDED
AND HAD TO BE OVER
BEFORE SNOW BLOCKED
THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.
THAT SPRING TALK WAS EVERYWHERE
OF A NEW AND FASTER WAY.
IN THE BOTTOM
OF JACOB DONNER'S SADDLEBAG
WAS A COPY OF LANSFORD
HASTINGS' EMIGRANTS' GUIDE
WITH ITS TANTALIZING TALK
OF A FASTER ROUTE
TO "THE GARDEN OF THE EARTH."
THE SAME DAY
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
ROLLED WES
OUT OF SPRINGFIELD
LANSFORD HASTINGS PREPARED
TO HEAD EAST FROM CALIFORNIA
TO SEE WHAT THE SHORTCUT HE
WAS PROMOTING WAS REALLY LIKE.
Schindler:
HE'D HEARD THAT YOU COULD GO
SOUTH OF THE LAKE.
THE IDEA WAS THAT THE PART JUS
BEFORE YOU GOT TO FORT BRIDGER
GOING THROUGH THE WASATCH,
SOUTH OF THE LAKE
ACROSS THE SALT DESERT, THROUGH
THE RUBIES, INTO CALIFORNIA.
PROBLEM WAS, HE HAD
NEVER REALLY DONE I
HAD NEVER DONE IT WITH A WAGON
AND YET IT WAS HIS AMBITION TO
LEAD WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT TO BE
7,000 WAGONS HEADING WES
THAT YEAR AND
LANSFORD HASTINGS WAS GOING
TO TRY AND LEAD HIS SHARE BACK.
Man reading:
"MR. HASTINGS, OUR PILO
"IS LOOKING FOR SOME FORCE
FROM THE STATES
"WITH WHICH IT IS DESIGNED
TO REVOLUTIONIZE CALIFORNIA.
"HE'S ANXIOUS TO TRY THIS ROUTE
"BUT MY BELIEF IS
THAT IS VERY LITTLE NEARER
AND NOT SO GOOD A ROAD
AS THAT BY FORT HALL."
JAMES CLYMAN.
Woman reading:
"INDEPENDENCE, MAY 11, 1846.
"MY DEAREST ONLY SISTER:
"I CAN GIVE YOU NO IDEA
"OF THE HURRY OF THIS PLACE
AT THIS TIME.
"IT IS SUPPOSED THERE BE
7,000 WAGONS THIS SEASON.
"WE GO TO CALIFORNIA,
TO THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO
"A FOUR MONTHS' TRIP.
"I AM WILLING TO GO,
AND HAVE NO DOUB
"IT WILL BE AN ADVANTAGE
TO OUR CHILDREN AND TO US.
"FAREWELL, MY SISTER.
YOU SHALL HEAR FROM ME AS SOON
AS I HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY."
TAMSEN DONNER.
McCullough:
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
REACHED INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI
IN THE SECOND WEEK OF MAY.
HEAVY SPRING RAINS HAD TURNED
THE UNPAVED STREETS TO MUD.
WAGONS BOGGED TO THE HUBS;
DRIVERS CURSED AND WHIPPED
THE STRAINING OXEN;
EMIGRANTS HURRIED FROM STORE
TO STORE, PURCHASING SUPPLIES
AND ANXIOUSLY INQUIRING
AFTER THE LATEST NEWS.
Man reading:
"SINGULAR AS IT MAY APPEAR
"THERE IS AS MUCH
ELECTIONEERING HERE
"FOR THE CAPTAINCY
OF THIS EXPEDITION
AS THERE IS FOR THE PRESIDENCY
OF THE UNITED STATES."
EDWIN BRYANT.
Woman reading:
"WE HAVE SOME OF THE BEST PEOPLE
IN OUR COMPANY
AND SOME TOO
THAT ARE NOT SO GOOD."
TAMSEN DONNER.
McCullough:
DAY BY DAY, WEEK AFTER WEEK
WAGONS ROLLED OU
OF INDEPENDENCE.
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
GOT STARTED ON MAY 12.
Man reading:
"NOT A LIVING OR A MOVING
OBJECT OF ANY KIND
"APPEARS UPON THE FACE
OF THE VAST EXPANSE.
"THE WHITE-TOPPED WAGONS
"AND THE MEN AND ANIMALS
BELONGING TO THEM
"ARE THE ONLY RELIEF
TO THE TOMBLIKE STILLNESS
OF THE LANDSCAPE."
"A LOVELIER SCENE
WAS NEVER GAZED UPON
NOR ONE OF MORE
PROFOUND SOLITUDE."
McCullough:
A FEW DAYS OUT,
TWO RIDERS OVERTOOK THEM.
THEY BROUGHT MAIL
FROM INDEPENDENCE
AND NEWS THAT HOSTILITIES
HAD BROKEN OU
BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES
AND MEXICO ON THE RIO GRANDE.
EACH NIGHT VIOLENT THUNDERSTORMS
BROKE OVER THE WAGON TRAIN
SCATTERING CATTLE
AND DRENCHING THE ENCAMPMENTS.
EACH MORNING THE SKIES CLEARED,
BUT THE TRAIL HAD TURNED TO MUD.
THE REED'S PALACE WAGON HAD TO
BE LABORIOUSLY DOUBLE-TEAMED
OVER EVEN MODERATE INCLINES
TO THE IMMENSE IRRITATION
OF THOSE FORCED
TO CRAWL ALONG BEHIND.
ON MAY 27, THE WAGON TRAIN
CAME TO A STANDSTILL
ON THE EAST BANK OF
THE BIG BLUE RIVER
TOO SWOLLEN BY RAIN
TO BE FORDED.
THE COMPANY WENT INTO CAMP
TO BUILD A MAKESHIFT FERRY.
BY THEN, THE JOURNEY
HAD BECOME TOO MUCH
FOR MARGARET REED'S MOTHER.
Woman reading:
"GRANDMA BECAME SPEECHLESS
THE DAY BEFORE SHE DIED.
"WE MADE A NEAT COFFIN
AND BURIED HER UNDER A TREE.
"WE MISS HER VERY MUCH.
"EVERY TIME WE COME
INTO THE WAGON
WE LOOK AT THE BED FOR HER."
VIRGINIA REED.
McCullough:
ON MAY 31, TWO DAYS AFTER
THE BURIAL OF SARAH KEYES
THE LAST OF THE WAGONS
WAS FERRIED SAFELY
OVER THE BIG BLUE.
( thunder)
Woman reading:
"JUNE 16.
"WE ARE NOW ON THE PLATTE,
200 MILES FROM FORT LARAMIE.
"I NEVER COULD HAVE BELIEVED
"WE COULD HAVE TRAVELED SO FAR
WITH SO LITTLE DIFFICULTY.
"INDEED, IF I DO NOT EXPERIENCE
"SOMETHING FAR WORSE
THAN I HAVE YET DONE
I SHALL SAY THE TROUBLE
IS ALL IN GETTING STARTED."
TAMSEN DONNER.
McCullough:
ONE JUNE 27, JUST ONE WEEK
BEHIND SCHEDULE
THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
REACHED FORT LARAMIE
AN ISOLATED TRADING POS
IN THE FOOTHILLS
OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
THERE, JAMES REED FOUND
AN OLD FRIEND FROM ILLINOIS
A 54-YEAR-OLD MOUNTAIN MAN
NAMED JAMES CLYMAN
WHO HAD JUST COME EAS
FROM CALIFORNIA
USING HASTINGS' CUTOFF.
"WE CAMPED WITH THEM,"
CLYMAN REMEMBERED
"AND CONTINUED THE CONVERSATION
UNTIL A LATE HOUR."
REED, ANXIOUS TO MAKE UP
FOR LOST TIME
ASKED CLYMAN WHAT HE THOUGH
OF HASTINGS' NEW ROUTE.
Man reading:
"I TOLD HIM ABOU
THE GREAT DESER
"AND THE ROUGHNESS
OF THE SIERRAS
"AND THAT A STRAIGHT ROUTE MIGH
TURN OUT TO BE IMPRACTICABLE.
"I TOLD HIM TO TAKE
THE REGULAR WAGON TRACK
"AND NEVER LEAVE IT.
"IT IS BARELY POSSIBLE TO GE
THROUGH IF YOU FOLLOW I
AND IT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE
IF YOU DON'T."
CLYMAN, WHO HAS JUST BEEN
SOUTH OF THE LAKE ON HORSEBACK
COMING EAS
WITH LANSFORD HASTINGS
SAYS, "DON'T DO IT."
"DON'T DO IT, BECAUSE YOU
CAN'T TAKE WAGONS THAT WAY.
GO THE OLD ROUTE, BE SAFE
YOU'LL PERISH."
AND REED SAYS,
"THERE'S A NIGHER ROUTE
AND WE MIGHT AS WELL TAKE IT."
Man:
WHY REED DIDN'T TAKE THE ADVICE
HE GOT AT FORT LARAMIE IS
I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S
AN ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
HE WAS AN INTELLIGENT MAN,
DECISIVE
I DON'T KNOW.
IT'S ALWAYS, I GUESS,
OUR INSATIABLE DESIRE
TO TAKE A SHORTCUT IN LIFE,
THINKING IT'LL GET US THERE.
AND INVARIABLY IT DOESN'T.
McCullough:
THE NEXT DAY,
CLYMAN BID REED GOOD-BYE
AND CONTINUED EAST,
MOVING FAST DOWN THE PLATTE.
ON JULY 15, HE CROSSED
THE BIG BLUE RIVER
AND CAME TO THE GRAVE
OF MARGARET REED'S MOTHER.
FOR A LONG TIME, HE STOOD
LOOKING DOWN AT THE INSCRIPTION
WONDERING WHAT DROVE
HIS COUNTRYMEN WEST.
Man reading:
"THIS STONE SHOWS US
THAT ALL AGES AND ALL SECTS
"ARE FOUND TO UNDERTAKE
THIS LONG, TEDIOUS
"AND EVEN DANGEROUS JOURNEY
FOR SOME UNKNOWN OBJEC
"NEVER TO BE REALIZED EVEN
BY THOSE THE MOST FORTUNATE.
"AND WHY?
"BECAUSE THE HUMAN MIND
CAN NEVER BE SATISFIED
"NEVER AT REST, ALWAYS ON
THE STRETCH FOR SOMETHING NEW
SOME STRANGE NOVELTY."
McCullough:
SARAH KEYES HAD BEEN A MEMBER
OF WHAT WOULD SOON BE CALLED
"THE DONNER PARTY."
SHE WAS THE FIRST TO DIE.
ON JULY 17, AS THE REEDS
AND THE DONNERS
TOILED SLOWLY UP TOWARDS
THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
A LONE HORSEMAN CAME RIDING DOWN
FROM SOUTH PASS
BEARING AN OPEN LETTER
FROM LANSFORD HASTINGS
ADDRESSED TO ALL EMIGRANTS
NOW ON THE ROAD.
IT URGED THEM TO PRESS ON
IN ONE GROUP TO FORT BRIDGER
WHERE HASTINGS HIMSELF
WOULD BE WAITING
TO ESCORT THEM
OVER THE NEW TRAIL.
ON JULY 18, THEY CROSSED
THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
THEY WERE IN WHAT THE MOUNTAIN
MEN CALLED "OREGON COUNTRY" NOW
A THOUSAND MILES
FROM INDEPENDENCE
WITH MORE THAN A THOUSAND MILES
STILL TO GO.
THEY MOVED ON, SPELLBOUND BY
THE ALTITUDE AND THE LANDSCAPE
AND THE ENDLESS SEA OF SAGE.
ONCE YOU GOT BEYOND FORT LARAMIE
THERE WAS NO TURNING BACK.
A LOT OF EMIGRANTS TURNED BACK
BY THE TIME THEY GO
TO FORT LARAMIE
REALIZING THEY WERE INTO
SOMETHING THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT.
BUT AFTER THAT, YOU WERE PRETTY
MUCH COMMITTED ALL THE WAY.
EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT LIKE
TO BE ABLE TO
THERE WAS HARDLY A CHANCE
OR OPPORTUNITY.
IT JUST WOULDN'T WORK.
McCullough:
ON JULY 20, THE WAGON TRAIN
REACHED THE LITTLE SANDY RIVER.
IT WAS THE PARTING OF THE WAYS.
MOST OF THE EMIGRANTS
HEEDED JAMES CLYMAN'S WARNING
AND TURNED RIGHT.
BUT 20 WAGONS,
INCLUDING THE NINE
BELONGING TO THE DONNERS
AND THE REEDS
TURNED LEFT TOWARDS
FORT BRIDGER
AND THE ENTRANCE
TO HASTINGS' CUTOFF.
THE NEXT DAY, THE NEW PARTY ME
TO ELECT A CAPTAIN.
JAMES REED WAS
THE OBVIOUS CHOICE
BUT HIS ARISTOCRATIC MANNER
AND HIS WEALTH
HAD RUBBED TOO MANY FAMILIES
THE WRONG WAY.
THEY CHOSE GEORGE DONNER
INSTEAD.
ONE WEEK LATER, THE DONNER PARTY
ROLLED INTO FORT BRIDGER
TWO LOG CABINS AND A CORRAL
RUN AS A TRADING POS
BY A CELEBRATED MOUNTAIN MAN
NAMED JIM BRIDGER.
LANSFORD HASTINGS WASN'T THERE.
THE PROMOTER HAD STARTED WES
A WEEK EARLIER
AT THE HEAD OF ANOTHER GROUP
OF WAGONS
LEAVING INSTRUCTIONS
FOR ANY EMIGRANTS WHO WISHED
TO FOLLOW ALONG BEHIND.
THEY SPENT FOUR DAYS RESTING
THEIR OXEN AND MAKING REPAIRS.
Man reading:
"JULY 31, 1846.
"HASTINGS' CUTOFF IS SAID TO BE
A SAVING OF 350 OR 400 MILES
AND A BETTER ROUTE."
"THE REST OF THE CALIFORNIANS
WENT THE LONG ROUTE
"FEELING AFRAID
OF HASTINGS' CUTOFF.
"BUT MR. BRIDGER INFORMS ME
THAT IT IS A FINE, LEVEL ROAD
WITH PLENTY OF WATER AND GRASS."
"IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 700 MILES
"WILL TAKE US
TO CAPTAIN SUTTER'S FOR
WHICH WE HOPE TO MAKE
IN SEVEN WEEKS FROM THIS DAY."
JAMES REED.
McCullough:
ON JULY 31, THE NINE FAMILIES
AND 16 SINGLE MEN
OF THE DONNER PARTY
LEFT FORT BRIDGER
AND ENTERED HASTINGS' CUTOFF.
FOR A WEEK THEY MADE GOOD TIME
TEN, SOMETIMES 12 MILES A DAY
WORKING THEIR WAY DEEPER
INTO THE RUGGED MOUNTAINS
FOLLOWING THE TRACK
OF HASTINGS' WAGONS.
THEN, ON AUGUST 6,
AT THE BOTTOM OF ECHO CANYON
THE PARTY CAME TO A HALT.
STUCK IN THE TOP OF SOME SAGE
NEAR THE TRAIL WAS A NOTE.
IT WAS FROM LANSFORD HASTINGS.
IT STATED THAT THE ROAD AHEAD
WAS VIRTUALLY IMPASSIBLE
AND ADVISED THEM TO WAIT UNTIL
HE COULD SHOW THEM A BETTER WAY.
IT TOOK JAMES REED FIVE DAYS
TO FIND HASTINGS.
WHEN HE DID, THE PROMOTER
REFUSED TO COME BACK
TO LEAD THE COMPANY HIMSELF
POINTING OUT WHAT HE THOUGH
MIGHT BE A MORE MANAGEABLE ROUTE
FROM A HIGH PEAK INSTEAD.
THE NEXT DAY, WITH JAMES REED
AS THEIR PILO
THE PARTY TURNED OFF THE TRACK
INTO THE TANGLED WILDERNESS.
WHEN THEY COMMITTED THEMSELVES
TO CROSS THE WASATCH
WHEN THEY DECIDED LEGITIMATELY
TO ENTER THE GREAT BASIN
TO TACKLE EMIGRATION CANYON,
AS WE KNOW I
AND ECHO CANYON, AS WE KNOW I
THEY WERE EATING UP DAYS
THAT WERE VITAL TO THEM
AND THEY HAD NO WAY
OF KNOWING IT.
McCullough:
THEY CRAWLED ALONG, MAKING
SCARCELY TWO MILES A DAY
FIGHTING THEIR WAY
THROUGH A CHAOS OF CANYONS
CHOKED WITH WILLOW TREES,
COTTONWOODS AND ASPEN.
TIME AND AGAIN
THE HOSTILE TERRAIN
BROUGHT THEM TO A STANDSTILL
WHILE THE MEN CURSED AND TOILED
AND HACKED A ROAD THROUGH
THE DENSE UNDERGROWTH.
IT TOOK SIX DAYS ALONE
TO CHOP THEIR WAY EIGHT MILES
UP BIG MOUNTAIN.
Woman reading:
"FINALLY, WE REACHED
THE END OF THE CANYON
"WHERE IT LOOKED AS THOUGH
"OUR WAGONS WOULD
HAVE TO BE ABANDONED.
"IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE
FOR THE OXEN TO PULL THEM
"UP THE STEEP HILL
AND THE BLUFFS BEYOND.
BUT WE DOUBLE-TEAMED, AND THE
WORK WAS AT LAST ACCOMPLISHED."
"WORN WITH TRAVEL
AND GREATLY DISCOURAGED
"WE REACHED THE SHORE
OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
IT HAD TAKEN AN ENTIRE MONTH,
INSTEAD OF A WEEK."
McCullough:
ON AUGUST 22, THE 87 MEMBERS
OF THE DONNER PARTY
SPILLED OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS,
EXHAUSTED AND SHAKEN.
SOME BLAMED REED FOR THE DELAY
BUT THERE WAS LITTLE TIME
FOR RECRIMINATION.
SUMMER WAS UNRAVELING FAS
AND THERE WERE STILL
600 MILES TO GO.
Man reading:
"TUESDAY, AUGUST 25.
"LUKE HALLORAN DIED
OF CONSUMPTION THIS EVENING.
"WE MADE HIM A COFFIN AND BURIED
HIM AT THE FORKS OF THE ROAD
IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE."
JAMES REED.
McCullough:
THE WORRIED EMIGRANTS
HURRIED ON
FOLLOWING THE TRACK
OF HASTINGS' WAGONS
WEST, THEN SHARPLY SOUTH
FOR A FEW MILES
TO A CLUSTER
OF CLEAR, FRESH SPRINGS.
THERE, THEY FOUND THE TATTERED
REMNANTS OF ANOTHER NOTE.
Woman reading:
"MOTHER KNELT DOWN
AND BEGAN THOUGHTFULLY FITTING
"THE RAGGED EDGES
OF PAPER TOGETHER.
"THE PROCESS WAS WATCHED
WITH SPELLBOUND INTERES
"BY THE ANXIOUS
GROUP AROUND HER.
"THE WRITING WAS
THAT OF HASTINGS
"AND HER PATCHWORK BROUGHT OU
THE FOLLOWING WORDS:
"'TWO DAYS, TWO NIGHTS
"'HARD DRIVING, CROSS DESER
REACH WATER.'"
ELIZA DONNER.
McCullough:
TAKING ON AS MUCH WATER
AND GRASS AS THEY COULD
THE EMIGRANTS CLIMBED THROUGH
A RANGE OF GNARLED HILLS.
BEYOND THEM, TO THE WES
STRETCHED A GLITTERING
PLAIN OF SALT.
ON AUGUST 30,
THEY STARTED ACROSS.
Schindler:
WELL, YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO GE
CAUGHT OUT ON A SALT DESERT.
EVEN TODAY, IT'S A MAN-KILLER.
BUT FOR PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THEY
COULD GO THROUGH IN TWO DAYS
AND EQUIP A WAGON WITH GRASS
AND WATER FOOLISHNESS.
IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY
THE MOISTURE UNDER THE SURFACE
BUBBLES TO THE TOP
TURNS IT INTO A GUMBO.
IF YOU'RE IN A WAGON,
YOU CAN COUNT ON GOING DOWN
A COUPLE OF FEE
IN SOME OF THOSE THINGS.
I'M NOT SAYING A FEW INCHES
BUT YOU COULD GO
RIGHT UP TO THE HUBS.
McCullough:
ON THE THIRD DAY,
THE WATER RAN OUT.
THAT NIGHT, CRAZED WITH THIRS
THE REEDS' OXEN
BOLTED INTO THE DESER
AND COULD NOT BE FOUND.
THE FAMILY TOOK WHAT BELONGINGS
THEY COULD CARRY
AND STARTED OUT.
Woman reading:
"PAPA CARRIED THOMAS
"AND ALL THE REST OF US WALKED.
"WE GOT TO THE DONNERS' WAGON
AND THEY WERE ALL ASLEEP
"SO WE LAID DOWN ON THE GROUND.
"WE SPREAD ONE SHAWL DOWN
AND SPREAD ANOTHER OVER US
"AND THEN PUT THE DOGS ON TOP.
"THE WIND BLEW VERY HARD
"AND IF IT HAD NO
BEEN FOR THE DOGS
WE WOULD HAVE FROZEN."
McCullough:
THE NEXT DAY
THE SHATTERED IMMIGRANTS
STUMBLED OUT OF THE SALT DESERT.
IT HAD BEEN A DISASTER.
IT HAD TAKEN THEM FIVE DAYS
TO CROSS THE 80-MILE DESER
HASTINGS HAD ASSURED THEM
WAS ONLY HALF AS WIDE.
SEVERAL EMIGRANTS HAD
ALMOST DIED OF THIRST.
36 OXEN WERE LOST.
WAGONS WOULD HAVE
TO BE ABANDONED
THE REEDS' PIONEER
PALACE CAR AMONG THEM.
Woman reading:
"ANGUISH AND DISMAY
NOW FILLED ALL HEARTS.
"HUSBANDS BOWED THEIR HEADS
"APPALLED AT THE SITUATION
OF THEIR FAMILIES.
"SOME CURSED HASTINGS
"FOR THE FALSE STATEMENTS
IN HIS OPEN LETTER
"AND FOR HIS BROKEN PLEDGE
AT FORT BRIDGER.
"THEY CURSED HIM ALSO
FOR HIS MISREPRESENTATION
"OF THE DISTANCE
ACROSS THIS CRUEL DESERT.
"MOTHERS, IN TEARLESS AGONY
"CLASPED THEIR CHILDREN
TO THEIR BOSOMS
"WITH THE OLD, OLD CRY
"'FATHER, THY WILL,
NOT MINE, BE DONE.'
"IT WAS PLAIN
THAT TRY AS WE MIGH
"WE COULD NOT GET BACK
TO FORT BRIDGER.
WE MUST PROCEED, REGARDLESS
OF THE FEARFUL OUTLOOK."
ELIZA DONNER.
Woman reading:
"AN INVENTORY OF
PROVISIONS WAS TAKEN
"AND IT WAS FOUND THA
THE SUPPLY WAS NOT SUFFICIEN
"TO LAST US THROUGH
TO CALIFORNIA.
"AS IF TO RENDER
THE SITUATION MORE TERRIBLE
"A STORM CAME ON
DURING THE NIGH
AND THE HILLTOPS
BECAME WHITE WITH SNOW."
McCullough:
SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TO
RIDE AHEAD TO CALIFORNIA
AND BRING BACK RELIEF.
A BIG MISSOURI FARMER
NAMED WILLIAM McCUTCHEON
AND CHARLES STANTON,
A BACHELOR FROM NEW YORK
VOLUNTEERED.
FINALLY, ON SEPTEMBER 26
THE DONNER PARTY
REACHED THE HUMBOLDT RIVER
WHERE THE SHORTCU
REJOINED THE OLD TRAIL.
HASTINGS' CUTOFF HAD PROVED
NOT ONLY MORE TREACHEROUS
THAN THE OLDER ROUTE;
IT WAS 125 MILES LONGER,
AS WELL.
Stegner:
THEY DID SEEM TO BE DOOMED.
EVERYTHING WENT WRONG FOR THEM.
AND THEY HAD STARTED SO BLITHELY
WITH SUCH BIG EXPECTATIONS
AND SUCH LOADS OF POSSESSIONS.
THEY WERE GOING INTO THE
NEW COUNTRY AND WIN IT BY STORM.
BUT THEY MADE THE GREAT MISTAKE
OF LISTENING
TO LANSFORD HASTINGS.
HE CAUSED ALL THEIR TROUBLE
BECAUSE THEY LOS
THEIR WAY IN THE WASATCH
AND THEY LOST HALF OF THEIR
ANIMALS AND A LOT OF THEIR HOPE
CROSSING THE DESER
SOUTH OF GREAT SALT LAKE.
McCullough:
IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, LANSFORD
HASTINGS RODE INTO SUTTER'S FOR
AT THE HEAD OF A BATTERED TRAIN
OF 80 WAGONS.
EXCEPT FOR THE DONNER PARTY,
ALL THE EMIGRANTS OF 1846
HAD MADE IT SAFELY THROUGH
TO CALIFORNIA.
BY THE TIME THEY GET, CERTAINLY,
INTO THE HUMBOLDT RIVER
TEMPERS ARE PRETTY FRAYED,
VERY EASY TO TRIGGER OFF
AND THERE'S A LO
OF INCIDENTS, ANGER.
AGAIN, I THINK
THAT'S A HUMAN CONDITION.
WHEN WE'RE UNDER
AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF STRESS
VERY OFTEN THAT CAN BRING
OUT THE MOST HEROIC IN US
AND IT CAN ALSO BRING OUT,
YOU KNOW, THE WORST IN US.
McCullough:
ON OCTOBER 5, THE EMIGRANTS
WERE DOUBLING THEIR TEAMS
UP A STEEP, SANDY HILL
WHEN THE GRAVES FAMILY WAGON
BECAME ENTANGLED
WITH THE REED WAGON.
TEMPERS FLARED, AND THE
GRAVES' DRIVER, JOHN SNYDER
BEGAN BEATING THE OXEN
WITH THE BUTT OF HIS BULLWHIP.
JAMES REED
HURRIED OVER TO STOP I
BUT ONLY ENRAGED SNYDER FURTHER
WHO STRUCK HIM SAVAGELY
ON THE HEAD WITH HIS WHIP.
REED DREW HIS HUNTING KNIFE
AND AS SNYDER RAISED HIS ARM
TO STRIKE AGAIN
DROVE IT INTO
THE TEAMSTER'S CHES
JUST BELOW THE COLLARBONE.
SNYDER STAGGERED A FEW YARDS
UP THE HILL AND DIED.
Woman reading:
"MR. REED AND FAMILY
WERE TAKEN TO THEIR TEN
"AND GUARDED BY THEIR FRIENDS.
"AN ASSEMBLY WAS CONVENED
TO DECIDE WHAT SHOULD BE DONE.
"THE MAJORITY
DECLARED THE DEED MURDER
AND DEMANDED RETRIBUTION."
McCullough:
A GERMAN EMIGRAN
NAMED LEWIS KIESBURG
PROPPED HIS WAGON TONGUE ON END
AND DEMANDED THAT REED
BE HANGED FROM IT.
WHEN MARGARET REED
BEGGED FOR MERCY
THE COMPANY CHOSE
BANISHMENT INSTEAD.
AT FIRST, REED REFUSED TO GO,
BUT THERE WAS NO CHOICE.
THE NEXT DAY,
HE HELPED BURY JOHN SNYDER
THEN RODE WEST, OUT OF CAMP.
Woman reading:
"WE TRAVELED ON, BU
THE HOURS DRAGGED SLOWLY ALONG.
"EVERY DAY WE WOULD SEARCH
FOR SOME SIGN OF PAPA
"WHO WOULD LEAVE A LETTER
BY THE WAYSIDE.
BUT A TIME CAME WHEN WE FOUND
NO LETTER AND NO TRACE OF HIM."
VIRGINIA REED.
McCullough:
THE DONNER PARTY LIMPED DOWN THE
HUMBOLDT AS FAST AS IT COULD GO.
EVERYONE WHO STILL COULD,
WALKED BESIDE THE WAGONS NOW
TO SPARE THE EXHAUSTED OXEN.
THEY WERE RACING
AGAINST TIME AND THE WEATHER
DESPERATE TO GET OVER THE
MOUNTAINS AND INTO CALIFORNIA
BEFORE SNOW BLOCKED THE HEIGHTS.
THERE WAS NO SIGN OF
STANTON OR McCUTCHEON
OR OF THE RELIEF THEY PROMISED
TO BRING FROM SUTTER'S FORT.
WITH THE DEATH OF SNYDER
AND THE BANISHMENT OF JAMES REED
THE DONNER PARTY
WAS COMING APART.
ON OCTOBER 7, LEWIS KIESBURG
TURNED AN AGING BELGIAN EMIGRAN
NAMED HARDKOOP OUT OF HIS WAGON.
NO ONE ELSE WOULD TAKE HIM IN.
THE OLD MAN FELL
FARTHER AND FARTHER BEHIND
AND WAS LAST SEEN SITTING
BY THE ROAD, UNABLE TO WALK.
ON THE NIGHT OF OCTOBER 12
PAIUTE INDIANS KILLED 21 OXEN
WITH POISONED ARROWS.
THE COMPANY HAD NOW LOST MORE
THAN A HUNDRED HEAD OF CATTLE.
FROM THE BLUFFS ABOVE THE RIVER
THEY COULD HEAR THE PAIUTES
LAUGHING AT THEIR PLIGHT.
ON OCTOBER 16
THE BATTERED PARTY FINALLY
REACHED THE TRUCKEE
THE NARROW, RUSHING RIVER THA
SERVED AS GATEWAY TO THE SIERRA.
Man reading:
"THE WEATHER WAS
ALREADY VERY COLD
"AND THE HEAVY CLOUDS HANGING
OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO THE WES
"WERE STRONG INDICATIONS
OF AN APPROACHING WINTER.
"SOME WANTED TO STOP
AND REST THEIR CATTLE.
"OTHERS, IN FEAR OF THE SNOW
WERE IN FAVOR OF PUSHING AHEAD
AS FAST AS POSSIBLE."
JOHN BREEN.
McCullough:
ON OCTOBER 19,
THEIR FOOD WAS NEARLY ALL GONE
WHEN CHARLES STANTON FINALLY
RETURNED FROM SUTTER'S FOR
THE SEVEN MULES LOADED
WITH FOOD, TWO INDIAN GUIDES
AND NEWS THA
THE HIGH PASS OF THE SIERRA
WOULDN'T BE BLOCKED
BY SNOW FOR ANOTHER MONTH.
THE EMIGRANTS' HOPES ROSE.
THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE I
AFTER ALL.
THEY CAMPED FOR FIVE DAYS,
50 MILES FROM THE SUMMI
RESTING THEIR OXEN
FOR THE FINAL PUSH.
THE PARTY STARTED
UP THE RIVER AGAIN.
ON OCTOBER 31
THE FRONT AXLE OF GEORGE
DONNER'S FAMILY WAGON BROKE.
CUTTING TIMBER FOR A NEW ONE,
GEORGE GASHED HIS HAND
AND THE FAMILY
FELL FURTHER BEHIND.
THE REST OF THE PARTY
HURRIED ON TOWARDS THE SUMMIT.
Man:
"WE PUSHED ON AS FAST AS
OUR FAILING CATTLE COULD HAUL
"OUR ALMOST EMPTY WAGONS.
"AT LAST WE REACHED
THE FOOT OF THE MAIN RIDGE
"NEAR TRUCKEE LAKE.
"IT WAS SUNDOWN.
"THE WEATHER WAS CLEAR, BU
A LARGE CIRCLE AROUND THE MOON
INDICATED AN APPROACHING STORM."
JOHN BREEN.
McCullough:
THAT NIGHT, THEY CAMPED
A THOUSAND FEET BENEATH
THE DARK GRANITE SUMMI
WAITING ANXIOUSLY FOR
THE DONNER WAGONS TO CATCH UP
PRAYING THA
THE WEATHER WOULD HOLD.
THE DONNERS DIDN'T COME
AND UP ON THE SUMMIT, DURING
THE NIGHT, IT BEGAN TO SNOW.
THE NEXT MORNING, THE PARTY
MADE A FRANTIC DASH FOR THE PASS
BUT FIVE FEET HAD
ALREADY FALLEN HIGHER UP
AND THE WAGONS BEGAN TO SLIP
ON THE STEEP, ROCKY ASCENT.
Woman reading:
"DESPAIR DROVE MANY
NEARLY FRANTIC.
"THE FARTHER WE WENT UP,
THE DEEPER THE SNOW GOT.
"THE WAGONS COULD NOT GO.
"THE MULES KEPT FALLING DOWN
IN THE SNOW, HEADFOREMOS
"AND THE INDIAN SAID
HE COULD NOT FIND THE ROAD.
"THE WOMEN WERE SO TIRED
CARRYING THEIR CHILDREN
THAT THEY COULD NO
GO OVER THAT NIGHT."
McCullough:
STANTON AND ONE OF THE INDIANS
MADE IT AS FAR AS THE SUMMI
THEN TURNED BACK.
THE EXHAUSTED EMIGRANTS
THEY WERE GUIDING
COULD GO NO FARTHER.
AS DARKNESS CAME,
THEY SAT OR LAY HUDDLED
AGAINST THE SIDE
OF THE MOUNTAIN.
THE WIND PICKED UP,
THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED
AND THE SNOW AND SLEE
CAME LASHING DOWN.
Woman reading:
"WE MADE A FIRE
AND GOT SOMETHING TO EAT.
"MA SPREAD A BUFFALO ROBE
AND SAT UP BY THE FIRE.
"THE INDIANS KNEW
WE WERE DOOMED
"AND ONE OF THEM WRAPPED
HIS BLANKET ABOUT HIM
AND STOOD ALL NIGH
UNDER A TREE."
McCullough:
WHEN THEY AWOKE NEXT MORNING
THE PASS WAS COMPLETELY BLOCKED.
THEY HAD COME 2,500 MILES
IN SEVEN MONTHS
TO LOSE THEIR RACE
WITH THE WEATHER BY ONE DAY
ONLY 150 MILES FROM SAFETY
AT SUTTER'S FORT IN CALIFORNIA.
THEY RETRACED THEIR STEPS
TO THE LAKE
AND STARTED BUILDING
A WINTER CAMP.
DOWN BY THE LAKE
AND UP ON THE DARK SUMMI
ABOVE THEM IT SNOWED
AND IT SNOWED
AND IT SNOWED.
Man reading:
"NOVEMBER 6, SUTTER'S FORT.
"ALL THINGS REMAIN QUIET HERE.
"THE WEATHER IS BAD.
"I AM FEARFUL
THE SNOW IS TOO DEEP
"FOR THE LAST COMPANY
OF EMIGRANTS
TO CROSS THE MOUNTAINS."
GEORGE McKINSTRY.
McCullough:
FOR WEEKS, THE AMERICANS
AT SUTTER'S FOR
HAD WAITED ANXIOUSLY
FOR THE DONNER PARTY TO COME IN.
THEY WERE SHOCKED WHEN,
IN LATE OCTOBER
JAMES REED STUMBLED OU
OF THE MOUNTAINS
MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE.
DESPERATE TO SAVE HIS FAMILY
REED PRESSED JOHN SUTTER
FOR HORSES AND SUPPLIES
AND RUSHED BACK UP
INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
TWO DAYS OUT,
IT STARTED TO RAIN.
HIGHER UP,
THE RAIN TURNED TO SNOW.
12 MILES FROM THE SUMMIT,
REED COULD GO NO FURTHER
AND TURNED BACK AGAIN
TO SUTTER'S FORT FOR HELP.
THIS TIME
SUTTER HAD NONE TO GIVE.
EVERY ABLE-BODIED MAN
IN THE VALLEY HAD GONE SOUTH
TO FIGHT THE MEXICANS.
THE RELIEF EFFORT WOULD
HAVE TO WAIT.
ON NOVEMBER 20, 1846
AN IRISH EMIGRANT NAMED PATRICK
BREEN BEGAN TO KEEP A DIARY.
Man reading:
"FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1846.
CAME TO THIS PLACE ON THE 31st
OF LAST MONTH THAT IT SNOWED."
"WE WENT ON TO THE PASS;
"THE SNOW SO DEEP WE WERE
UNABLE TO FIND THE ROAD
"THEN TURNED BACK
TO THE SHANTY ON THE LAKE.
"WE NOW HAVE KILLED
MOST OF OUR CATTLE
"HAVING TO STAY HERE
UNTIL NEXT SPRING.
"IT SNOWED DURING
THE SPACE OF EIGHT DAYS
WITH LITTLE INTERMISSION."
McCullough:
THE 81 MEMBERS
OF THE DONNER PARTY
25 MEN, 15 WOMEN AND 41 CHILDREN
INCLUDING SIX NURSING INFANTS
WERE NOW HUDDLED MISERABLY
IN TWO MAKESHIFT WINTER CAMPS.
THE BREENS AND
THEIR SEVEN CHILDREN TOOK OVER
AN ABANDONED SHACK,
NOT FAR FROM TRUCKEE LAKE.
PEGGY BREEN DID WHAT SHE COULD
TO CALM THE YOUNGER CHILDREN.
LEWIS KIESBURG BUIL
A ROUGH LEAN-TO FOR HIS FAMILY
AGAINST ONE SIDE
OF THE BREEN'S SHACK.
NEARBY, THE EDDYS CROWDED INTO
A HASTILY CONSTRUCTED LOG CABIN
WITH THE MURPHYS,
THE FOSTERS AND THE PIKES.
A SECOND DRAFTY CABIN HOUSED
THE FAMILY OF FRANKLIN GRAVES
AT ONE END
AND MARGARET REED AND
HER FOUR CHILDREN AT THE OTHER.
SIX MILES AWAY, ON ALDER CREEK
THE TWO DONNER FAMILIES
HUDDLED IN TENTS
WHERE THE STORM HAD CAUGHT THEM.
Woman reading:
"WE HAD NO
THE FIRST THING TO EAT.
"WE SELDOM THOUGHT OF BREAD
"FOR WE HAD NOT ANY
SINCE I REMEMBER.
"MA MADE ARRANGEMENTS
FOR SOME CATTLE
"AND THE CATTLE WAS SO POOR
THEY COULD NOT GET UP
WHEN THEY LAID DOWN."
McCullough:
DURING BREAKS IN THE STORM,
THEY SCANNED THE SUMMI
HOPING TO SEE A RELIEF PARTY
INCHING ITS WAY DOWN.
NO ONE CAME.
TWO MORE ATTEMPTS TO GET OVER
THE PASS ENDED IN FAILURE;
THE EMIGRANTS FLOUNDERING
IN THE 20-FOOT DRIFTS.
THIN AND PALE WITH HUNGER
THREE-YEAR-OLD ELIZA DONNER
WHILED AWAY
THE SHORT WINTER DAYS.
Woman reading:
"AFTER THE FIRST STORM, A LITTLE
SUNBEAM STOLE DOWN THE STEPS
"AND MADE A BRIGHT SPO
UPON OUR FLOOR.
"I SAT DOWN UNDER IT,
HELD IT ON MY LAP
"PASSED MY HAND UP AND DOWN
IN ITS BRIGHTNESS.
"I GATHERED UP A PIECE OF I
IN MY APRON
"AND RAN TO MY MOTHER.
"GREAT WAS MY SURPRISE WHEN
I CAREFULLY OPENED THE FOLDS
AND FOUND THA
I HAD NOTHING TO SHOW."
McCullough:
ON THANKSGIVING,
IT BEGAN SNOWING AGAIN.
Man reading:
"SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29.
"STILL SNOWING.
"NOW ABOUT THREE FEET DEEP.
"KILLED MY LAST OXEN TODAY.
"MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30.
"SNOWING FAST,
ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE FEET DEEP.
"LOOKS AS LIKELY TO CONTINUE
AS WHEN IT COMMENCED.
"NO LIVING THING WITHOUT WINGS
CAN GET ABOUT.
"DECEMBER 1, TUESDAY.
"OUR CATTLE ALL KILLED
BUT THREE OR FOUR OF THEM.
"THE HORSES
AND STANTON'S MULES GONE
"SUPPOSED LOST IN THE SNOW.
NO HOPES OF FINDING THEM ALIVE."
McCullough:
THEY BEGAN TO MIX
WHAT LITTLE MEAT REMAINED
WITH ANYTHING THEY COULD CHEW
AND SWALLOW:
BOILED HIDES, CHARRED BONES,
TWIGS, BARK, LEAVES.
ON DECEMBER 15
ONE OF THE REEDS' HIRED MEN,
BALIS WILLIAMS
DIED OF MALNUTRITION.
IN MID-DECEMBER
15 OF THE STRONGEST EMIGRANTS
FIVE WOMEN, NINE MEN
AND A BOY OF 12
RESOLVED TO MAKE
ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO BREAK OUT.
AN OLD VERMONT FARMER,
FRANKLIN GRAVES
FASHIONED CRUDE SNOWSHOES
FROM OXBOWS AND RAWHIDE.
ON DECEMBER 16,
WITH WILLIAM EDDY
AND THE INDIANS
LEWIS AND SALVADORE IN THE LEAD
THEY STARTED OUT FOR THE SUMMIT.
THEY TOOK SIX DAYS'
STARVATION RATIONS A PIECE.
THEY CALLED THEMSELVES
"THE FORLORN HOPE."
WITH EACH STEP, THEY SANK A FEW
INCHES INTO THE 20-FOOT DRIFTS
BUT THE CRUDE SNOWSHOES
BUOYED THEM UP.
IT TOOK TWO GRUELING DAYS
TO SCALE THE SUMMIT.
ONCE OVER THE PASS,
THE SUN BEGAN TO BLIND THEM.
ON THE SIXTH DAY,
THEIR FOOD RAN OUT.
CHARLES STANTON, TOO BLIND
AND WEAK TO CARRY ON
URGED HIS EXHAUSTED FRIENDS
TO GO ON WITHOUT HIM.
HE WAS LAST SEEN SITTING IN THE
SNOW, CALMLY SMOKING HIS PIPE.
BY THE NINTH DAY OU
THEY WERE HOPELESSLY LOS
HIGH IN
THE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS.
ON CHRISTMAS EVE,
IT BEGAN TO SNOW AGAIN.
Woman reading:
"WHAT TO DO WE DID NOT KNOW.
"SOME OF THOSE WHO HAD CHILDREN
AND FAMILIES WISHED TO GO BACK
"BUT THE TWO INDIANS SAID
THEY WOULD GO ON.
"I TOLD THEM I WOULD GO TOO
"FOR TO GO BACK AND HEAR
"THE CRIES OF HUNGER
FROM MY 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 GRAVES.
McCullough:
DARKNESS CAME, AND SOMEHOW
THEY MANAGED TO LIGHT A FIRE.
THEY HAD BEEN THREE DAYS
WITHOUT FOOD OF ANY KIND
AND MOST OF THEM WERE FAR GONE.
EVEN IN THEIR DELIRIUM,
THEY KNEW THEY WERE DYING.
Woman reading:
"EVEN THE WIND
SEEMED TO HOLD ITS BREATH
"AS THE SUGGESTION WAS MADE
"THAT: WERE ONE TO DIE,
THE REST MIGHT LIVE.
"THEN THE SUGGESTION WAS MADE
THAT LOTS BE CAS
"AND WHOEVER DREW THE LONGES
SLIP SHOULD BE THE SACRIFICE.
"THE SLIPS OF PAPER
WERE PREPARED
AND PATRICK DOLAN DREW
THE FATAL SLIP."
McCullough:
NO ONE HAD THE HEAR
TO KILL HIM.
Man reading:
"ABOUT 11:00, THE STORM
INCREASED TO A PERFECT TORNADO
"AND IN AN INSTANT BLEW AWAY
EVERY SPARK OF FIRE.
"THE COMPANY WERE NOW ENGAGED
IN IMPLORING GOD
"FOR MERCY AND RELIEF.
"THAT NIGHT'S BITTER CRIES,
ANGUISH AND DESPAIR
NEVER CAN BE FORGOTTEN."
McCullough:
SOMEHOW, WILLIAM EDDY GO
HIS DYING COMPANIONS
TO SIT TOGETHER IN A RING,
AND PULLED BLANKETS OVER THEM.
A CANOPY OF SNOW QUICKLY COVERED
THE STARVING GROUP.
ANTONIO, A MEXICAN TEAMSTER,
DIED.
FRANKLIN GRAVES WAS NEXT.
HE DIED IN THE ARMS OF
HIS DAUGHTERS, MARY AND SARAH.
PATRICK DOLAN WENT INSANE
AND HAD TO BE HELD DOWN
BY HIS COMPANIONS.
AT LAST HE SLIPPED
INTO A COMA AND DIED.
12-YEAR-OLD LEM MURPHY LAY
SHUDDERING, ALL BUT DEAD.
IT STOPPED SNOWING.
WILLIAM EDDY CRAWLED OU
OF THE WHITE TOMB
WHERE THE DEAD
AND DYING EMIGRANTS LAY
AND MANAGED TO RELIGHT THE FIRE.
SOMEONE CUT THE FLESH FROM THE
ARMS AND LEGS OF PATRICK DOLAN.
THEY ROASTED THE MEA
AND ATE I
AVERTING THEIR FACES
FROM EACH OTHER AND WEEPING.
ONLY THE TWO INDIANS, LEWIS
AND SALVADORE, REFUSED TO EAT.
THE HIDEOUS FOOD REVIVED THEM.
THE TEN SURVIVING MEMBERS
OF THE FORLORN HOPE
BUTCHERED WHAT REMAINED
OF THEIR FOUR DEAD FRIENDS
WRAPPED AND CAREFULLY
LABELED THE PIECES
SO THAT NO ONE HAD
TO EAT THEIR KIN
AND STAGGERED ON
THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
CURSING LANSFORD HASTINGS.
THREE DAYS LATER, THERE WAS
AGAIN NOTHING LEFT TO EAT.
WILLIAM FOSTER PROPOSED
MURDERING THE INDIANS FOR FOOD.
WILLIAM EDDY TRIED
TO TALK HIM OUT OF I
THEN TOLD LEWIS AND SALVADORE
OF THE WHITE MAN'S PLAN.
THE INDIANS STOOD DISBELIEVING
FOR A MOMEN
THEN SILENTLY DISAPPEARED
INTO THE SNOWY WOODS.
Man reading:
"MONDAY, DECEMBER 21."
"MILT GOT BACK LAST NIGH
FROM THE DONNERS' CAMP.
"SAD NEWS:
"JACOB DONNER, SAM SHOEMAKER,
JOSEPH RHINEHAR
"AND JAMES SMITH ARE DEAD;
"THE REST OF THEM
IN A LOW SITUATION.
SNOWED ALL NIGHT."
"THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31,
LAST OF THE YEAR.
"MAY WE, WITH GOD'S HELP
"SPEND THE COMING YEAR
BETTER THAN THE PAS
"WHICH WE PROPOSE TO DO
IF ALMIGHTY GOD WILL DELIVER US
"FROM OUR PRESEN
DREADFUL SITUATION
"WHICH IS OUR PRAYER IF THE WILL
OF GOD SEES IT FITTING FOR US.
AMEN."
"FREEZING HARD EVERY NIGHT.
"LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER STORM.
SNOWSTORMS ARE DREADFUL TO US."
PATRICK BREEN.
( marching drums)
McCullough:
ON JANUARY 10, 1847, THE UNITED
STATES MARINES TOOK LOS ANGELES
FROM THE MEXICANS.
IN ALL BUT NAME, CALIFORNIA NOW
BELONGED TO THE UNITED STATES.
WITH THE FIGHTING OVER, JAMES
REED RUSHED TO SAN FRANCISCO
TO RAISE MONEY AND MEN
FOR THE RELIEF OF HIS FAMILY
AND FRIENDS.
AT SUNSET ON JANUARY 17
IN THE FOOTHILLS
OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
HARRIET RITCHIE HEARD A KNOCK ON
THE DOOR OF HER FAMILY'S CABIN.
IN THE DOORWAY STOOD
A BLEEDING SKELETON OF A MAN.
IN A FAINT VOICE, HE ASKED
IF HE COULD HAVE SOME BREAD.
HARRIET BURST INTO TEARS AND
HELPED WILLIAM EDDY INTO BED.
THE SIX OTHER SURVIVORS
OF THE FORLORN HOPE LAY
A SHORT WAY UP THE TRAIL.
ONLY TWO OF THE TEN MEN
HAD MADE IT THROUGH.
ALL FIVE WOMEN HAD SURVIVED.
WHEN HE WAS WELL ENOUGH TO SPEAK
WILLIAM EDDY TOLD
A HELLISH STORY.
HE SPOKE OF THE CAMP OF DEATH
AND OF WANDERING 18 DAYS MORE
LOST IN THE DEEP MOUNTAIN SNOWS;
OF SARAH FOSDICK,
WHO HAD TO WATCH HER HUSBAND DIE
THEN SEE HIS HEAR
ROASTING ON A STICK;
OF THE BLOODY FOOTPRINTS THA
LED THEM TO WHERE THE INDIANS
LEWIS AND SALVADORE, WHO HAD
FLED AS FAR AS THEY COULD
WERE LYING SIDE BY SIDE
IN THE SNOW, TOO WEAK TO MOVE;
HOW WILLIAM FOSTER, INSANE, SHO
EACH OF THE MEN THROUGH THE HEAD
AND HOW THE STARVING SURVIVORS
USED THE MURDERED MEN FOR FOOD.
THE ALARM WENT OUT.
Man reading:
"FEBRUARY 3.
"THEY GAVE THE ALARM
THAT THE PEOPLE WOULD ALL DIE
"WITHOUT ASSISTANCE.
"IT WAS TWO WEEKS BEFORE
ANY PERSON WOULD CONSENT TO GO.
"FINALLY, WE CONCLUDED
WE WOULD GO OR DIE TRYING
"FOR NOT TO MAKE ANY ATTEMP
TO SAVE THEM WOULD BE A DISGRACE
TO US, AND CALIFORNIA,
AS LONG AS TIME LASTED."
DANIEL RHOADS.
McCullough:
ON FEBRUARY 5, THE FIRS
SMALL RELIEF PARTY
LEFT JOHNSON'S RANCH
AND STRUGGLED SLOWLY UP
INTO THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS.
A SECOND PARTY LED BY JAMES REED
WAS TWO DAYS BEHIND THEM.
Man reading:
"FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5.
PEGGY VERY UNEASY FOR FEAR WE
SHALL ALL PERISH WITH HUNGER."
"WE HAVE BUT A LITTLE MEAT LEFT,
AND ONLY PART OF THREE HIDES."
"MRS. REED HAS NOTHING LEF
BUT ONE HIDE
AND IT IS ON GRAVES' SHANTY."
"EDDY'S CHILD, MARGARET,
DIED LAST NIGHT."
"MONDAY, THE EIGHTH.
"SPITZER DIED LAST NIGH
ABOUT 3:00.
WE WILL BURY HIM IN THE SNOW."
"MRS. EDDY DIED
ON THE NIGHT OF THE SEVENTH."
"WEDNESDAY, THE TENTH.
"MILT ELLIOT DIED LAST NIGH
AT MURPHY'S SHANTY.
"MRS. REED WENT THERE
THIS MORNING
TO SEE AFTER HIS EFFECTS."
PATRICK BREEN.
Woman reading:
"EVERYONE HAD GONE TO BED,
BUT I COULD NOT SLEEP.
"LOOKING UP THROUGH THE DARKNESS
WITH MY HANDS CLASPED
"I MADE A VOW THA
IF GOD WOULD SEND US RELIEF
AND LET ME SEE MY FATHER AGAIN,
I WOULD BE A CATHOLIC."
VIRGINIA REED.
McCullough:
ONE AFTERNOON, PEGGY BREEN
MOTIONED MARGARET REED OUTSIDE
TO TELL HER THA
HER DAUGHTER VIRGINIA WAS DYING.
THEY WERE ALL DYING.
ON FEBRUARY 19, 1847,
SEVEN FREEZING, EXHAUSTED MEN
OF THE FIRST RELIEF PARTY
STRUGGLED OVER THE SUMMI
AND CAME WITHIN SIGH
OF THE LAKE.
Man reading:
"AT SUNSET WE CROSSED
TRUCKEE LAKE ON THE ICE
"AND CAME TO THE SPO
WHERE WE HAD BEEN TOLD
"WE SHOULD FIND THE EMIGRANTS.
"WE LOOKED ALL AROUND
"BUT NO LIVING THING EXCEP
OURSELVES WAS IN SIGHT.
"WE RAISED A LOUD 'HELLO'
"AND THEN WE SAW A WOMAN EMERGE
FROM A HOLE IN THE SNOW.
"AS WE APPROACHED HER, SEVERAL
OTHERS MADE THEIR APPEARANCE
"IN LIKE MANNER,
COMING OUT OF THE SNOW.
"THEY WERE GAUNT WITH FAMINE
"AND I NEVER CAN FORGE
"THE HORRIBLE, GHASTLY SIGH
THEY PRESENTED.
"THE FIRST WOMAN SPOKE IN A
HOLLOW VOICE VERY MUCH AGITATED
"AND SAID, 'ARE YOU MEN
FROM CALIFORNIA
OR DO YOU COME FROM HEAVEN?'"
McCullough:
THE RESCUERS WERE SHOCKED
BY WHAT THEY FOUND.
12 EMIGRANTS HAD DIED,
AND BODIES LAY EVERYWHERE
ON TOP OF THE SNOW
COVERED WITH QUILTS.
48 STILL CLUNG TO LIFE,
BUT SOME HAD GONE MAD
AND OTHERS WERE TOO FAR GONE
TO BE REVIVED.
SOMEHOW, MARGARET REED
HAD MANAGED
TO KEEP ALL HER CHILDREN ALIVE.
SO HAD PEGGY BREEN
AND TAMSEN DONNER.
SO FAR, NONE OF THE SURVIVORS
AT THE LAKE
HAD BEEN FORCED
TO EAT HUMAN FLESH.
THERE WAS NO TIME TO WASTE.
THE RESCUERS COULD TAKE ONLY
24 OF THE STARVING EMIGRANTS
OUT WITH THEM.
THE BREENS AGREED TO WAI
FOR THE NEXT RELIEF PARTY;
SO DID THE DONNERS.
GEORGE WAS TOO SICK TO MOVE, AND
TAMSEN WOULD NOT LEAVE HIS SIDE.
ON FEBRUARY 22, THE FIRS
RELIEF PARTY STARTED BACK.
THERE WAS ALMOST NO FOOD
TO SPARE
FOR THE 31 DESPERATE PEOPLE
LEFT BEHIND.
Man reading:
"FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26.
HUNGRY TIMES IN CAMP."
"MRS. MURPHY SAID SHE THOUGH
SHE WOULD COMMENCE ON MIL
AND EAT HIM."
"I DON'T THINK
SHE HAS DONE SO YET.
IT IS DISTRESSING."
PATRICK BREEN.
McCullough:
THE ORDEAL OF THE DONNER PARTY
WAS FAR FROM OVER.
FOR TWO MORE MONTHS,
FOUR RELIEF PARTIES BATTLED
THE TERRIBLE SNOW AND COLD
OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
TO TRY TO SAVE
THE STARVING EMIGRANTS.
THE SCENES ENACTED
IN THE MOUNTAINS
DURING THOSE TWO MONTHS
WOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
WHEN THE FIRST RELIEF PARTY
LEFT THE LAKE
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD PATTY REED
VOLUNTEERED TO STAY BEHIND
TO CARE FOR HER THREE-YEAR-OLD
BROTHER THOMAS
WHO WAS TOO SMALL TO WALK
THROUGH THE HUGE DRIFTS.
"WELL, MA," SHE TOLD HER
ANGUISHED MOTHER
"IF YOU NEVER SEE ME AGAIN,
DO THE BEST THAT YOU CAN."
Woman reading:
"WE WENT OVER THE GREAT HIGH
MOUNTAIN AS STEEP AS STAIR STEPS
"IN SNOW UP TO OUR KNEES.
"LITTLE JAMES WALKED
THE WHOLE WAY OVER
"IN SNOW UP TO HIS WAIST.
"HE SAID EVERY STEP HE TOOK
HE WAS GETTING NIGHER PA
AND SOMETHING TO EAT."
McCullough:
TWO CHILDREN HAD DIED,
AND MORE WERE FAILING FAS
WHEN THE FIRST RELIEF PARTY
CAUGHT SIGHT OF SOMETHING
MOVING TOWARDS THEM
THROUGH THE TREES.
IT WAS THE SECOND RELIEF PARTY.
JAMES REED WAS LEADING IT.
Man reading:
"HERE I MET MY OWN WIFE
AND TWO OF MY LITTLE CHILDREN.
"TWO, STILL IN THE MOUNTAINS.
"I CANNOT DESCRIBE
THE DEATHLIKE LOOK OF THEM.
"'BREAD, BREAD, BREAD, BREAD'
WAS THE BEGGING OF EVERY CHILD
AND GROWN PERSON."
McCullough:
WHEN SHE HEARD
HER HUSBAND'S VOICE
MARGARET REED STUMBLED
IN THE SNOW AND ALMOST FAINTED.
THEY HAD BEEN SEPARATED
FOR FIVE MONTHS.
REED WAS CERTAIN HIS FAMILY
HAD PERISHED.
WHEN JAMES REED AND THE SECOND
RELIEF PARTY REACHED THE LAKE
PATTY AND THOMAS WERE
STILL ALIVE.
THE REST OF THE CAMP WAS
A SHAMBLES.
TEN MORE EMIGRANTS HAD DIED
AND THE SURVIVORS HAD BEGUN
TO EAT THE DEAD.
Man reading:
"AMONG THE CABINS
LAY THE FLESHLESS BONES
"AND HALF-EATEN BODIES
OF THE VICTIMS OF THE FAMINE.
"THERE LAY THE LIMBS,
THE SKULLS AND THE HAIR
"OF THE POOR BEINGS
WHO HAD DIED FROM WAN
"AND WHOSE FLESH
PRESERVED THE LIVES
"OF THEIR SURVIVING COMRADES
"WHO, SHIVERING BENEATH
THEIR FILTHY RAGS
"AND SURROUNDED BY THE REMAINS
OF THEIR UNHOLY FEAS
"LOOKED MORE LIKE DEMONS
THAN HUMAN BEINGS.
"THEY HAD FALLEN
FROM THEIR HIGH ESTATE
THOUGH COMPELLED BY THE FELL
HAND OF DIRE NECESSITY."
McCullough:
THE FIERCEST STORM OF THE WINTER
BROKE OVER THE SECOND
RELIEF PARTY
AS THEY STRUGGLED
TO CROSS THE MOUNTAINS.
FOR TWO DAYS,
THE EMIGRANTS AND RESCUERS
HUDDLED AROUND A FIRE THA
SANK SLOWLY INTO THE SNOW.
IT WAS THERE THAT THE THIRD
RELIEF PARTY FOUND THEM
TEN DAYS LATER.
Man reading:
"THE PICTURE OF DISTRESS
WAS SHOCKING INDEED.
"THEY HAD CONSUMED
TWO CHILDREN OF JACOB DONNER.
"MRS. GRAVES' BODY
WAS LYING THERE
"WITH ALMOST ALL THE FLESH CU
AWAY FROM HER ARMS AND LIMBS.
"HER BREASTS WERE CUT OFF, AND
HER HEART AND LIVER TAKEN OUT.
"HER LITTLE CHILD, ABOUT 13
MONTHS OLD, SAT AT HER SIDE
"WITH ONE ARM UPON THE BODY
OF ITS MANGLED MOTHER
"SOBBING BITTERLY
CRYING, 'MA MA MA'"
McCullough:
WHEN THE THIRD RELIEF PARTY
REACHED THE LAKE
ONLY SEVEN EMIGRANTS
REMAINED ALIVE.
TAMSEN DONNER WAS AMONG THEM
STILL REMARKABLY STRONG
FOR ALL SHE'D BEEN THROUGH.
GEORGE, WHO WAS DYING,
BEGGED HER TO LEAVE.
TAMSEN REFUSED.
SHE WOULD NOT LE
HER HUSBAND DIE ALONE.
THE FOURTH RELIEF PARTY
WAS DELAYED ONE FULL MONTH
BY THE NINTH AND FINAL BLIZZARD
OF WHAT WAS THE WORS
WINTER EVER RECORDED
IN THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.
THEY FOUND LEWIS KIESBURG
IN HIS CABIN
DELIRIOUS, SURROUNDED
BY THE HALF-EATEN DEAD.
NO ONE ELSE WAS ALIVE.
TAMSEN DONNER'S BODY
WAS NEVER FOUND.
KIESBURG CONFESSED
TO EATING HER REMAINS.
ON APRIL 21, THE LAS
RELIEF PARTY LEFT THE LAKE.
ON APRIL 25, THEY REACHED
BEAR VALLEY.
ALL OF THE SURVIVORS
OF THE DONNER PARTY
HAD NOW COME OU
OF THE MOUNTAINS.
IT HAD BEEN ONE YEAR
ALMOST TO THE DAY
SINCE THE DONNERS AND THE REEDS
HAD LEFT THEIR HOMES
IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.
Man reading:
"IT WAS LONG AFTER DARK WHEN
WE GOT TO JOHNSON'S RANCH
"SO THE FIRST TIME I SAW I
WAS EARLY IN THE MORNING.
"THE WEATHER WAS FINE
"THE GROUND WAS COVERED
WITH GREEN GRASS
"THE BIRDS WERE SINGING
FROM THE TOPS OF THE TREES
"AND THE JOURNEY WAS OVER.
"I COULD SCARCELY BELIEVE
THAT I WAS ALIVE.
"THE SCENE THA
I SAW THAT MORNING
"SEEMS TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED
ON MY MIND.
"MOST OF THE INCIDENTS
ARE GONE FROM MEMORY
BUT I CAN ALWAYS SEE THE CAMP
NEAR JOHNSON'S RANCH."
JOHN BREEN.
Woman reading:
"CALIFORNIA, MAY 16, 1847.
"MY DEAR COUSIN:
"I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY
TO WRITE TO YOU
"TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE
ALL WELL AT PRESENT.
"I AM GOING TO WRITE TO YOU
ABOUT OUR TROUBLES
"IN GETTING TO CALIFORNIA.
"WE HAD GOOD LUCK
TILL WE COME TO BIG SANDY.
"WE HAD TO STAY IN
THE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS
"ALL WINTER WITHOUT PA.
WE HAD NOT THE FIRS
THING TO EAT."
McCullough:
OF THE 87 MEN, WOMEN AND
CHILDREN IN THE DONNER PARTY
46 SURVIVED.
41 DIED: FIVE WOMEN,
14 CHILDREN AND 22 MEN
COUNTING JOHN SUTTER'S
INDIANS LEWIS AND SALVADORE
WHO HAD RISKED THEIR LIVES
TO SAVE THE EMIGRANTS.
TWO-THIRDS OF THE WOMEN
AND CHILDREN MADE IT THROUGH.
TWO-THIRDS OF THE MEN PERISHED.
OF ALL THE FAMILIES,
THE DONNERS SUFFERED THE MOST.
ALL FOUR ADULTS
AND FOUR OF THE CHILDREN DIED.
ALL OF THE REEDS SURVIVED.
SO DID ALL OF THE BREENS.
THE STORY OF
THE DONNER DISASTER
QUICKLY SPREAD
ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
NEWSPAPERS PRINTED EVERY WORD
OF ALL THE LETTERS AND DIARIES
ALONG WITH WILD TALES
OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAD GOTTEN
TO ENJOY EATING HUMAN FLESH.
EMIGRATION TO CALIFORNIA
FELL OFF SHARPLY
AND HASTINGS' CUTOFF
WAS ALL BUT ABANDONED.
THEN, IN JANUARY 1848,
GOLD WAS DISCOVERED
IN JOHN SUTTER'S CREEK.
BY LATE 1849, MORE THAN 100,000
PEOPLE HAD RUSHED TO CALIFORNIA
TO DIG AND SIFT NEAR
THE STREAMS AND CANYONS
WHERE THE DONNER PARTY
HAD SUFFERED SO MUCH.
IN 1850, CALIFORNIA ENTERED
THE UNION AS THE 31st STATE.
YEAR BY YEAR
TRAFFIC OVER WHAT WAS NOW
CALLED DONNER PASS INCREASED.
THE LAKE BECAME
A TOURIST ATTRACTION
AND A FAVORITE VACATION
SPOT YEAR ROUND.
THE TERRIBLE ORDEALS
OF THE DONNER PARTY
PASSED INTO HISTORY
AND LEGEND.
RELICS FROM THE CAMPS
BITS OF CHINA, BUTTONS AND NAILS
WOOD SHAVINGS FROM THE CABINS
BECAME POPULAR SOUVENIRS.
ALMOST A CENTURY LATER
TREES THE EMIGRANTS HAD SHORN
OFF AT SNOW LEVEL STILL STOOD
AS A VIVID REMINDER OF
THE FIERCE WINTER OF 1846.
Stegner:
OH, IT'S GOT EVERYTHING.
IT'S A GREEK TRAGEDY.
IT'S A GREAT TES
OF HUMAN CHARACTER.
SOME PEOPLE CAME
THROUGH IT HEROICALLY
AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN THA
PARTY WERE FAR FROM HEROES
AND THEY GOT WORSE
AS THE CONDITIONS GOT WORSE.
SO IT WAS AS IF THE SHEEP
AND THE GOATS
THE BLESSED AND THE UNBLESSED
SORTED THEMSELVES OU
AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF
TERRIBLE HARDSHIP AND TRAGEDY.
McCullough:
MOST OF THE MEN, WOMEN AND
CHILDREN OF THE DONNER PARTY
WERE RAPIDLY ABSORBED INTO
THE POPULATION OF CALIFORNIA.
MARY GRAVES, SURVIVOR
OF THE FORLORN HOPE
WAS MARRIED IN MAY, BEFORE
THE SNOWS HAD EVEN MELTED.
THE BREENS SETTLED
IN SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
WHERE PATRICK BECAME
A PROMINENT RANCHER.
ALONE AMONG THE SURVIVORS
LEWIS KIESBURG SPOKE OPENLY
OF EATING HUMAN FLESH
AND WAS REVILED AS
A MAN-EATER AND GHOUL.
DURING THE GOLD RUSH
HE MADE HIS FORTUNE
AND IN 1851, OPENED
A RESTAURANT IN SACRAMENTO.
GEORGE AND TAMSEN DONNER'S
ORPHANED CHILDREN
WERE SOON SPLIT UP.
ELIZA AND GEORGIA WERE ADOPTED
BY A SWISS COUPLE
WHO LIVED NEAR SUTTER'S FORT.
Woman reading:
"MY DEAR COUSIN:
"WE ARE ALL VERY WELL
PLEASED WITH CALIFORNIA.
"IT IS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY.
"IT OUGHT TO BE
A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
"TO PAY US FOR OUR TROUBLE
GETTING THERE.
"TELL HENRIETTA IF SHE
WANTS TO GET MARRIED
"TO COME TO CALIFORNIA.
SHE CAN GET A SPANIARD ANYTIME."
McCullough:
TO HER FATHER'S DISMAY
VIRGINIA REED KEP
THE VOW SHE'D MADE
IN THE CABIN BY THE LAKE
AND CONVERTED TO CATHOLICISM.
WHEN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD PATTY REED
ARRIVED IN CALIFORNIA
SHE PULLED FROM HER RAGGED
DRESS A LITTLE BUNDLE.
IN IT WAS A LOCK OF
HER GRANDMOTHER'S HAIR
AND A TINY DOLL SHE HAD
CARRIED WITH HER
ALL THE WAY FROM SPRINGFIELD.
SHE DIED IN 1931,
AT THE AGE OF 93.
JAMES REED NEVER SPOKE IN PUBLIC
OF THE KILLING OF JOHN SNYDER.
HE SETTLED HIS FAMILY
IN SAN JOSE
MADE MONEY
IN REAL ESTATE AND GOLD
AND BECAME ONE OF THE TOWN'S
LEADING CITIZENS.
MARGARET REED'S SICK HEADACHES
DISAPPEARED AND NEVER RETURNED.
LANSFORD HASTINGS MOVED TO SAN
FRANCISCO AND WENT BACK INTO LAW
BUT WAS TOO RESTLESS
TO MAKE A GO OF IT.
DURING THE CIVIL WAR, HE
PROPOSED LEADING AN ARMY WES
TO SEIZE ARIZONA
FOR THE CONFEDERACY.
AFTER THE WAR, HE PUBLISHED
THE EMIGRANTS' GUIDE TO BRAZIL
AND DIED IN 1870,
TRYING TO ESTABLISH
A COLONY OF EX-CONFEDERATES
IN SOUTH AMERICA.
Woman reading:
"OH, MARY, I HAVE NOT WROTE YOU
HALF OF THE TROUBLE WE HAVE HAD
"BUT I HAVE WROTE YOU ENOUGH
TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT TROUBLE IS.
"BUT THANK GOD.
"WE ARE THE ONLY FAMILY
THAT DID NOT EAT HUMAN FLESH.
"WE HAVE LEFT EVERYTHING
BUT I DON'T CARE FOR THAT.
"WE HAVE GOT THROUGH
WITH OUR LIVES.
"DON'T LET THIS LETTER
DISHEARTEN ANYBODY.
"REMEMBER: NEVER TAKE NO CUTOFFS
AND HURRY ALONG
AS FAST AS YOU CAN."
VIRGINIA REED.
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE
IS A PROUD SUPPORTER
OF "THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE".
AND BY HELPING PEOPLE
LIVE SAFER, MORE SECURE LIVES,
WE'RE ALSO PROUD SUPPORTERS
OF THE AMERICAN DREAM.