Though this image can be difficult to see, if you can make out the tree stumps, this is a visual representation of how high the snow was piled up at Truckee Lake in the winter of 1846-1847.
Podcast Transcript:
Hi and welcome back to our quick history podcasts! Today we will be discussing the history of the Donner Party! The Donner Party is a tragic tale of westward expansion that serves as good warning not to take shortcuts.
In the spring of 1846, the Donner Party members left their homes in Illinois and set out headed West on their journey to California. The original families in the party, the Donner’s and the Reeds, were wealthy families and hired teamsters to help them navigate the rough terrain and protect them from looters and native Americans. Despite the historical naming of the group as the Donner Party, in the beginning of this journey, James Reed was actually the leader of the group. Eventually the party joined up with a larger wagon train but split up with them at Fort Laramie to follow a path called the Hastings Trail.
The Hastings Cutoff was a presumed shortcut to California proposed by politician Landsford Hastings, who was trying to encourage white people to emigrate so that he could eventually govern. Hastings had only taken the cutoff from California to Wyoming in good weather conditions and did not know how much more difficult it was going to the other way. Though he boasted that taking the Hastings Cutoff would be 300 miles shorter it was actually much longer than the original trail. Multiple people warned the Donner Party that the Hastings Cutoff was treacherous and almost impossible to navigate with wagons, women, and children.
Still, Reed decided that it was the best option and was followed by 86 other emigrants, families and workers who had joined the party along the previous trail.
Though they planned to travel with Hastings himself, the wagon train with Hastings had left a few days before. A few people rode ahead to catch up with Hastings, who stated that the original path was too treacherous and proposed a new path for the following travelers. This path turned out to be even more treacherous than the Hastings Cutoff and they wasted weeks of time attempting to get through to the brush and mountains. Finally, they got back on the original Hasting Cutoff trail, arriving at the Great Salt Lakes, which was a challenge within itself. The wagons wheels got stuck and the oxen became dehydrated and died or ran away. People became so dehydrated they began hallucinating.
The Donner Party eventually escaped the Salt Lakes and made it back to the original trail. Because of the amount of time that was lost taking the Hastings Cutoff, the party was traveling through the Sierra Nevada Mountains during the winter, a fatal time to be travelling in the area. In addition to losing oxen in the Great Salt Lakes, further oxen were stolen during raids by Native Americans. This loss of oxen meant a slower journey, a need to abandon goods and supplies, and necessitated walking for all of the members of the party. In fighting among the group grew, eventually leading to Reed stabbing another man in the group during an altercation. He was banished from the group and, leaving his family behind, rode to California with the intention of sending help back for his family, but was ultimately unable to find them.
The Donner Party eventually made it to a place called Trucky Lake in late October, where they realized they were snowed in and must remain for the winter. They were short on supplies, had to build shelter from the meager means they had, and were already on their way to exhaustion and starvation.
Charles Stanton, a member of the Donner Party, had just returned after travelling ahead to Sutter’s Fort to get supplies before the snow fell. Seeing the dire situation of the group, he put together a group of fifteen people, including two Native American guides, to make the journey back to Sutter’s Fort in the hope of getting supplies and bringing help. This group of volunteers would come to be known as “The Forlorn Hope Party”.
Charles Stanton was the first person in the group to die after falling behind in the deep, freezing snow, with fatal consequences for the rest of the group. Without a guide, the group did not know which turns to take and had to rely on guesses. The group, at this point, had not eaten for 2 days. This was the point when they first discussed killing someone and eating them in order to preserve the group, but no one was willing to kill another. Luckily, if you can call it luck at all, in the next few nights, as the party was too weak and hungry to leave their makeshift camp, four members of the group died of cold and starvation. The group had no other choice but to eat their fallen friends and family in order to survive. The two native Americans in the group refused to partake, and left the camp weak and starving, though some sources state that the native Americans had been warned that the other members of the Forlorn Hope Party were planning to kill and eat them. Regardless, they were found a few days later by the party, starving and unable to move and were killed and eaten anyway. Still, they continued to starve and resorted to eating their shoes. One more member of the party died and was eaten, leaving 7 remaining.
Finally, the group came upon and Native American village, the horror of their weakened bodies startling the inhabitants. The native americans gave them food and supplies, as well as providing a guide who led William Eddy, the only member able to go on, to Sutter’s Fort.
Four relief parties were eventually organized to save the survivors at Truckee Lake. 13 people at the lake had already died and the remaining survivors were emaciated when the first wave of rescuers arrived. During this first relief party, 21 people were escorted to Sutter’s Fort, though 3 died before the end of the journey. James Reed join. ed in the 2nd relief party, as well as many other men. At the lake they discovered about 5 mutilated, partially eaten bodies of people who had died before the first relief party had left. They escorted 17 more people out of the camp, mostly children, though 3 died on the way. Many of the rescuers, recognizing the weakness of most of the children, left them behind. Reed left with his own remaining children. One rescuer, John Stark, stayed behind with 9 children, including two 1 year olds, and escorted them out. He often took turns carrying 2 of the children at a time, setting them down and circling back to carry more of the children.
In the third wave, William Eddy and another member of the Forlorn Hope Party, William Foster, returned for their own children, only to find them already dead. A man, Lewis Keseburg, was believed to have murdered them and admitted to eating the children. Foster and Graves left him behind in the encampment, as well as a sickly George Donner and his wife, who refused to leave his side. A fourth party eventually went back to the lake, mostly to collect the remaining belongings of the Donner family in order to help support the orphaned children. They found Keseburg alive, eating the remains of Mrs. Donner, who they believe he killed and stole from. However, they brought him back to Sutter’s Fort, the last remaining member of the Donner Party to be rescued.
I hope you learned a little bit more about the tragedy of the Donner Party today. For sources and more information, please look below! Be prepared to recall facts from this podcast in class on Monday!
Sources:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/westward-expansion/donner-party (also includes a video if students are interested)