Some blamed the power-hungry Lansford W. Hastings for the tragedy, while others blamed James Reed for not heeding Clymans warning about the deadly route. More than 40 whites were killed, and the destruction of property was extensive. Donner Party Map, courtesy Donner Party Diary. Rumors started circulating that he was the first to dig into the not-so-scrumptious meal consisting of his fellow settlers, that he killed others for their meat, and that he preferred human meat to beef. En route down the mountains, the first relief party met the second relief party coming the opposite way and the Reed family was reunited after five months. The river crossing was massively dangerous, and according to WyoHistory, it was made safer but more expensive by the Mormon ferries that were set up in 1847. The party was trapped by exceptionally heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada, and, when food ran out, some members of the group reportedly resorted to cannibalism of those already dead. Tensions continued to mount as more and more people headed West, though, and on August 19, 1854, one hotheaded idiot kick-started a 22-year war. Hastings had claimed that his route would shave more than 300 miles (480 km) from the journey to California. When they finally reached the end of the grueling desert five days later on September 4th, the emigrants rested near the base of Pilot Peak for several days. Of the eight dead, seven had been cannibalized. Surviving the Oregon Trail was just the beginning for some people just ask Lewis Keseberg. The oxen moved slowly forwardand the long journey had begun.. Granny medicine, essentially home remedies passed down from mother to daughter, was common, according to Historic Oregon City. A number of the savages thus escaped, the troopers having to pull up at the brink but sending a volley after the descending fugitives. That young man was 23-year-old Levi Sheets, riding along with his grandfather, . With scarcely any opportunity for defense, the unfortunate whites were shot down, scalped, and their mutilated bodies left upon the ground. Some things like using peppermint essence to calm an upset stomach actually worked (via Fort Morgan Times), but the problem was that it was only the women who knew these remedies. When it was obvious a person wouldnt last the day, the train would often hold up moving in order to wait for the end. The letter successfully allayed any fears that the party might have had regarding the Hastings cutoff. Some members of the party suggested that Reed be hanged, but he was instead banished from the company. Her disease wasn't contagious no one else caught it from her but the pioneers didn't know this at the time. A history project by Sandy Wilbur. While becoming so desperate as to eat tree bark seems like the worst part of the trail, there was one instance where it became worse for one wagon train party in the 1840s. The Reeds, the Donners, and a number of others chose to head southwest toward Fort Bridger. While the journey west was traditionally considered dangerous and deadly, this was especially the case for the Donner Party. Plenty of people had the misfortune to listen to one of the quack doctors who hit the trail, too. Even as they started ferrying wagons across, they found they couldn't keep up dozens of wagons were lined up waiting for their turn to cross. Road agents also became very much in evidence, and the robbery of stages was not uncommon. On the far side of the desert, an inventory of food was taken and found to be less than adequate for the 600-mile trek still ahead. Crossing rivers were probably the most dangerous thing pioneers did. Major threats to pioneer life and limb came from accidents, exhaustion, and disease. Unfortunately, while cutting timber for a new axle, a chisel slipped and Donner cut his hand badly, causing the group to fall further behind. Hilarity! Passengers took their lives in their hands, and only the most daring and reckless men volunteered for the desperate service of driver or messenger. The Government offered $5000 for his capture, dead or alive, but death finally came to him in the form of malarial fever. On August 25th, the caravan lost another member, one Luke Halloran, who died of consumption, near present-day Grantsville,Utah. It took two months and four relief parties to rescue the entire surviving Donner Party. The Raton Range had been safely surmounted, and, just about dawn one morning, the heavy coach entered the canyon of the Canadian River, its occupants unsuspicious of any danger. Leave late, and you'd be waiting on the shores of a river where people and animals had been doing their business for months and months, and yes, you were drinking that water, too. Soldiers were used to guarding the stagecoaches, yet attacks were frequent, and the loss in property and lives was large. Everyone was in the same boat, so to speak, and traders didn't have much use for the more impractical items they'd brought along. Leaving his family, Reed was last seen riding off to the west with a man named Walter Herron. In 1921, a rebellion against British colonial rule by Mappila Muslims broke out in the Malabar District of British India. More than 155 years ago one of the worst tragedies in American travel occurred during the westward migration. Hide hunters, hunters who kill buffalo for their hides only, have temporarily joined up with the wagon train. At a lonely spot, this man suddenly shouted an alarm that the robbers were upon them. Nine days later, the boy "called to his mother that he could feel worms crawling in his leg," and yes, those were maggots. Tensions were running high among the exhausted migrants, and on October 5 an altercation between Reed and a teamster employed by another family ended with Reed fatally stabbing the man. With George were his third wife, Tamzene, their three children, Frances, Georgia, and Eliza, and Georges two daughters from a previous marriage, Elitha and Leanna. This decision to delay their departure was yet one more of many that would lead to their tragedy. . On October 31 the weary migrants approached what is now Donner Pass across the Sierra Nevada and found their progress blocked by deepening snow. About the Author: Adventures and Tragedies on the Overland Trail was written by Randall Parrish as a chapter of his book, The Great Plains: The Romance of Western American Exploration, Warfare, and Settlement, 1527-1870; published by A.C. McClurg & Co. in Chicago, 1907. It crossed the plains without difficulty, but as it neared Fort Bridger a dispute arose. It took him an hour to die, "in full possession of his senses." However, many would linger in misery for weeks in the bouncy wagons. Over the next four months, the remaining men, women, and children would huddle together in cabins, makeshift lean-tos, and tents. As the disillusionment of the party increased, tempers began to flare in the group. George Donnerwas a successful 62-year-old farmer who had migrated five times before settling inSpringfield, Illinois along with his brother Jacob. Sounds great, right? The letter stated that Hastings would meet the emigrants at Fort Bridger and lead them on his cutoff, which passed south of the Great Salt Lake instead of detouring northwest via Fort Hall (present-day Pocatello,Idaho.). Living off the bodies of those that died along the path to Sutters Fort, the snowshoeing survivors were reduced to seven by the time they reached safety on the western side of the mountains on January 19, 1847. On July 31st, the party left Fort Bridger, joined by the McCutchen family. The next day, they arrived at the lake camp to find that both of their sons had died. Led by Elijah Utter (sometimes written "Otter"), the group included four families, 21 children, and a few former soldiers. The Hastings Cutoff was a fairly untried shortcut, and Fort Bridger (pictured) sat at the trailhead. The real Oregon Trail was filled with about as many accidents and illnesses, and the National Oregon/California Trail Center says more than 300,000 Americans actually did travel along it at the end of the 19th century. The Reeds, the Donners, and a number of others chose to head southwest toward Fort Bridger. George P. Belden, well known in those days as The White Chief, thus describes the disagreeable duties: Troops were stationed in small squads at every station, about ten miles apart, and they rode from station to station on the top of all coaches, holding their guns ever ready for action. From Walnut Creek to the mountains, no traveler was safe from attack by the dog soldiers, Often, a caravan started forth having the disguised George Bent as a guide, for his plans usually involved treachery. Wagon Train cast list, including photos of the actors when available. After the publicity, emigration toCaliforniafell off sharply and Hastings cutoff was all but abandoned. Montpelier, Idaho 83254, document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) National Oregon/California Trail Center. The terrible ordeals of the caravan continued to mount when on October 12th, their oxen were attacked by PiuteIndians, killing 21 one of them with poison-tipped arrows, further depleting their draft animals. With John McIntire, Robert Fuller, Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson. In 1856, a series of poor harvests left the church with only a meager fund to . In the beginning, the wagon train was lucky to make even two miles per day, taking them six days just to travel eight miles. The initial group included 32 men, women and children. He had his full share of narrow escapes. According to Peter D. Olch, being run over by wagon wheels was the most frequent cause of injury or death. Wagon Train debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. The story of this outrage did not reach them for nearly two weeks, but upon its receipt, the Major at once started on a hard winter campaign in the hope of rescuing the captives. The movement began in 1856 and continued until 1860. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Finding the party at the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, Hastings accompanied Reed partway back to point out the new route, which he said would take them about one week to travel. The journey was not an unpleasant one across the vast expanse of Plains. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp. He was as cruel and heartless an Indian as ever ambushed a stagecoach or murdered helpless women. My father, with tears in his eyes, triedto smile as one friend after another grasped his hand in a last farewell. Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated April 2023. The Wagon Box Grave headstone marks the burial site of the emigrant family. Many of those who survived lost toes to frostbite. Talk about incentive. In the twenty-one days since reaching the Weber River they had moved just 36 miles. The greater portion of the Plains country was then without permanent inhabitants, scarcely anything breaking the desolation excepting the isolated stations along the Overland and Santa Fe Trails, with a few scattered settlements extending into the prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. For 15 years, he was the terror of the Trail, and his acts of atrocity were incessant. The British Raj tried to cover up this heinous event but. They killed and ate the cow, and the officer in charge was actually pretty diplomatic about the whole thing. According to Brian Altonen, the settlers carried were standard medicines like castor oil, rum, peppermint essence, opium, and whiskey, because if you're dying, at least you wouldn't know it. One of their number, Gib Ryker, is a sociopath who enjoys antagonizing young Barnaby West. There were two coaches loaded with mail and nine men, the leaders being Lem Flowers, a division agent, and the conductor named Brown. The heavy snow made trailing almost impossible, yet the scouts discovered signs and, amid much suffering, followed the Indian trail for nearly four hundred miles and finally located the village. Susannah was passed into the care of a new mother breastfeeding her own child, and Altonen says in order to keep that woman's child away from any possible infection the orphan might be carrying, the caregiver opted to give the baby cow's milk instead of breastfeeding. In 1972, the Kerala Government called it the Wagon Tragedy. His description was first published as an article in a Nashville, TN newspaper in the spring of 1847 and later in a book published in 1879. The Denver Post reports the plan was simple: British and Scandinavian converts who were too poor to buy wagons would load all their worldly possessions onto a handcart, push them across the U.S., and make the journey in only 60 days. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Antonio, Patrick Dolan, Franklin Graves, and Lemuel Murphy soon died and in desperation, the others resorted to cannibalism. The Santa Fe Trail was the first used for staging purposes and was also the first to be reddened with blood and witness the hardships of prairie travel. When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy. Reed had recently read the bookTheEmigrants Guide to Oregon and California, by Landsford W. Hastings, who advertised a new shortcut across the Great Basin. In reality, Hastings Cutoff was 125 miles (200 km) longer than the established trail, which ran north of the Great Salt Lake, and it would take the pioneers through some of the most inhospitable country in the entire Great Basin. Also in the group were the families of George and Jacob Donner. One member of the party, Charles Stanton, snow-blind and exhausted was unable to keep up with the rest of the party and told them to go on. In truth, there wasn't much conflict between the Native American tribes and early travelers, who were mostly fur traders and missionaries. On February 19th, the first party reached the lake finding what appeared to be a deserted camp until the ghostly figure of a woman appeared. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. On the Trail - The "IKENBERRY" Party - 1849. His wife Tamzene, though in comparatively good health, refused to leave him; sending her three little girls on without her. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. In the Spring of 1865, the Plains tribes again became very troublesome and raided the stage line almost from end to end. However, with only meager rations and already weak from hunger the group faced a challenging ordeal. The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west.. The emigrant party consisted of only 11 people in five wagons. The dragoons turned short about and again charged through and over their enemies, the fire being continuous. This decision not only greatly enraged the eager troopers but gave the Indians ample time in which to prepare for action. Time was supposed to heal all wounds, he wrote, but that was B.S. Though they occasionally attacked small bodies of troops, the Indians directed their main efforts against the trains of freight wagons and the comparatively defenseless stage stations. A fourth rescue party set out in late March but were soon stranded in a blinding snowstorm for several days. After examining remains from the Alder Creek campsite, researchers in 2010 announced that they had been unable to find any human bones or other physical evidence of cannibalism. Ominously, snow powdered the mountain peaks that very night. Emigrants only had what they could carry. The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used two-wheeled handcarts to transport their belongings. Eight days of almost continuous snow followed, during which time many of the oxen, the chief reserve of food, wandered off and were lost. With the addition of roughly a dozen teamsters and employees, this initial party numbered some 31 people, and within a month the Donners and Reeds had reached Independence, Missouri. By the time the Donner party reached the Humboldt River, where Hastings Cutoff rejoined the main California Trail, it was late September. Several Indians were killed, and at night they withdrew, leaving the defenders to harness themselves to the running gear and thus draw their wounded comrades to safety. The village head, Conquering Bear, also died, and it only escalated from there. When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy.Don Brooke is desperate for money for his pregnant wife Bonnie, whose condition is too delicate for the long trip without more medical care so he seeks a bank loan. There are many examples of bungling, bad decisions and charlatans who conned the settlers, but the tragedy that befell the Donner Party in 1846 outranks them all. Caching their provisions in Bear Valley, they returned to Sutters fort hoping to recruit more men and supplies for the rescue. The Donner Partycontinued to travel along the Humboldt River with their remaining draft animals exhausted. Thegeneral uprising among the tribes that followed extended to the Rocky Mountains and even to the banks of the Columbia River. As the conversation ensued, the controversy grew so heated that suddenly the two leaders exchanged shots, the chief sinking on one knee to aim and Bell throwing his body forward and causing his horse to rear. Two men who had joined the party at the lake also died. As the rest of the party continued to what is now known as Donners Lake, snow began to fall. Though he strongly suggested that the party take the regular wagon trail rather than this new false route, Reed would later ignore his warning in an attempt to reach their destination more quickly. They were attacked on September 9, 1860, and 11 died in the two-day confrontation. The fertile farmlands of central California drew a steady stream of settlers in the 1840s, and in the spring of 1846 several families from Springfield, Illinois, joined the westward migration. 27 Sep. 1964. The Donner Camp has been the site of recent archeological excavations. Everything was made ready for a charge when Major Greer suddenly decided to talk with the Indians before commencing to fight. In nine brand new wagons, the group estimated the trip would take four months to cross the plains, deserts, mountain ranges and rivers in their quest for California. However, what they didnt know was that the desert sand was moist and deep, where wagons quickly got bogged down, severely slowing their progress. See production, box office & company info, Stage 19, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA. At Donner Lake, two more attempts were made to get over the pass in twenty feet of snow, until they finally realized they were snowbound for the winter. Beside the driver, named Frank Williams, sat one of the robbers, thoroughly disguised. Jim Bridger and his partner Louis Vasquez assured the Donner Party that the Hastings Cutoff was a good route. Sell everything that doesn't fit into your wagon, and set out with no guidance from Google Maps? On the Trail - Asa McCully's 1853 Wagon Train. On August 11th, the wagon train began the arduous journey through the Wasatch Mountains, clearing trees and other obstructions along the new path of their journey. This custom of guarding coaches by soldiers along the Overland Trail was inaugurated during the Sioux uprising of 1863. From start to finish, it took between five and six months, and it's hard to imagine today. When it cleared, Isaac Donner had died and most of the refugees were too weak to travel. Don Brooke is desperate for money for his pregnant wife Bonnie, whose condition is too delicate for the long trip without more medical care so he seeks a bank loan. At the bottom of JacobDonnerssaddlebag was a copy of Lansford Hastingss Emigrants Guide, with its tantalizing talk of a faster route to the garden of the earth. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846-1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Donner Lake,named for the party, is today a popular mountain resort near Truckee,Californiaand the Donner Camp has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Road to hell and all. The Hide Hunters. The dead of those awful years lies numberless and nameless in their unknown, scattered graves. The Donner Party is One of the Most Disturbing Stories from the Oregon Trail. I can not describe the unutterable repugnance with which I tasted that first mouthful of flesh. Clyman advised Reed not to take the Hastings Route, stating that the road was barely passable on foot and would be impossible with wagons; also warning him of the great desert and the Sierra Nevadas. On April 16, 1846, nine covered wagons leftSpringfield,Illinoison the 2,500-mile journey toCalifornia, in what would become one of the greatest tragedies in the history of westward migration. Heroically struggling through the deep snow, seven men reached the lake camp on February 18. The boy died as they hacked off the leg with a butcher knife and a handsaw, and it wasn't a happy ending. A brief review of the operations of military scouting parties in the region about Julesburg, Colorado, which was the center of hostilities on the Plains, and occasionally entirely cut off from communication, well illustrates the desperate nature of their duties. Whether it's better to eat or be eaten is a discussion for another time, but the tragic footnote is that the entire thing could have been avoided. The stumps represent the depth of the snow at the time. Five days later, on August 30th, the group began to cross the Great Salt Lake Desert, believing the trek would take only two days, according to Hastings. A shot was fired from beside the trail, and the men inside the coach instantly discharged their guns toward the supposed ambush. On the Trail - McCully Wagon Train - 1852. Historian Aaron Smith (via Deseret News) notes that the later settlers left, the more susceptible to cholera they would be, mostly because you were following in the footsteps of people who were essentially pooping out cholera as they went. Cholera was the main scourge of the trail. The three bodies, including that of Isaac Donner, had been cannibalized. Those who didn't wait tended to drown in full view of others. This new route enticed travelers by advertising that it would save the pioneers 350-400 miles on easy terrain. The group made good progress all the way to Fort Laramie (in what is now southeastern Wyoming), covering roughly 650 miles (1,050 km) in six weeks. During 1863-65 the Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne were all upon the warpath. The tales of suffering, desperate fighting, and incredible endurance cling to every mile from the Little Blue River to the Laramie River. In the end, five had died before reaching the mountains, thirty-five perished either at the mountain camps or trying to cross the mountains, and one died just after reaching the valley. Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Easy Travel Organization Tips You Will Love, Bidwell-Bartleson Party Blazing the California Trail. He found a camp of 15 people, including five dead who had been partially eaten by the starving living. Charlie Wooster: Now, I don't have enough morals of my own, huh? Tamsen Donner left her dead husband and joined him only a short time before she died, too. The first notable tragedy on the Santa Fe Trail connected to stage coaching occurred almost with the first effort to establish the line. Having traveled an extra 125 miles through strenuous mountain terrain and dry desert, the disillusioned partys resentment of Hastings, and ultimately, Reed, was increased tremendously. Patriarch Henry Sager took ill by the time they reached the Rockies, and they buried him alongside Green River. Continuing to encounter multiple obstacles, on October 16th,they reached the gateway to the Sierra Nevada on the Truckee River (present-day Reno) almost completely depleted of food supplies. The settlers of California organized a relief party which left Fort Sutter (Sacramento) on January 31, 1847. All the other stations were guarded in like manner, so it happened that every coach carried some soldiers.. Katharine Ross whose stardom still awaited gives a stunning performance in the A few days later, the party was caught in a blizzard and had great difficulty getting and keeping a fire lit. There, on May 12, they became a part of a main wagon train headed west. Bryant wrote. Also along with them were two teamsters, Noah James and Samuel Shoemaker, as well as a friend named John Denton. We join his story about three weeks after the Donner Party arrived at the blocked pass: When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy. Animals could cause very serious injury to their owners. There followed a hot running fight, the passengers firing from the coach windows, and the Indian arrows flying thickly, wounding the horses, badly injuring Flowers, and killing two of the passengers. Along the way, they discovered that some of their wagons would have to be abandoned and before long, morale began to sink and the pioneers began to adamantly blame Lansford Hastings. One of their number, Gib Ryker, is a sociopath who enjoys antagonizing young Barnaby West. 27 Sep. 1964. The wagon train encountered riders urging emigrants on the road to travel down to Fort Bridger and take a shortcut called the "Hastings . My squad had to ride up to Cottonwood, and down to the station below, where they waited for the next coach going the other way, and returned by it to their post at Oilmans. On March 3rd, Reed left the camp with 17 of the starving emigrants but just two days later they are caught in another blizzard. The hardships of weather, limited diet, and exhaustion made travelers very vulnerable to infectious diseases such as cholera, flu, dysentery, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever which could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The people in camp were being starved by a combination of the holdup of promised rations and suddenly needing to share their resources with thousands of extra mouths. Instantly they were fiercely attacked by an ambushed party of Apache under White Wolf. Hastily, as the snow continued, the party built three shelters from tents, quilts, buffalo robes. Immediately messages were dispatched to neighboring settlements as area residents rallied to save the rest of theDonner Party. New York: Simon and Schuster . Did you always pick the banker because you'd start with the most money? On March 1stthe second relief party finally arrived at the lake, finding grisly evidence of cannibalism. The rescue parties stumbled across some stragglers, but the most horrific scene was discovered by a Lieutenant Anderson. Other causes of injury or death included attacks by emigrants on other emigrants, lightning, hailstorms, grass fires, gunpowder explosions, snakebite and suicide. In the meantime, the Graves family caught up with theDonner Party, which now numbered 87 people in 23 wagons. who were witness to this tragedy. Hindsight is 20/20, so let's see if you can guess what went wrong with Brigham Young's plan to bring Mormon converts to their new paradise on Earth. The history of his bloody deeds will never be told, for dead men tell no tales, and seldom did Bent leave any alive after a raid. On Thanksgiving, it began to snow again, and the pioneers at Donner Lake killed the last of their oxen for food on November 29th. As a protection for both lines, the Government later erected Fort Sedgwick on the South Fork of the Platte River. On May 25ththe train was held for several days by high water at the Big Blue River near present-day Marysville,Kansas. As soon as Cody got a glimpse of the Indians, he handed the reins to Flowers and began applying the whip. Two rescuers, Jean-Baptiste Trudeau and Nicholas Clark were left behind to care for the Donners, but soon abandon them to catch up with the relief party. He was last seen sitting under a large sagebrush, completely exhausted, unable to walk, worn out, and was left there to die. In a letter to her cousin in Illinois, Virginia Reed recounted that I have not wrote you half of the truble, but I hav Wrote you anuf to let you now what truble is, before concluding, Dont let this letter dishaten anybody. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The pioneer needed to go with little sleep, bear illness, suffering, and even, tragedy through the many weeks of travel. The rest of the pioneers stayed at what would become known as Starved Camp.. By late 1849 more than 100,000 people had come to California in search of gold near the streams and canyons where theDonner Partyhad suffered. Children were especially susceptible to being run over by heavy wagons. Updates? Most of the party thereupon built crude cabins near what is now known as Donner Lake. At last, we were all in the wagons. The caravan camped for five days 50 miles from the summit, resting their oxen for the final push. The Sioux came out on top during that skirmish, and Grattan's body was recovered riddled with arrows. Naomi Sager descended into a sort of grief-stricken illness, and her daughter Catherine wrote she was, "at times perfectly insane."
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