This food was never otherwise than loathsome, insipid, and disgusting. The passengers were all old frontiersmen and were prepared for a desperate defense, anticipating a possible robbery attempt. It could attack a perfectly healthy person after breakfast and he would be in his grave by noon. Donner Lake and Donner Pass, California, are named for the party. 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. The wagon tragedy also known as wagon massacre was an incident which occurred during the Malabar rebellion against British colonial rule in India that led to the deaths of 70 Indian prisoners. On December 16 a party of 10 men and 5 women set out to cross the mountains on improvised snowshoes. Never for a moment could they feel secure; every trip promised to be their last, and many a time, the coach dashed up to a station only to find it in ruins and surrounded by dead. As early as 1860, trouble began after the beginning of emigration to Colorado and the discovery of gold in the Rocky Mountains. As they broke a new trail through the nearly impassible terrain of the Wasatch Mountains, they lost about two weeks time. The emigrant party consisted of only 11 people in five wagons. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Donner-party, Legends of America - The Tragic Story of the Donner Party, EyeWitness to History.com - The Tragic Fate of the Donner Party, 1847, Online Nevada Encyclopedia - Donner Party, Donner party - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The wagon train encountered riders urging emigrants on the road to travel down to Fort Bridger and take a shortcut called the "Hastings . Donner party, also called Donner-Reed party, group of American pioneersnamed for the expeditions captain, George Donnerwho became stranded en route to California in late 1846. They'd established a safe home in the Walla Walla Valley, and within the year the seven had been officially adopted by the couple who were killed in a massacre three years later, along with John and Francisco Sager, the eldest children. Unfortunately, the cattle were grazing on plants like poison ivy and white snakeroot, creating deadly and bitter milk. Meanwhile, Reed and McCutchen had headed back up into the mountains attempting to rescue their stranded companions. 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. Updates? Talk about incentive. As the rest of the party continued to what is now known as Donners Lake, snow began to fall. Bents Fort was occupied by troops, and, in anticipation of coming events, several new posts were established throughout the Indian country and occupied by small garrisons. With scarcely any opportunity for defense, the unfortunate whites were shot down, scalped, and their mutilated bodies left upon the ground. The text as it appears here, however, is not verbatim as it has been edited for clarity and ease of the modern reader. From the earliest attempts, accidents were frequent, and suffering from exposure to the elements was common. However, the nightmare was by no means over. Reed also hoped that his wife, Margaret, who suffered from terrible headaches, might improve in the coastal climate. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Practical things were left, too, by people needing to spare their oxen from dragging the heavy loads. 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. 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. There were a few reasons for it, and Brian Altonensays part of the problem was the saline-alkaline waters of the Platte were the perfect breeding ground for cholera left behind in settlers' waste products. The forty-four member wagon train was composed of four families with twenty-one children, some single men, five recently discharged soldiers and an army deserter. While at Fort Laramie, Reed had been warned against attempting the route by an old friend from Illinois who had just completed the west-to-east journey through Hastings Cutoff, but the group chose to press ahead. The next day, they arrived at the lake camp to find that both of their sons had died. Indian Attack on a Wagon Train by Charles Marion Russell The first notable tragedy on the Santa Fe Trail connected to stage coaching occurred almost with the first effort to establish the line. At last, we were all in the wagons. The dragoons turned short about and again charged through and over their enemies, the fire being continuous. White Wolf was killed later by Lieutenant David Bell, Second Dragoons, in a most dramatic manner, and almost on the exact spot where the murders had been perpetrated. The wagon train party is now known as the Donner Party or the Donner-Reed Party. Road to hell and all. He had shot White Wolf several times.. Eight days of almost continuous snow followed, during which time many of the oxen, the chief reserve of food, wandered off and were lost. Tales and Trails of the American Frontier, 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. Over the next four months, the remaining men, women, and children would huddle together in cabins, makeshift lean-tos, and tents. On the third day in the desert, their water supply was nearly exhausted and some of Reeds oxen ran away. That young man was 23-year-old Levi Sheets, riding along with his grandfather, . This point was then the junction between the Overland mainline and the newly established branch leading to Denver. Once everyone had been accounted for, they found only 15 people survived. In numbers engaged, it attained the magnitude of war but was carried on in guerilla fashion. My father, with tears in his eyes, triedto smile as one friend after another grasped his hand in a last farewell. I use these web pages to make available the sources of information that I run across - wagon . In four weeks, they had killed and captured 45 whites between Sage Creek and Virginia Dale in Colorado. Despite the disastrous crossings of Willie and Martinthe worst single tragedies to befall any overland travelersthe church continued to support the handcart scheme. New York: Simon and Schuster . The 22 people with the Donners were about six miles behind at Alder Creek. Though Sarah Keyes was so sick with consumption that she could barely walk, she was unwilling to be separated from her only daughter. A Division Agent named Flowers was on the box with him, and half a dozen well-armed passengers were inside. When they died or got sick, the men were left to make things up like the husband of a Mrs. Knapp. The story of the Donner tragedy quickly spread across the country. Burials often were done right in the middle of the trail, where wagons could roll over and animals trample it down in order to erase the scent so wolves could not pick up the scent. Obviously adventurous, the brothers decided to make one last trip toCalifornia, which unfortunately would be their last. Two days after the Snyder killing, on October 7th, Lewis Keseberg turned out a Belgian man named Hardcoop, who had been traveling with him. The others were taken captive, but only four were ransomed back the other fell ill and died. Heroically struggling through the deep snow, seven men reached the lake camp on February 18. Hide hunters, hunters who kill buffalo for their hides only, have temporarily joined up with the wagon train. 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. On July 19ththe wagon train arrived at the Little Sandy River in present-day Wyoming, where the trail parted into two routes the northerly known route and the untested Hastings Cutoff. The soldiers had with them as guides several famous frontiersmen, Kit Carson, Uncle Dick Wootton, Joaquin Leroux, and Tom Tobin. As was their custom, the Indians attacked at dawn, and the whites were compelled to run their coaches alongside each other, pile mail-sacks between the wheels, and throw sand over them for breastworks. Murphy, Idaho. 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 rest of the pioneers stayed at what would become known as Starved Camp.. The tale of the Donner Party is one of tragedy, hardship, and gruesome details. While on a scout with his troop from Fort Union, New Mexico, Bell came upon White Wolf and an equal number of Apache. At the lake stood one existing cabin and realizing they were stranded, the group built two more cabins, sheltering 59 people in hopes that the early snow would melt, allowing them to continue their travels. 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. About the same time, a force of over 2,000 Indians made a determined attack upon a detachment of troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Collins at Rush Creek, Nebraska, 85 miles north of Julesburg. A few days later their last few cattle were slaughtered for food and party began eating boiled hides, twigs, bones and bark. However, many would linger in misery for weeks in the bouncy wagons. A fourth rescue party set out in late March but were soon stranded in a blinding snowstorm for several days. He swore he only ate and never killed, writing, "A man, before he judges me, should be placed in a similar situation.". Caching their provisions in Bear Valley, they returned to Sutters fort hoping to recruit more men and supplies for the rescue. However, the successful Reed was determined his family would not suffer on the long journey as his wagon was an extravagant two-story affair with a built-in iron stove, spring-cushioned seats, and bunks for sleeping. See production, box office & company info, Stage 19, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA. Donner Party Map, courtesy Donner Party Diary. Reed and another rescuer, Hiram Miller, took three of the refugees with them hoping to find food they had stored on the way up. Their first destination wasIndependence,Missouri, the main jumping-off point for theOregonandCalifornia Trails. January 17, 2016 Late one afternoon in July 1864, a party of American Indians rode up to a small wagon train on the Oregon Trail and, using signs, asked in a friendly way for something to eat. They were killed by Indians, or escaped and then succumbed to exposure and starvation. According to The Plains Across, Fort Laramie became a major trading post. 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. The next day, on May 12, 1846, they headed west again in the middle of a thunderstorm. You can imagine how that went. In the Spring of 1865, the Plains tribes again became very troublesome and raided the stage line almost from end to end. 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 Donner Party wasted no time in administering their own justice. 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. Unfortunately, while cutting timber for a new axle, a chisel slipped and Donner cut his hand badly, causing the group to fall further behind. It was here that the train would experience its first death when Sarah Keyes died and was buried next to the river. 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. Burials often were done right in the middle of the trail, where wagons could roll over and animals trample it down in order to erase the scent so wolves could not pick up the scent. The Wagon Box Grave headstone marks the burial site of the emigrant family. The boy died as they hacked off the leg with a butcher knife and a handsaw, and it wasn't a happy ending. The company included about 140 men, women and childrenthe women and children outnumbered the able-bodied men 2-to-1. One of their number, Gib Ryker, is a sociopath who enjoys antagonizing young Barnaby West. Nine days later, the boy "called to his mother that he could feel worms crawling in his leg," and yes, those were maggots. 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. Some of the men tried to hunt with little success. Swollen rivers could tip over and drown both people and oxen. The 1840s wagon train journey to California usually began at Independence, Missouri, around the first of May. 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. Such accidents could cause the loss of life and most or all of valuable supplies. 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. On December 15 Baylis Williams, an employee of the Reed family, died of malnutrition at the lake camp; his was the first recorded death in the camps, although many others would soon follow. Imagine taking your entire family across the country with only what you can pack into a minivan, and no rest stops or Taco Bells along the way. Instantly they were fiercely attacked by an ambushed party of Apache under White Wolf. The very next day, five more feet of snow fell, and they knew that any plans for a departure were dashed. The caravan camped for five days 50 miles from the summit, resting their oxen for the final push. A large, well equipped wagon train rolled toward California in 1846. A shot was fired from beside the trail, and the men inside the coach instantly discharged their guns toward the supposed ambush. Other causes of injury or death included attacks by emigrants on other emigrants, lightning, hailstorms, grass fires, gunpowder explosions, snakebite and suicide. Five of the emigrants died before reaching the mountain camps, 34 at the camps or on the mountains while attempting to cross, and one just after reaching the settlements. The notorious tragedy occurred on 10 November 1921, the Wagon Tragedy.The Muslims who were captured by the British in connection with the Malabar riots were seized by a train wagon from Tirur and sent to Coimbatore, most of whom were wounded and suffocated.This is a kind of brutal massacre. 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. 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. On Thanksgiving, it began to snow again, and the pioneers at Donner Lake killed the last of their oxen for food on November 29th. His name was John Lawrence Grattan, and he was a second lieutenant in the Army stationed at Fort Laramie. With James and Margaret Reed were their four children, Virginia, Patty, James, and Thomas, as well as Margarets 70-year-old mother, Sarah Keyes, and two hired servants. Patrick Breen was a member of the Donner Party and kept a diary of their ordeal during the winter of 1846-47. Invariably such a storm meant a stampede of the mules, nor would a man dare to desert his shelter to seek them. The Donner Party soon reached the junction with theCalifornia Trail, about seven miles west of present-day Elko, Nevada and spent the next two weeks traveling along the Humboldt River. They killed and ate the cow, and the officer in charge was actually pretty diplomatic about the whole thing. Keseberg had sent his wife and a child on ahead, and said, "For their sakes I must live. After dogs and cowhides had been devoured, many deaths occurred, and the survivors were forced to resort to cannibalism of the dead bodies. The Hide Hunters. Also in the group were the families of George and Jacob Donner. In 1862 the Indian raids on the coaches and stations between Fort Laramie and South Pass, Wyoming were almost continuous. The wagon train reached Independence, Missouri about three weeks later, where they re-supplied. It was not pleasant; this sitting perched up on top of a coach, riding through dark ravines and tall grass, in which savages were ever lurking. Occasionally the eight frisky mules would prove too much for their driver, and there would be a runaway, and a broken coach, to be repaired with whatever tools might be at hand. At the time, local Sioux were starting to demand more and more in the way of tolls, which makes sense considering the number of people tromping across their land. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp. The two-day encounter resulted in the deaths of eleven emigrants by an estimated twenty-five to thirty Indians. The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner-Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. No wonder he was so badass, just look what his parents went through. Given the starvation that happened later, it's impossible not to wonder how many people died dreaming of everything they dumped. Stanton and the two Indians who were traveling ahead made it as far as the summit but could go no further. Animals could panic when wading through deep, swift water, causing wagons to overturn. On March 12ththe third relief led by William Eddy and William Foster reached Starved Camp where Mrs. Graves and her son Franklin had also died. On August 6, the party reached the Weber River after having passed through Echo Canyon. The group preferring the Hastings route elected George Donner as their captain and soon began the southerly route, reaching Fort Bridger on July 28th. 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. Mrs. White, her child, and nurse were borne away prisoners.