The rest of the pioneers stayed at what would become known as Starved Camp.. 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. By this point, the members of the company had cached, or buried, virtually all their personal possessionsexcept for food, clothing, and the barest essentials necessary for survivalin an effort to minimize the load on their exhausted animals. Along the way, William Russell resigned as the captain of the wagon train and the position was assumed by a man named William M. Boggs. By the time the Donner party reached the Humboldt River, where Hastings Cutoff rejoined the main California Trail, it was late September. 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. 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. 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. Early contact between settlers and Native Americans was relatively peaceful, according to WyoHistory. It took two months and four relief parties to rescue the entire surviving Donner Party. Once a band of several hundred Sioux set upon him. However, many would linger in misery for weeks in the bouncy wagons. Immediately messages were dispatched to neighboring settlements as area residents rallied to save the rest of theDonner Party. Then, in January 1848, gold was discovered in at John Sutters Mill in Coloma and gold-hungry travelers began to rush out West once again. It is easy to conceive the danger which night and day pursued those men who were then employed upon the Overland Trail. 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. Time was supposed to heal all wounds, he wrote, but that was B.S. In 1856, a series of poor harvests left the church with only a meager fund to . 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. The group had elected to use a shortcut to California that had been recommended to them by an unreliable guide named Lansford Hastings. Corrections? When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy. When it cleared, Isaac Donner had died and most of the refugees were too weak to travel. Settlers would keep as much as they could on their overloaded wagons in hopes of trading once they reached the fort, but that wasn't always possible. Diseases and serious illnesses caused the deaths of nine out of ten pioneers. 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. There was actually someone riding ahead of the Donner Party acting as a scout, and Edwin Bryant sent a letter back warning them it was too dangerous to take the so-called shortcut. The 22 people with the Donners were about six miles behind at Alder Creek. The breaking out of the Civil War required the withdrawal of many of the regulars from the Plains, and the Indians, quick to perceive their opportunity, began wholesale depredations. Also dumped? Jim Bridger and partner Louis Vasquez certainly could have handed over the note, sending the Donner Party down the safer route and presumably preventing all the cannibalism nonsense. They lived, met, married, and had a son you probably know of: Butch Cassidy. 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. Firearms were the second leading cause of emigrant injury and death and a surprisingly large number of pioneers were injured by accidental firearm discharges. In 1862 the Indian raids on the coaches and stations between Fort Laramie and South Pass, Wyoming were almost continuous. Heroically struggling through the deep snow, seven men reached the lake camp on February 18. 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. It didn't always end well. Like most pioneer trains, the Donner Party was largely made up of family wagons packed with young children and adolescents. s Wagon Train. Twelve of the emigrants were dead and of the forty-eight remaining, many had gone crazy or were barely clinging to life. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846-1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Wagon Train debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. tragedy while the Wagon Train stops for supplies. 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 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.. Charlie Wooster: Now, I don't have enough morals of my own, huh? 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. This food was never otherwise than loathsome, insipid, and disgusting. The settlers of California organized a relief party which left Fort Sutter (Sacramento) on January 31, 1847. Though Sarah Keyes was so sick with consumption that she could barely walk, she was unwilling to be separated from her only daughter. 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 families of brothers George and Jacob Donner and local businessman James Reed left Springfield on April 14, 1846. I can not describe the unutterable repugnance with which I tasted that first mouthful of flesh. When he sees an opportuni Read allDon 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. 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 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. A shot was fired from beside the trail, and the men inside the coach instantly discharged their guns toward the supposed ambush. George Donnerwas a successful 62-year-old farmer who had migrated five times before settling inSpringfield, Illinois along with his brother Jacob. Plenty of people had the misfortune to listen to one of the quack doctors who hit the trail, too. When it was obvious a person wouldnt last the day, the train would often hold up moving in order to wait for the end. On May 25ththe train was held for several days by high water at the Big Blue River near present-day Marysville,Kansas. Two men saved their lives, one feigning death in the bottom of the coach, the other escaping into the brush. 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. A week later they joined a large wagon train captained by Colonel William H. Russell that was camped on Indian Creek about 100 miles west ofIndependence. The wagon train party is now known as the Donner Party or the Donner-Reed Party. More small cabins were constructed, many of which were shared by more than one family. At a lonely spot, this man suddenly shouted an alarm that the robbers were upon them. Sell everything that doesn't fit into your wagon, and set out with no guidance from Google Maps? Stanton and the two Indians who were traveling ahead made it as far as the summit but could go no further. Patrick Breen was a member of the Donner Party and kept a diary of their ordeal during the winter of 1846-47. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Julesburg was attacked on several occasions, and in February 1864, was burned to the ground. Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy. Most of the party thereupon built crude cabins near what is now known as Donner Lake. However, what was not known by Reed was that the Hastings Route had never been tested, written by Hastings who had visions of building an empire at Sutters Fort (nowSacramento.) 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. 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. In 1972, the Kerala Government called it the Wagon Tragedy. The dragoons turned short about and again charged through and over their enemies, the fire being continuous. Though member, Lewis Keseberg, favored hanging for James Reed, the group, instead, voted to banish him. We join his story about three weeks after the Donner Party arrived at the blocked pass: 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. It was here that the new trail met up with Hastings original path. 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 were no supply stations, carts broke down better than they rolled, Salt Lake City officials had no idea who was coming, and travelers weren't prepared for doing the work of hunters, pioneers, and oxen all at the same time. The group now numbered 74 people in twenty wagons and for the first week made good progress at 10-12 miles per day. 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. You don't have anything on the seven Sager orphans. 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. On the Trail - McCully Wagon Train - 1852. Photo courtesy of Hansen Wheel & Wagon Shop https://www.hansenwheel.com . In July 1865, a stage carrying seven passengers and containing a considerable amount of gold bullion was the object of such an attack. 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. Also along with them were two teamsters, Noah James and Samuel Shoemaker, as well as a friend named John Denton. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp. On the Trail - Asa McCully's 1853 Wagon Train. On December 15, Balis Williams died of malnutrition and the group realized that something had to be done before they all died. There was one major problem, thoug. The drivers cracked their whips. On March 14ththey arrived at the Alder Creek camp to find George Donner was dying from an infection in the hand that he had injured months before. 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. 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. No wonder he was so badass, just look what his parents went through. 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. 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 emigrant party consisted of only 11 people in five wagons. Tragedy was no stranger to western trails, but the sad experience of this ill-fated group has come to symbolize the hardships of all. 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. The train left Tirur station at 7.15pm. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. It was a west-bound Concord, containing a full complement of passengers, including a Mr. White, his wife, child, and colored nurse. His wife Tamzene, though in comparatively good health, refused to leave him; sending her three little girls on without her. Not everyone could be taken out at one time and since no pack animals could be brought in, few food supplies were brought in. . As early as 1860, trouble began after the beginning of emigration to Colorado and the discovery of gold in the Rocky Mountains. 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. 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.). The Donner party stranded in the Sierra Nevada Range, 1847. But treachery worked their ruin. Such accidents could cause the loss of life and most or all of valuable supplies. In wet weather, for mile after mile, the passengers might be compelled to plod beside the wheels, laboriously prying them out of the clinging mud and burdening the air with profanity. In the beginning, the wagon train was lucky to make even two miles per day, taking them six days just to travel eight miles. On March 3rd, Reed left the camp with 17 of the starving emigrants but just two days later they are caught in another blizzard. 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. Indian Attack on a Wagon Train by Charles Marion Russell. Practical things were left, too, by people needing to spare their oxen from dragging the heavy loads. The next day, on May 12, 1846, they headed west again in the middle of a thunderstorm. Katharine Ross whose stardom still awaited gives a stunning performance in the Obviously adventurous, the brothers decided to make one last trip toCalifornia, which unfortunately would be their last. 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. He never rejoined the group. They were killed by Indians, or escaped and then succumbed to exposure and starvation. 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. More than 40 whites were killed, and the destruction of property was extensive. Satisfied, the emigrants rested for a few days at the fort, making repairs to their wagons and preparing for the rest of what they thought would be a seven-week journey. The old man, who could not keep up with the rest of the party with his severely swollen feet, began to knock on other wagon doors, but no one would let him in. In later years Kicking Bird, also a Kiowa, became the terror of the Plains. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Updates? 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. Julesburg must have contained at this period something over a hundred civilian inhabitants, most of them employees of the stage company. 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. The group preferring the Hastings route elected George Donner as their captain and soon began the southerly route, reaching Fort Bridger on July 28th. Cooper Smith: We're just giving you moral support. The boy died as they hacked off the leg with a butcher knife and a handsaw, and it wasn't a happy ending. October 28th, an exhausted James Reed arrived at Sutters Fort, where he met William McCutchen, now recovered, and the two men began preparations to go back for their families. 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 first notable tragedy on the Santa Fe Trail connected to stage coaching occurred almost with the first effort to establish the line. The party elected George Donner to serve as its leader, and at its peak the Donner party would number some 87 people29 men, 15 women, and 43 childrenin a column of 23 ox-drawn wagons. Only two of the ten men survived, including William Eddy and William Foster, but all five women lived through the journey. A combination of military forces compelled the allied tribes to make professions of peace, and for a few months, relieved the trail of its horror. This setting oneself as a sort of target was a disagreeable and dangerous duty, but the soldiers performed it without murmuring. In truth, there wasn't much conflict between the Native American tribes and early travelers, who were mostly fur traders and missionaries. 27 Sep. 1964. In the twenty-one days since reaching the Weber River they had moved just 36 miles. Mail coaches, freight caravans, ranches, and parties putting up hay were attacked simultaneously. 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. On July 31st, the party left Fort Bridger, joined by the McCutchen family. 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. Two men and all the women got through to the Sacramento Valley. A history project by Sandy Wilbur. They were a brave bunch, and slightly insane, so it's not surprising a whole lot of messed up stuff happened along the way. The note indicated that Hastings had left with another group and that later travelers should follow and catch up. 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. S8, Ep2. According to Peter D. Olch, being run over by wagon wheels was the most frequent cause of injury or death. "The child was dead his miseries were over!" The troopers charged twice, killing and wounding more than a hundred Indians, but the chief escaped, and, when the soldiers finally captured the village, they found there the body of Mrs. White, yet warm, with three arrows in her breast. Over the next four months, the remaining men, women, and children would huddle together in cabins, makeshift lean-tos, and tents. The others were taken captive, but only four were ransomed back the other fell ill and died. Taking a vote among the party members, the group decided to try the new trail rather than backtracking to Fort Bridger. They then took 23 of the starving emigrants, including 17 children, back to the settlements; several deaths occurred on the way. With scarcely any opportunity for defense, the unfortunate whites were shot down, scalped, and their mutilated bodies left upon the ground. 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). From September 10ththrough the 25th, the party followed the trail intoNevadaaround the Ruby Mountains, finally reaching the Humboldt River on September 26th. When it was obvious a person wouldnt last the day, the train would often hold up moving in order to wait for the end. 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. Edwin Bryant told the tale of a boy who had his leg crushed by a wagon wheel, and it was treated by a quack who tied some linen and a few planks around it. But in the mountain district to be traversed before reaching Santa Fe, the most serious disasters usually occurred during the winter. With the help of more rescue parties sent east, the Willie Company finally reached Salt Lake City on November 9 and the Martin Company on November 30. . Fort Laramie Parade Grounds, photo by Kathy Alexander. During a months harrowing, often overwhelming hardships from cold, storms, deep snow, and inadequate food, they struggled on. The wagon train reached Independence, Missouri about three weeks later, where they re-supplied. At last, we were all in the wagons. There followed a 24-hour fight, from which the whites emerged with a loss of but three men killed and eight wounded. S8, Ep2. Instead, they never gave them the warning, sending them to some of the darkest days imaginable, all in the name of making a buck. 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. The robbers secured over $70,000, and it was later discovered that the driver, Williams, was an accomplice and received his share. According to the National Park Service, six children set off from Missouri with their parents in early 1844, with the seventh being born in the wagon. Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated April 2023. Newspapers printed letters and diaries and accused the travelers of bad conduct, cannibalism, and even murder. Sutters Fort in Sacramento, California, 1847. Crossing rivers were probably the most dangerous thing pioneers did. 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. A fourth rescue party set out in late March but were soon stranded in a blinding snowstorm for several days. That's horrible, but there's a fascinating footnote that comes out of all this. 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. Surviving the Oregon Trail was just the beginning for some people just ask Lewis Keseberg. Susannah succumbed to "milk sickness," and while we don't know how many babies died from it, we do know livestock were forced to forage some seriously overgrazed land. 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. Keseberg had sent his wife and a child on ahead, and said, "For their sakes I must live. He swore he only ate and never killed, writing, "A man, before he judges me, should be placed in a similar situation.". 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. On Thanksgiving, it began to snow again, and the pioneers at Donner Lake killed the last of their oxen for food on November 29th. Beside the driver, named Frank Williams, sat one of the robbers, thoroughly disguised. On July 31 the Donner party entered Hastings Cutoff, which would take the group south of the Great Salt Lake in what is now Utah. During 1863-65 the Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne were all upon the warpath. Once everyone had been accounted for, they found only 15 people survived. Of the 81. when it came to something like this. The Hide Hunters. You're probably familiar with the story of the Donner party, the second-most famous thing about the Oregon Trail. 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. Led by Elijah Utter (sometimes written "Otter"), the group included four families, 21 children, and a few former soldiers. Miraculously, just three days later on October 19th, one of the men the party had sent on to Fort Sutter Charles Stanton, returned laden with seven mules loaded with beef and flour, two Indian guides, and news of a clear, but difficult path through the SierraNevada. On February 5, the first relief party of seven men left Johnsons ranch, and the second, headed by James Reed, left two days later. Here they fought their assailants all day, six of the men being wounded, and all their stock was driven off. By the time they reached the shore, they also blamed James Reed. 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. Their first destination wasIndependence,Missouri, the main jumping-off point for theOregonandCalifornia Trails. The originator of this group was a man named James Frasier Reed, an Illinois businessman, eager to build a greater fortune in the rich land of California. 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. According to a fellow traveler, it worked. However, with only meager rations and already weak from hunger the group faced a challenging ordeal. The total of deaths was thus 42, with 47 survivors. They estimate one in ten travelers didn't survive, and the National Oregon/California Trail Center says the 2,000-mile trail averaged 10 deaths per mile.
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