Immediately messages were dispatched to neighboring settlements as area residents rallied to save the rest of the Donner Party. On March 14th they arrived at the Alder Creek camp to find George Donner was dying from an infection in the hand that he had injured months before. The very next day, five more feet of snow fell, and they knew that any plans for a departure were dashed. [5] The trail generally followed rivers to South Pass, a mountain pass in present-day Wyoming which was relatively easy for wagons to negotiate. United States laws were not applicable west of the Continental Divide (in what was then Mexican territory) and wagon trains often dispensed their own justice. [57], The trials that the Donner Party had so far endured resulted in splintered groups, each looking out for themselves and distrustful of the others. TRUCKEE — Eastbound I-80 near Donner Summit was shut down after a big rig caught fire on Sunday afternoon. [197] Historians Joseph King and Jack Steed call Stewart's characterization of Trudeau's actions as desertion "extravagant moralism", particularly because all members of the party were forced to make difficult choices. [113][114], A rescue party including William Eddy started on February 4 from the Sacramento Valley. The attention directed at the Donner Party is made possible by reliable accounts of what occurred, according to Stewart, and the fact that "the cannibalism, although it might almost be called a minor episode, has become in the popular mind the chief fact to be remembered about the Donner Party. Joined by other wagons in Fort Laramie, the pioneers were met by a man carrying a letter from Lansford W. Hastings at the Continental Divide on July 11th. [110] Yount said the dream gave him "guidance" to prepare a rescue mission. By late 1849 more than 100,000 people had come to California in search of gold near the streams and canyons where the Donner Party had suffered. The survivors were on average 7.5 years younger than those who died; children aged between six and 14 had a much higher survival rate than infants and children under the age of six, of whom 62.5 percent died, including the son born to the Kesebergs on the trail, or adults over the age of 35. According to California Highway Patrol Truckee spokesman Officer Carlos Perez, the pair were driving the SUV at high speed when it crashed into a guard rail on Interstate 80. [30] The members of the party were comfortably well-off by contemporaneous standards. Diets soon consisted of oxhide, strips of which were boiled to make a "disagreeable" glue-like jelly. The Reeds settled in San Jose and two of the Donner children lived with them. Required fields are marked *. He was accompanied by his wife Margret (32), step-daughter Virginia (13), daughter Martha Jane ("Patty", 8), sons James and Thomas (5 and 3), and Sarah Keyes, Margret Reed's 70-year-old mother, who was in the advanced stages of consumption (tuberculosis)[19] and died on May 28; she was buried by the side of the trail. [64] So far, the company had lost nearly 100 oxen and cattle, and their rations were almost completely depleted. [121] Patty and Tommy Reed were soon too weak to cross the snowdrifts, and no one was strong enough to carry them. Their food supplies ran dangerously low, and in mid-December some of the group set out on foot to obtain help. The cabins were cramped and filthy, and it snowed so much that people were unable to go outdoors for days. However, once again the author of this article infers the Donor-party resorted to cannibalism. [41], It was August 20 by the time that they reached a point in the mountains where they could look down and see the Great Salt Lake. Hi/Low, RealFeel®, precip, radar, & everything you need to be ready for the day, commute, and weekend! The remains here, by order of Gen. Kearny collected and buried under the superintendence of Major Swords. [1], During the 1840s, the United States saw a dramatic increase in settlers who left their homes in the east to resettle in the Oregon Territory or California, which at the time were only accessible by a very long sea voyage or a daunting overland journey across the American frontier. Historian Charles McGlashan amassed enough material to indict Keseberg for the murder of Tamsen Donner, but after interviewing him he concluded no murder occurred. California trails [ 39 ] their oxen and cattle, and the and! His wagon, Reed met an old friend named John Denton slipped into a.. P. 213, king, donner pass incident Reinhardt, confessed on his promise to murder Lewis Keseberg was! 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