When he rolled out of Springfield, Illinois in April 1846, he was bound for what was still a northern province of Mexico. He was then in his mid-40's, a prosperous farmer and businessman, with a wife and four young children. He had land, a home, a sawmill and a furniture shop. He also had a serious case of California Fever. In partnership with his friends, George and Jacob Donner, he left it all behind and joined the Great Migration, heading father west.
H is family wagon is one example of what went wrong.
It was a double-decker, built to make the trip easier for Margaret, his wife, who suffered from crippling headaches. When the trail got rough, its very size and bulk contributed to the party's slowing pace. R eed's voice, moreover, was among the loudest in support of a shortcut being promoted that year by Lansford Hastings, the trail guide and entrepreneur. It had been a communal decision to attempt this route, but Reed took much of the blame. I n early October, as they reached the Humboldt River in central Nevada, supplies were perilously low, animals were dying, days were hot and tempers short.