Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-07-22
THE DONNER PARTY.
TFrom the Overland monthly.

From the Overland mOnthly.l
f Of all the waters gathered in the lofty
basins of the Sierra Nevada, Donner
Lake is, perhaps. the most beautiful in
| itself, as well as the most picturesque in
its surroundings. Girdled with a mar
row margin of pebbly. beach, encircled by
| dark and stately forests, and Overshad-
owed by towering mountains-from which
/ the gIittering snowhelds look eternally
down into its crystal chambers-this lake
wears a charm almost as weird as that
which rests over the awe-inspiring vale
of the Yosemite But there are remin-
/ iscences connected with the history of
this secluded water calculated to awak-
en- a deeper interest than the scenery
that surrounds it. In the glades that
skirt its shores. and along the mountain
/ trails that overlook it, there once trans
pired events so tragic that we would fain
disCredit the story of their existence {;
and so dire, that the common woes of
/ life soften into mercies, compared with
! them.
At the foot of this lake, near the banks
| of the stream that forms its outlet, is a
grassy bottom, pleasantly shaded with
/ there were standing here two rude cab
] ms, LElE IEuldlElS Vi WA1lLll dtC Sllll " DC
seen. At an earlier period, the bones of
/ animals, mingled with those of human
j beings, lay scattered over the ground
! The stumps of many trees, cut off at a
great height, are still standing here indi-
/ eating the depth of the snow at the lime
! they were felled. Hundreds of persons
now pass this spot .daily-for it is close
/ by the railroad--withont knowing that it
/ is the site of Starvation Camp" where
/ the Donner party suffered so fearfully,
/ and where so many of them perished
from hunger, in the fall and winter of
1916.
About the period we are speaking Of,
/ certain portions of the Western States
were extremely subject to malarious and
other endemic diseases, causing many
settlers to leave and seek homes else
where. Hearing that there was, on the
shores of the Pacific, a region remarka-
BILE for the salubrity of its climate, as
well as for the ease with which a sub
sistence could be obtained there, a num-
Der of families-taking with them their
teams and herds-set out, in the spring
of I846, for the purpose of emigrating to
and settling in country that promised
them exemption from the maladies as
well as the long, cold winters, to which
they had before been exposed.
The more advanced ofthis emigration,
having come through on the most direct
route, and meeting with no unusual de-
tentions, arrived at their destination in
good season. A portion, however, at
tempting new route, met with unex-
pected difficulties and delays, in conse-
quence of which they failed to reach the
foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains un.
til the last of October, instead of arriving
there by the first of that month, as hac
been their intention.
: Usually, but little snow falls upon these
mountains before the middle of Novem
Der, but this year seems to have formed
an exception to the general rule, anC
their SUBMITS were already white wher
these desert-worn pilgrims came in sigh
of them. Finding the trail of those whC
had preceded them covered up with snow
: they engaged the services of an aged In
I, dian, named Truckee, to pilot them owe
the mountains. Arriving one evenin,
at the foot of lake. where they founC
: the three great essentials of a gooC
J camping g-ground-wood, grass and wa
: ter-the party halted for the night Thu
3 far they had encountered but little snow
and did not feel particularly alarmed a
their situation. As usual, the cattl
were suffered to run at large, and eacl
. family camped in or about their owl
wagons.
: Their faithful guide, better acquainte
with the weather-signs of this treachei
Gus climate. detecting the indications c
an approaching storm, urged them t
keep up their stock, to gather their wae
, ons close together, and to collect as muc
| dry wood as possible But the ifnu1
! grants, either not exactly understandin
L all that was said to them, or failing I
n comprehend the full extent of their dar