, 1870-07-17
THE DONNER PARTY,

Fro~. tn Overland Monthly,
OF hll the waters gathered In 1.-THE lofty baAins
of the Sierra Nevada, Donnez Lake is, rer-
laps, the most beautiful in itself, ID veil a.
the most picturesque in its surroundings
Girdlcd with MAJ row margin NJ pebbly beach,
cncarcled b. dark and stately forests, aoa over
shAdoNod by towering nountainA--from which
the giiteeElng BuoW-Aefds look etsrnallv down
into it, czyEt2l cha.nbetb-t}lit Like xeAra \
charm almost ~ Weisd as that which rc~ u over
the A~e-tns5izspg ssle Of the Yo>ea.ise! Bot
there are "reminiscences connected With the
awaken deeper interest tllAn the scenery that
surrounds It. In the gladea that AkiEt it,
shores, and along the mountain tr&iIs that
overlook It, there ouce trauspircd erenta 30
tragic that We would fain discredit the story OF
their existence; and 80 dire. that tho conmnn
woea OF Life soften into ,ne8ciea compared With
them.
AT the foot Of this like, neaf tho banks Of
the atreatn that forms its outlet. is grassy
tottoms pleasantly shaded With spruce and
pine. Until few yoats ago. there wero stand
Ing here two rude cabins, the remains Of which
axe still to be seen. At IN easEeE period, the
bones OF animals. mingled WITH those Of hu-
msn beinga, 1ay scatteIed orer the ground.
The etumpa Of many trees, cut OF Ut 4 great
height, arc still standing here, indicating tito
depth OF the sno~ At the time they we're felled.
Hundreds Of persons now pas the SPOT daily
FOX it il clos. b5 the railroad-without know
ing that il is the site OF "stafr4tioa Camp"
where the DnLler party suffered 30 {earfuIly,
aud where 30 many Of them persisted from
hunger, in the {alA and winter Of 1876.
About the period we arc speaking Of, certain
portions Of the weatesn statea were extreme
II subject to na1arious and other endemic
diseases, causing many settlers to leave aud
Heek homes elsewhere. Hearing that thero
VAS on the shores Of the Pacific, \ re-
gion remarkable for tie salubuty OF ita c1i-
mate, ~ well ~ for the case with which sub
sistence could be obtained there. number Of
Aesds--set ont IN the spnpg Of 1876. for Tho
purpose Of enigrating 10 and settling ia a
country that promised them exemption from
the maladies, al weN "a tue long cold winters,
to which they had before been exposed.
The more sdyanced OF tl4ia emigration hay-
ing come through On the most direct route.
and meeting. with no unusual deter
tions, arrived At their destination in
good seasun. A portion, however, At
tempting new route, met with unexpected
difficulties and delays, ia consequence of
which they failed to reach the foot Of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains until tie llst OF Oc-
tober. instead OF arriving there by the arat OF
that month, as had been their intention.
Usually. hut Little saow EA1ls upon these
mountains before the middle Of November,
but this year seemed to hayeformeI An excsp-
tion to the general rule, and tLcir sumuits
we're already white when these deBert-worn
pilgrims came in sight Of them Finding the
up With t1low. ther engaged the services ot Al
aged Indian, named 1ruckee, to pilot them
oser the mountains. Arriving Qua evening
at the foot Of lake, where they found
the three great essentials Of a good
ring-gfound--wool, g1AAs. and VA
ter-the party tAlted for the night. Thus far
they lad encountered but little snow, and did
not feel particularly alarmed At their situa-
tion. As usual, tho cattle ware suffered TO
run 1t large. md each family camped in OF
Al out their own wagons =
Their faithful guide. better acquainted with
the ueather-sigus ot this tselehosous
climate. detecting The indications Of N
| approaching storm, urged them to keep
! up their stock, to gather their weg-
OILS close together, aud to collect As much dry
wood II poaeiblt. But the immigrants, aithar
| not exactly understanding all th4t WAS said to
| them, or failing To comprehend the tull extent
| Of their danger, neglected those timely precAu-
! TONS
During the night heavy storm set in, aud
~ morning the SNOW was over foot deep. In
! the meantime tho cattle had wandered on in
various directions, and but few Of them xerp
to be found. Concerned now for thcis safety,
these poor people began to build cabins and
tako other measures for protecting themselves
against tho severity OF the weather. But the
Know ssi! continu-d falling, aud in few lays
Lad attained depth Of six or eight feet. For
nearly lalf OF tho time during the mouth of No
vemler the weather ~as stormy, tho SNOW on
| the mountains ultimately rcaching 4 depth OF
u,ofo than twenty feet.
The company thus -nou-bound consisted OF
"ishty-two Persona, tlitty-two OF whom we're
females, 4 large proportion Of the whole being
! children. Their director VIA George Donnel,
! a rnAn Of some wealth and much worth, who
/ had with him his wife-3 woman Of education
I1T,I r-nf3r ont >1,r ~
small children. The men OF the party. COM
1osed mostly Of Husbands and fAthers, in their
anxiety to rescue themselves and those do
pendent upon them from their portions situa.
tion, nade desperate efforts, first to cross the
mountains, and having filled il THIS, to altar
! ward rcttace their steps and make their way
back to the plains at their base, hut all theae
cadeayors we're alike fruitleas, ending. after
the most persistent attempts. only in the Of.
hsustion, aud, iu uia.ly c1ses, tho complete
rrostra,ion Of thoso making thon. In these
| efforts and their results, We arc furnished au
| explanation OF the anomaly observable hero,
as vel! as on many other similar occasions, oi
the men having been the first to Sive ont AMI
euccumb to the hsrdships to which all seemed
equally exposed.
| In short time, everything in tho -shapo o.
| wholesome food was coueumcd; and tha party
having dcvoured their dogs, tl,e hides Of III
| few cattle they had aave1, aud eEeu their owl
rhoea and such other 1eatheru articles ~ they
happened to have with them. the ideS OF de.
\ spstching como Of thei. namber for fooabcgs1
to tAke possession OF all minds. At this juno
ture death fortunately occurred. obyiAtsni
desths aoou after followed, i few preterrir6 t
die Of starvation, rlther than accept the ha1
alternative Of sustaining life By feeding Oh Ii
tlesh OF their comranions others, On th
contrary, readily ovefcamc their natural Re
puguauce to this species Of food, som
frtvx n$ H. r,,SkN
ayidlts amounting to ali apparent relish
Alto: tho lapse Of Rix weeks. the storm
hAving sNbeiled AVID the weather hArlnS III
appearance Of bcing settled. = company c
eight men and five women. guided by two II
di.ns. set out to croes the mountains int
sun,s OF the eorrii;iun Of tliei1 friends san
procure assistance, Tho passage OF th
mountains, now deeply covered with anou
was not only laborious, but desperate n,
iertaking. No one knew the width Of II
|; <now-belt, or tho distance to tho settl'
streams to crpss, and hostile tnbea {
Indians to PASS through. The journey, in III
event, must be attended With great hatd.hi
cua rent; but their situation wAs de*perat,
aud. without speedy succor, ail must iuovit,
hly perish. Il must, therefore, be undertake
the women greater amount OF courage au
strength tAsn to the men. this forlosn hop
wns il good part made up Of them.
Starring, then. with the horos OF 4
, dependent On their SUCCESS, this pazt.
, travelling. or, snow~ahoes, were able
dag. 4 week Was. therefore, consumed betol
they had passed the Divide. BY this tinc, Il
, ! stock OF provisions they had taken with the
, | was all gone, and, being oTertalen by sevel
. storm, they wero literally covered up with sno
Tor the eraec Of two days. during which Tin
, ;llree Of the party peEishod: Weak aud dejec
, ID, the balance dragged themselves forwI
, when three more OF their number, overcou
With hunger. fatigue, and cold, gave out ar
i died. Having now been without . morse1
eat for four days, these wfetched people C
/ thu hesh from the bodies Of the dead. and ha
! ing refreshed themselves upon ! portion Of
) again pushed On. This was sht
!, first day Of January, 1877. Fieo dsys lat
: their food waa all gone, and thoy had only Il
= strings OF their snow-shoes left TO eat It N
: seem strange that, after having brought thel
selves to feed upon the remains Of their t,
g lows, those sufferers should. with tho inca
!. a. band for renewing their stock, 30 soon ha
:: found themselves again without food. But
4 must be remembered that those who perish
= were already reduced almost to skeletons t
fore death, having but Little flesh left on ths
Zones and that the uFanE. IN tnelf ene<Eat
condition, were unwilling 70 burden themselv
any further than seemed necessary, caeh o
: counting on tho probabilities that be might
i the ne1t one to yield up bis lie, vhan
more food would be needed, OF thAs, II 81
= should be the fate Of some ono else, Ii
"a ftcah supplies would be furnished ~ soon
y required By the survivors. Thus reAson1
II they cut from tho bodies Of their decea4
+ companions only what eecu,ed tho more eho
and tender pafta, 1esving behind tho nc
g. bulky and unsavo1J-
sr Being again REDUCED to extzeuiios, /,
ri whites calne 10 the conclusion that they vol
= sacrifice their Indian guides to appease til
. now unbcarahle paugs OF hunger. Tae lait
" perceiying their intention, and becoui
alarmed, hastily took to flight, and, 1etseat
e. ovet the hills, wore ecen no more
n Death again interviewed to sAvo the ivi
from absolute NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. OF the 4
IL eratlos died and thus, ono after Anotl'
ts yielding to the effects OF famine md e1posu
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