Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-07-30
DESPERATE SITUATION.
The Most Frfghtful Narrative of
Modern Times. etrirt'

L.
The current number of the Overland
Monthly describes afresh, and no doubt
with minute accuracy, chain Of events,
which for ghastly horror are probably
without equal in authentic records. The
tale realizes, in truth, the frightfnl de-
nunciation Of Othello; for in it ION hor-
ror s head horrors accumulate" and
surely imagination can picture nothing
in the way of the piteous and awful
more extreme than what was suffered by
1 the unfortunates concerned. In various
forms, by books, newspapers, and more
/ frequently by private report, the story
has been told; for it happened long ago
in l846-before Captain Sutter had made
his discovery, and before every old
whaler from Casco Bay to Hatteras had
been fitted up, to brave once more the
perils of Cape Horn. But many have
persisted in disbelieving it. 1t was too
horrible to relate, they said to believe.
And it is.true that there seemed to be a
raw-head and bloody-bones air about the
narrative that more frequently attends
| fiction than fact, and which, at all events,
lent warrant to the suspicion that it had
been expanded and embelleshed. There
is, however, no doubt about the melan-
choly truth of it; and the minute ac-
count now published is to be excepted as
the product of all the sifted and collated
testimony that it has been possible to OBJ
tain. steI
Donner Lake-named after the leader
of the party who met their death hard
by-is one of the most picturesque and
lovely spots among the elevated valleys
of the Sierra Nevada. Starvation
Camp the Immediate scene of the
calamity-is close at hand, and by it
runs the railroad, strange contrast in
the plenty and succor it suggests to the
helpless misery the spot once witnessed.
The Donner party left their home for the
Pacific Slope in search of healthful
and eligible soil, and having penetrated
this great distance toward their promised
land, were showed up" near the lake.
Their Indian guide, one Truckee, warned
them one afternoon that dreadful weather
was at hand, and urged them to push on.
But-for the ground was as yet undiscov-
ered-they had found wood water and
grass, and determined to halt for the
night In the morning, q foot of snow
had fallen, and their cattle had wandered
away so that few Of them could be found.
Alarmed, the wayfarers began to build
cabins and to take such other measures
as they could to protect themselves from
the elements. The snow continued to
fall, and presently became impossible.
In few days, it was eight feet deep.
During nearly the whole of November,
the long storm continued, and the snow
ON the mountains ultimately reached a
depth of more than twenty feet.
There were eighty-two souis in the par
ty, thirty-two being women and a large
proportion children. The Captain,
George Donner, was a man of some sa-
gacity and considerable wealth, and his
wife and children being with him, had
every incentive to prudence and activity.
But all efforts to escape from their fright
full situation proved vain. In a short
time everything in the shape of whole
some food was gone. They devoured
their dogs, the hides of the cattle they
had saved and their own boots and shoes.
Finally, the miserable creatures began
to think of eating each other. At this
period death occurred--thus deferring
the need for violence, and horrible to re-
late, the corpse was eagerly consumed.
Other deaths followed, and the survivors
continued to subsist on the flesh of their
dead companions. After six weeks. the
storm having subsidized, eight men and
five women, guided by two Indians, set
out to try to make their way to Califor-
MIA. The hopes of all that remained |
hung on their efforts, and they struggled |
desperately to succeed. But in week,
and before they had passed the Divide,
this forlorn hope was again overwhelmed
by snow. Three died almost at once,
and the rest ate their bodies. Having"
says the Overland Monthly, now been
without a morsel to eat for four days,
those wretched people cut the flesh from
the bodies of the dead and having re-
freshed themselves upon portion Of it
and dried the balance for future use,
again pushed on. This was their New
Years feast, it now being the first day
of January, lS47. Five days later their
food was again all gone, and they had
only the strings Of their snow-shoes left
to eat
The unhappy wretches then desired.to
devour their Indian guides; but the lat
ter, seeing their intention, fed over the
hills and were seen no more. On the
18th of January ali but three Of the
thirteen were dead, and of the suTyiyors
two laid down to die. The third had
fallen in with friendly Indian, who
him 10 a settlement on Bear
river There the story was told, and
expeditions set forth from
San Francisco and Suffers Fort to res :
,ue those of the original party who ,
night still be alive.
What the benevolent adventurers found J
almost beggars description. Those that ;
lad died remained where their last sigh /,
lad been breathed-but they were stripped
# their flesh. Bodies half deyonred !
ay strewn around the dismal cabins, !
rom which issued q sitting factor Of J
hose who yet lived.
Not only were their bodies enfeebled I
md emaciated 10 the last degree, but !
With many, the very soui had become a \
lesolation. While some welcomed their i
leliverers with ecstacies of joy, others, !.
gloomy and cadaverous, regarded them
nth coldness amounting almost to in /
Iiherence, they having become not only :,
TO tieir cannabalistic diet, !.
,ut prefsFring il To wholesome tooq when !
ei ,sefore them. Monstroas as II may j,
eem, to such an exten. ....H .a the naturai o
astes of some Of these people become :.
eryerted that they pushed aside the y
our and bacon rendered them, choosing -
ather to partake of the horrid feast 10 i
-hich they had so long been accustomed. i,
arents we're seen feeding on the remains :,