The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-09-01
The Most Frightful Narrative of Modern
Times.

The current number OF the Overland Monthly
: describes afresh and no doubt with minute ac-
curacy, a chain of events, which for ghastly
horror are probably without equal in authentic
full denunciation of Othello for in it "on hor-
rors' head horrors accumulate" and surely rim
agination can picture nothing in the wayof the
piteous and awful more extreme than what was
suffered by the unfortunates concerned In
various forms, by books, newspapers and more
frequently, by private reports, the story has
been told; for it happened long ago-in 1876
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 persisted
in disbelieving it.
1t was too horrible to relate, they said, to be-
Geve And it is true that there seemed to be
raw-head and bloody-bones air about the mar
ratiye, that more frequently attends fiction than
fact, and which, at all events lent warrant to
the suspicion that it had been expanded and
embellished. There is, however, no doubt as to
the melancholy truth of it; and the minute ac-
count now published is to be accepted as the
product of all the sifted and collated testimony
that it has been possible to obtain.
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 Sierra, Nevada. "Star-
vation Camp"-the immediate scene of the ca
lamity-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 eli
gible soil, and having penetrated this great dis
tance toward their promised land, were showed
I'M near the lake The 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
undiscovered had found wood, water and
grass, and determined to halt for the nj ght. 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
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 the depth of moro than twenty feet.
There were eighty-two souls in the party,
thirty-two being women and large proportion
children. The Captain, Geo. Donner, was
man of some sagacity and considerable wealth,
and his wife and children being with him, ,shad
every incentive to prudence and activity. But
all efforts to escape from their frightful situa-
ton proved vain. In a short time everything
in the shape of wholesome food was gone.
They devoured their dogs, the hides OF the cat,
tie 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
yiolence-and horrible to relate, 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 California
The hopes of all that remained hung on their
efforts and they struggled desperately to sue
ceed. 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"
saws the Overland Monthly, "now been without
morsel to eat for four days, those wretched
people cut the flesh from the bodies of the dead,
and having refreshed themselves upon por-
ton 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,
1847. Five days later their food was again all
gone, and they had only the strings of their
snow shoes to eat"
The unhappy wretches then decreed to devour
their Indian guides but the latter, seeing their
intention fed over the hills and were seen no
more. On the 18th Of January all but three OF
the thirteen were dead, and of the survivors
two laid down to die. The third had fallen in
with a friendly Indian, who conducted him to
a settlement on Bear River. There the story
was told, and Immediately expeditions set forth
from San Francisco and Suffers Fort to rescue
| c41,o al ,bo irht cti hp
alive.
What the benevolent adventures found al
most beggars description. Those that had died
remained where their last sigh had been breath
ed but they were stripped of their flesh. bod
les half devoured lay strewn around the dismal
cabins. from which issued sitting fetor" OF
those who yet lived.
Not only were their bodies enfecbled and
emaciated to the last degree but with many
the very soul had become desolation. While
some welcomed their deliverers with ecstasies
of Joy, others, gloomy and cadaverous, regarded
them with q coldness amounting almost to IN
difference, they having become not only recon-
ciled to their cannibalistic diet, but preterring
it to wholesome food when set before them.
Monstrous rs it may seem, to such an extent
had the natural tastes OF some OF these people
become perverted, that they pushed aside the
-four and bacon rendered them, choosing rather
to ton partake of the horrible feast to which they
had so long been accustomed Parents were
seen feeding on the remains of their children,
and children on those of their parents Here
a wife was broiling on the Goals the flesh of her
husband, and elsewhere a company were max
ing a repast upon the roasted limb ola dead COM
panion.
All filial and parental affection seemed dead,
the one instinct of self-preservation reigninng
supreme Rapidly some of those most wretch
ed creatures were being transformed into ghouls
and demons, having already lost many OF the
divine traits of humanity M ,4tgg hdggardh ha ana thar at
ienl-s 1enI'd and demeanor were wild and unearthly
Too Too incredible for belief are the stories told Of