On December 15 Baylis Williams, an employee of the Reed family, died of malnutrition at the lake camp; his was the first recorded death in the camps, although many others would soon follow. The very next day, five more feet of snow fell, and they knew that any plans for a departure were dashed. However, many would linger in misery for weeks in the bouncy wagons. Major threats to pioneer life and limb came from accidents, exhaustion, and disease. There was actually someone riding ahead of the Donner Party acting as a scout, and Edwin Bryant sent a letter back warning them it was too dangerous to take the so-called shortcut. . When she came down with cholera, he just gave her a cup of camphor, because that's what you do, right? About the Author: Adventures and Tragedies on the Overland Trail was written by Randall Parrish as a chapter of his book, The Great Plains: The Romance of Western American Exploration, Warfare, and Settlement, 1527-1870; published by A.C. McClurg & Co. in Chicago, 1907. The people in camp were being starved by a combination of the holdup of promised rations and suddenly needing to share their resources with thousands of extra mouths. A shot was fired from beside the trail, and the men inside the coach instantly discharged their guns toward the supposed ambush. The oxen moved slowly forwardand the long journey had begun.. On the Trail - Asa McCully's 1853 Wagon Train. The caravan camped for five days 50 miles from the summit, resting their oxen for the final push. Don Brooke is desperate for money for his pregnant wife Bonnie, whose condition is too delicate for the long trip without more medical care so he seeks a bank loan. As the disillusionment of the party increased, tempers began to flare in the group. When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy. In 1862 the Indian raids on the coaches and stations between Fort Laramie and South Pass, Wyoming were almost continuous. One member of the party, Charles Stanton, snow-blind and exhausted was unable to keep up with the rest of the party and told them to go on. To spare the animals, everyone who could, walked. S8, Ep2. They killed and ate the cow, and the officer in charge was actually pretty diplomatic about the whole thing. From start to finish, it took between five and six months, and it's hard to imagine today. His description was first published as an article in a Nashville, TN newspaper in the spring of 1847 and later in a book published in 1879. The real Oregon Trail was filled with about as many accidents and illnesses, and the National Oregon/California Trail Center says more than 300,000 Americans actually did travel along it at the end of the 19th century. The Bonnie Brooke Story: Directed by Allen H. Miner. The wagon train reached Independence, Missouri about three weeks later, where they re-supplied. The group now numbered 74 people in twenty wagons and for the first week made good progress at 10-12 miles per day. On August 11th, the wagon train began the arduous journey through the Wasatch Mountains, clearing trees and other obstructions along the new path of their journey. Once everyone had been accounted for, they found only 15 people survived. As they turned for a third charge, the surviving Indians were seen escaping to a deep ravine, which, although only one or two hundred paces off, had not previously been noticed. Bents Fort was occupied by troops, and, in anticipation of coming events, several new posts were established throughout the Indian country and occupied by small garrisons. On December 15, Balis Williams died of malnutrition and the group realized that something had to be done before they all died. January 17, 2016 Late one afternoon in July 1864, a party of American Indians rode up to a small wagon train on the Oregon Trail and, using signs, asked in a friendly way for something to eat. He was pulling a gun from the back of his wagon muzzle first when it discharged and shot him in the chest. Other causes of injury or death included attacks by emigrants on other emigrants, lightning, hailstorms, grass fires, gunpowder explosions, snakebite and suicide. The greater portion of the Plains country was then without permanent inhabitants, scarcely anything breaking the desolation excepting the isolated stations along the Overland and Santa Fe Trails, with a few scattered settlements extending into the prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. Some blamed the power-hungry Lansford W. Hastings for the tragedy, while others blamed James Reed for not heeding Clymans warning about the deadly route. Meanwhile, Reed and McCutchen had headed back up into the mountains attempting to rescue their stranded companions. Though member, Lewis Keseberg, favored hanging for James Reed, the group, instead, voted to banish him. As the rest of the party continued to what is now known as Donners Lake, snow began to fall. By the time the Donner party reached the Humboldt River, where Hastings Cutoff rejoined the main California Trail, it was late September. George Donnerwas a successful 62-year-old farmer who had migrated five times before settling inSpringfield, Illinois along with his brother Jacob. It's an undeniable fact: the cycle of life doesn't stop for anyone or anything, and there were a surprising number of newborn babies traveling the trail. On April 17th, the relief party reached the camps to find only Louis Keseberg alive among the mutilated remains of his former companions. In truth, there wasn't much conflict between the Native American tribes and early travelers, who were mostly fur traders and missionaries. Her disease wasn't contagious no one else caught it from her but the pioneers didn't know this at the time. There followed a 24-hour fight, from which the whites emerged with a loss of but three men killed and eight wounded. Miraculously, just three days later on October 19th, one of the men the party had sent on to Fort Sutter Charles Stanton, returned laden with seven mules loaded with beef and flour, two Indian guides, and news of a clear, but difficult path through the SierraNevada. Indeed, even the survivors of the party encouraged others to undertake the journey. Everyone was in the same boat, so to speak, and traders didn't have much use for the more impractical items they'd brought along. There were 1,100 people in those two companies alone (via WyoHistory), and they didn't set out until August. Donner party, also called Donner-Reed party, group of American pioneersnamed for the expeditions captain, George Donnerwho became stranded en route to California in late 1846. They were heading for California, not Oregon (via Online Nevada), when they set off in 1846, and about half met their grisly end in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The families of brothers George and Jacob Donner and local businessman James Reed left Springfield on April 14, 1846. The wagon train comprised 18 to 30 wagons pulled by ox and mule teams, plus several hundred cattle and a number of blooded horses the men were driving to California's Central Valley. Instantly they were fiercely attacked by an ambushed party of Apache under White Wolf. It was this falsified information that would lead to the doom of the Donner Party. Two days after they started out it began to rain. The terrible ordeals of the caravan continued to mount when on October 12th, their oxen were attacked by PiuteIndians, killing 21 one of them with poison-tipped arrows, further depleting their draft animals. Omissions? Two men who had joined the party at the lake also died. Julesburg must have contained at this period something over a hundred civilian inhabitants, most of them employees of the stage company. tragedy while the Wagon Train stops for supplies. All the other stations were guarded in like manner, so it happened that every coach carried some soldiers.. It could attack a perfectly healthy person after breakfast and he would be in his grave by noon. The majority of the Donner Party emigrants were children. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846-1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Jacob Donner, and his wife Elizabeth, brought their five children, George, Mary, Isaac, Samuel, and Lewis, as well as Mrs. Donners two children from a previous marriage, Solomon and William Hook. When it was obvious a person wouldnt last the day, the train would often hold up moving in order to wait for the end. Food was a huge concern, and that makes Fort Laramie nicknamed "Camp Sacrifice" that much more tragic. At a lonely spot, this man suddenly shouted an alarm that the robbers were upon them. When it cleared, Isaac Donner had died and most of the refugees were too weak to travel. Reed would continue west on horseback while the rest of his family remained with the Donner party. A fourth rescue party set out in late March but were soon stranded in a blinding snowstorm for several days. In a letter to her cousin in Illinois, Virginia Reed recounted that I have not wrote you half of the truble, but I hav Wrote you anuf to let you now what truble is, before concluding, Dont let this letter dishaten anybody. Charlie Wooster: Now, I don't have enough morals of my own, huh? Fort Laramie Parade Grounds, photo by Kathy Alexander. The passengers were all old frontiersmen and were prepared for a desperate defense, anticipating a possible robbery attempt. Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated April 2023. The Reeds, the Donners, and a number of others chose to head southwest toward Fort Bridger. About this time, fear began to set in as provisions were running low and time was against them. The settlers of California organized a relief party which left Fort Sutter (Sacramento) on January 31, 1847. The tale of the Donner Party is one of tragedy, hardship, and gruesome details. Road to hell and all. The rest of the pioneers stayed at what would become known as Starved Camp.. The warriors, or nearly all of them, threw themselves on the ground, and several vertical wounds were received by horse and rider. Here they fought their assailants all day, six of the men being wounded, and all their stock was driven off. Eight days of almost continuous snow followed, during which time many of the oxen, the chief reserve of food, wandered off and were lost. It was not pleasant; this sitting perched up on top of a coach, riding through dark ravines and tall grass, in which savages were ever lurking. It was here that the new trail met up with Hastings original path. Practical things were left, too, by people needing to spare their oxen from dragging the heavy loads. title role in this Wagon Train story. With James and Margaret Reed were their four children, Virginia, Patty, James, and Thomas, as well as Margarets 70-year-old mother, Sarah Keyes, and two hired servants. Despite the disastrous crossings of Willie and Martinthe worst single tragedies to befall any overland travelersthe church continued to support the handcart scheme. Mama was overcome with grief. With George were his third wife, Tamzene, their three children, Frances, Georgia, and Eliza, and Georges two daughters from a previous marriage, Elitha and Leanna. Brian Altonen, a medical science and public health expert, took a look at the diseases running rampant through wagon trains and found the heartbreaking case of Susannah, a little girl who died just a month after her mother. You'd totally sign up for that until you hear the list of problems. The rescue parties stumbled across some stragglers, but the most horrific scene was discovered by a Lieutenant Anderson. Only two of the ten men survived, including William Eddy and William Foster, but all five women lived through the journey. Immediately a regular volley was poured in from the opposite side; four of the passengers fell dead, another was severely wounded. On the Trail - The Akin Wagon Train - 1852. . In 1972, the Kerala Government called it the Wagon Tragedy. Thegeneral uprising among the tribes that followed extended to the Rocky Mountains and even to the banks of the Columbia River. The dragoons turned short about and again charged through and over their enemies, the fire being continuous. A brief review of the operations of military scouting parties in the region about Julesburg, Colorado, which was the center of hostilities on the Plains, and occasionally entirely cut off from communication, well illustrates the desperate nature of their duties. The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner-Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Beside the driver, named Frank Williams, sat one of the robbers, thoroughly disguised. Accounts tell of the dumping grounds outside the fort, filled with treasured possessions like bookcases and furniture, iron safes, and books. Julesburg was attacked on several occasions, and in February 1864, was burned to the ground. Swollen rivers could tip over and drown both people and oxen. On February 5, the first relief party of seven men left Johnsons ranch, and the second, headed by James Reed, left two days later. While the journey west was traditionally considered dangerous and deadly, this was especially the case for the Donner Party. Susannah was passed into the care of a new mother breastfeeding her own child, and Altonen says in order to keep that woman's child away from any possible infection the orphan might be carrying, the caregiver opted to give the baby cow's milk instead of breastfeeding. Photo courtesy of Hansen Wheel & Wagon Shop https://www.hansenwheel.com . George P. Belden, well known in those days as The White Chief, thus describes the disagreeable duties: Troops were stationed in small squads at every station, about ten miles apart, and they rode from station to station on the top of all coaches, holding their guns ever ready for action. During their first week in the Cutoff, the Donner party made good progress. Hide hunters, hunters who kill buffalo for their hides only, have temporarily joined up with the wagon train. Cholera was the main scourge of the trail. Indian peril on the northern Overland route, while never wholly absent, grew most serious during the Civil War, when the Plains tribes became largely hostile. Also dumped? Most of the party thereupon built crude cabins near what is now known as Donner Lake. The originator of this group was a man named James Frasier Reed, an Illinois businessman, eager to build a greater fortune in the rich land of California. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. The journey was not an unpleasant one across the vast expanse of Plains. Bell was not hit, but four or five of his men were killed or wounded. In July 1865, a stage carrying seven passengers and containing a considerable amount of gold bullion was the object of such an attack. He was a member of the Donner Party, and according to Sierra College, he paid horribly for his survival. Surviving the Oregon Trail was just the beginning for some people just ask Lewis Keseberg. The wagon train encountered riders urging emigrants on the road to travel down to Fort Bridger and take a shortcut called the "Hastings . In the meantime, the Graves family caught up with theDonner Party, which now numbered 87 people in 23 wagons. There was just as much dysentery and cholera as your MS-DOS family faced, but there was another huge problem, too a lack of gun safety classes. Burials often were done right in the middle of the trail, where wagons could roll over and animals trample it down in order to erase the scent so wolves could not pick up the scent. The ill-fated Utter-Van Ornum wagon train would go down in history with the dubious honor of being the deadliest wagon train (via the Idaho Chapter Oregon-California Trails Association). A combination of military forces compelled the allied tribes to make professions of peace, and for a few months, relieved the trail of its horror. The Donner Party wasted no time in administering their own justice. Never take no cutofs and hury along as fast as you can. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 would turn the flow of migrants into a virtual flood, and the legacy of the Donner party would become less a cautionary tale and more a grim historical footnote in the story of the great westward movement. Finding the party at the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, Hastings accompanied Reed partway back to point out the new route, which he said would take them about one week to travel. The ordeal of the Donner party highlighted the incredible risks that were inherent in the great overland trek, but it did little to slow the pace of migration. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The group scattered, and one of the soldiers made it to a military camp outside Fort Dalles to sound the alarm. This new route enticed travelers by advertising that it would save the pioneers 350-400 miles on easy terrain. My squad had to ride up to Cottonwood, and down to the station below, where they waited for the next coach going the other way, and returned by it to their post at Oilmans. George Bent had for father the famous Colonel William Bentof Bents Fort, but his mother was a Cheyenne woman. According to The Plains Across, Fort Laramie became a major trading post. Some things like using peppermint essence to calm an upset stomach actually worked (via Fort Morgan Times), but the problem was that it was only the women who knew these remedies. According to the National Park Service, six children set off from Missouri with their parents in early 1844, with the seventh being born in the wagon. As they broke a new trail through the nearly impassible terrain of the Wasatch Mountains, they lost about two weeks time. Event image of various prairie wagons in use. Well educated in St. Louis, Missouri, he no sooner returned to the Plains than he developed into a blood-thirsty desperado, organizing a body of young warriors, later known as dog soldiers, and beginning a series of depredations against the whites. Firearms were the second leading cause of emigrant injury and death and a surprisingly large number of pioneers were injured by accidental firearm discharges. On the sixth day, their food ran out and for the next three days, no one ate while they traveled through grueling high winds and freezing weather. Everything was made ready for a charge when Major Greer suddenly decided to talk with the Indians before commencing to fight. En route down the mountains, the first relief party met the second relief party coming the opposite way and the Reed family was reunited after five months. Mrs. White, her child, and nurse were borne away prisoners. A family of seven, killed by Indians, was buried here together in the wagon box from their covered wagon. They were attacked on September 9, 1860, and 11 died in the two-day confrontation. resident and Western Writers of America executive director Candy Moulton traveled with the Mormon Trail Sesquicentennial Wagon Train in 1997, pushing and pulling a . On March 14ththey arrived at the Alder Creek camp to find George Donner was dying from an infection in the hand that he had injured months before. His name was John Lawrence Grattan, and he was a second lieutenant in the Army stationed at Fort Laramie. On July 20, 1846, the company divided, with most of the wagon train then turning north toward Fort Hall (modern southeastern Idaho) and using the well-known Oregon Trail to continue the journey west. The surviving members had differing viewpoints, biases and recollections so what actually happened was never extremely clear. The total of deaths was thus 42, with 47 survivors. On March 3rd, Reed left the camp with 17 of the starving emigrants but just two days later they are caught in another blizzard. Hopeless, they retraced their steps where five feet of new snow had already fallen. However, upon their arrival at Fort Bridger, of Lansford Hastings, there was no sign, only a note left with other emigrants resting at the fort. Reed also hoped that his wife, Margaret, who suffered from terrible headaches, might improve in the coastal climate. There were a few reasons for it, and Brian Altonensays part of the problem was the saline-alkaline waters of the Platte were the perfect breeding ground for cholera left behind in settlers' waste products. The forty-four member wagon train was composed of four families with twenty-one children, some single men, five recently discharged soldiers and an army deserter. This occurrence took all desire for further peace talk from him, and the fight was on. The group had elected to use a shortcut to California that had been recommended to them by an unreliable guide named Lansford Hastings. The drivers cracked their whips. Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Easy Travel Organization Tips You Will Love, Bidwell-Bartleson Party Blazing the California Trail. A large, well equipped wagon train rolled toward California in 1846. The next day, they arrived at Alder Creek to find that the Donners had also resorted to cannibalism. A note left by Hastings had assured the party that they would be able to cross the desert in just two days, but the journey took five. Living off the bodies of those that died along the path to Sutters Fort, the snowshoeing survivors were reduced to seven by the time they reached safety on the western side of the mountains on January 19, 1847. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). National Oregon/California Trail Center The party lost dozens of cattle in the desert, and several wagons had to be abandoned. Not a mile of prairie between the upper Missouri River and the Arkansas River was safe for a white traveler. Generally, the first fire from the Indians killed one or two horses and tumbled a soldier or two off the top of the coach.