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Show . f ) i- - A: I , V I'll "'"v . 5 a t t tA1 1 ' I My"fe &- - I i ! By ELMO SCOTT WATSON lr HE otlier day a news plc-TT plc-TT ture service Issued the photograph shown above nnd in doing so brought back for a moment from the dim past the memory of one of the most glo-y' glo-y' rious periods in all Amer- ' V.. ' lean history and recalled the story of one of the two outstanding tragedies of those faraway far-away times. In the annals of the historic his-toric "Days of '40" there are no more thrilling stories than those of two different dif-ferent groups of homeseekers whose sufferings on the overland trails to California have Immortalized the names of the ''Donner party" and the "Jnyhawker party." It. Is a curious coincidence that both parties originated in the state of Illinois, Illi-nois, that both traveled over the famous fa-mous Oregon trail until they reached the region of the Great Salt lake in Utah and that both made the tragic mistake of seeking a shorter route to the Promised Land instead of following fol-lowing the route which would have brought them in safety to fortune and happy homes in a new land. But there the coincidence ends except for the fact that both found Death awaiting thorn along the trail. To the Donner party, which set out from Springfield, 111., in lS-iO, Death appeared in the form of starvation and freezing cold In the snows of the high Sierras. To the Juyliawker party, which left Gales-burg, Gales-burg, III., three years later, In the spring of 1S-19, and which, seeking to avoid the mistakes of the Donner party, fell into greater tribulation, Death nppeared In the form of starvation starva-tion and thirst and the overpowering heat of that earthly inferno to which they gave the name of Death valley The Donner party was one of the hundreds which began to flock to California Cali-fornia almost immediately after the war witn Mexico. On April 15, 1S46, 31 men, women and children who had assembled at Springfield, 111., for what they thought would be a five-months journey to the Pacific coast, sot out for the Golden West. The oi'.nizer of the party was James F. lteed, but it took Its name from the Donner brothers, George and Jacob, who were neighbors of Reed. Of the 31 In the party, 16 were children, among whom were two little girls. Eliza Donner aud Virgina lteed, who later wrote stories of their Journey which have become classic accounts of this expedition. Eliza Donner's description of the equipment which her father and uncle provided for the long Journey is as vivid a description of the "covered wagon" era in Ameri can bisiory as can be found anywhere. In one wagon were the seed and farming farm-ing Implements for use when they reached California and with these the laces, muslins, satins and velvets to be used in trading for land. In the second were the supplies for the Journey, Jour-ney, the food, elothlng and camp equipment, as well as various bright-colored bright-colored garments, beads, necklaces, mirrors and the like, to be used in making friends with the Indians along the route. The third wagon was the family "home oa wheels" and it, as well as each of the other two was drawn by three yoke of oxen. For several weeks the journey was uneventful. On May 19, the Donner 0 Mrs. Catherine M. Brown of San Francisco, sole survivior of the ill-fated ill-fated Donner party, recalls the vivid incidents of early California history when she was a little girl during the hectic gold rush days, and, being an artist of unusual ability, puts them on canvas. S ; 1 I party fell in with another emigrant train, commanded by Edwin Bryant, consisting of OS fighting men, 50 women, wom-en, 45 wagons and 350 cattle. The addition of the Donner party to this caravan made it so large that it was divided into two parts for convenience conven-ience in traveling and an organization with the proper officers to direct its affairs was formed. By the middle of June the emigrant train was making mak-ing Its way through Nebraska and nearing Fort Laramie, which they reached safely and stopped to repair tiieir wagons. Although several of the party (mainly (main-ly the older ones) died and were buried bur-ied along the trail, the party reached Fort Bridger without undue disaster Then when it was near the Great Salt lake the emigrant train divided, the larger portion deciding to keep to the old road to California while the Donners, Reeds and many others, 87 in all, made the fatal decision to attempt at-tempt what was called the Hastings Cut-off, which passed along the southern south-ern edge of the lake and was said to shorten the route to California by 300 miles before it rejoined the Fort Hall emigrant road on the Humboldt river in Nevada. The Douner party soon found that it had made a mistake, for the emigrants emi-grants were seven days In reaching Weber canyon and then found that they must make their own trail by cutting cut-ting their way through heavy underbrush under-brush and making a road as they went. While they were struggling through the Hasting Cut-off they were joined by the Graves party, another Illinois group which had set out from their homes near what is now Lacon. 111., at about the same time as the Donner party had started. The Graves party consisted of W. F. Graves, his wife and eight children, his son-in-law. Jay Fosdick, and a young man named John Snyder, and they were to play a prominent part in the tragedy that was so soon to follow. No less dramatic dra-matic than the stories of Eliza Donner Don-ner and Virginia Reed Is the accouni of the Donner tragedy as given from the viewpoint of the Graves familj aud recorded in an old book "Records of the Olden Time, or Fifty Years on the Prairies" by Spencer Ellsworth . aud printed In Lacon, 111., in 18S0. After making their way at last i through Weber canyon, the combined party found itself facing a desert They bad been told It was only 40 miles wide and they took what the thought was an ample supply of water. But the desert proved to be more t hat; twice that distance across and foi two nights and a day they struggled across the dreary alkali waste, suf fering from heat and thirst by day nnd from cold at night. When the third day came and the unending des ert still stretched before them, one of the party went ahead in search ot water, leaving Instructions for the drivers to unhitch their oxen and fol low if the cattle began to give out. All of the, wagons except one, hail 7 ' to be abandoned and eventually the party emerged from the desert and approached the mountains. Then It was discovered that their food supplies sup-plies were running low and California was still hundreds of miles away By this time, too, dissension had arisen j,in the party and a dispute between Reed aud Snyder resulted in the killing kill-ing of the latter. When they finally reached the mountains it was to find that the many delays had brought them even greater dangers. For the early snows had begun to fall on the Sierras nnd crossing the mountains would be impossible. So with heavy hearts they turned back to a cabin on the shores of a lake, since known as Donner lake, which had been built by a party of emigrants two years earlier, built more cabins and prepared pre-pared as best they could for the winter. win-ter. A series of storms piled up the snow until it was 14 feet deep. The food supplies were almost exhausted and wien the last of the cattle had been killed and eaten the emigrants were reduced to eating the hides, which when boiled, were little more than masses of glue. Several attempts were made to push across the mountains moun-tains and seek relief In the California settlements on the other side, but all, except one, failed. A "forlorn hope" expedition, of ten men and five women set out and although eight of the men perished on the way, the survivors finally reached Sutter's fort A relief party was Immediately sent out by Captain Sutter which cached a supply of food along the way and arrived with only a small amount of provisions which were doled out to the famishing members of the party. On February 22 a party of 23 started out to cross the mountains and after struggling through the snow found that wild animals had destroyed the cache ot food. Fortunately, another relief party from Sutter's fort reached them in time to save them from star" vation. In the meantime scenes of almost indescribable horror were taking place among those who had remained at Donner lake. Faced by the alternative of starving to death or resorting to cannibalism the wretched survivors chose the latter and It Is in the account ac-count of the Graves family, as written writ-ten by Ellsworth, that the harrowing details of what took place then are revealed. More Telief parties eventually even-tually arrived and by degrees the remnants rem-nants of the party made their way over the snows of the mountains down Into the valley of the Sacramento and to Sutter's fort. Starvation and the cold had exacted a fearful toll. Forty-two of the 83 members of the party who had been overtaken by winter in that terrible camp had perished. Only 18 of the original party of 31 which had left Springfield ever reached California. Descendents of some of the survivors still live in California and In 1018 had a part In dedicating a monument on the spot near Donner lake where many of the party perished. It is a monument monu-ment to the dauntless pioneer spirlr which carried the survivors of the historic Diinner party through nor rers and privations such as few hu man beings have experienced to deatli less fame. ' |
