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Show DEATH RECALLS TRAGEDY Of '49 Last Survivor of Terrible Jour ney Across Utah to Coast Passes Away SAN ntANCBOOi Marc!, t Lorenzo Lo-renzo Dow 8tepbna. VJ. laalofthe' Ja hawkers, an tntrftpld party recruit-1 ad In Illinois In 184 for the overland! journav to the California gold fields.! died tn Oakland. Cal . February 11. Tragic, bitter sufferings borne by1 th Jayhawkers in crossing uawa lev were recalled hy the death of 8te- phens The experiences of the partyi closely paralleled those of the famous Ill-fated Honner party. 42 of whom tared froxe and died In th snow, of Placer county. California. In the winter of 1846-47 The Jayhawkers. without chart or guide, amoxad tho daring men of their l ermd by forcing their way across Mealh Valley by sheer pluck and per-! severance. Four of them died of; thirst, starvation and exhaustion Ini 'heir three months- struggle across earth baked so hard that the feet of their oxen made no Imprint, amid rocks that tore their feet and forced them to abandon wagon and In ahlft-Ing ahlft-Ing sands that sucked down their feet land scorched their bodlea. There were thirty-one young and vigorous men in the original Jayhawk-era' Jayhawk-era' party. Driving slow-footed oxen to covered wagons, they started from iGalesburg. Ilia . April 6. 184. to scoop i fabled riches from the grass roots. 8AI1 LM IU HI 1' In the late summer their ponder- loua oxen drew th creaking wagons Unto Salt Iiko City. ftah. There they were called upon to make a momentous mo-mentous decision aa they were told the regular mountain route to San Fran- Jclaco would He beneath tWOBt feet of Sierra Nevada snow before they could reach the passes. They were 'warned, too. of the awful fate that had befallen the Donner party, ami were told to wult In Salt Uike three '.r ..r months, when the trail Would i be cleared. Impatient, thoy sought an nlterna-. Ue and Joining with other Argonauts. 107 wagons started In the late fall for Ios Angeles under guidance of Johni Hunt, who contracted to take them over the old Spanish trail through San, I Bernardino Hunt was in no hurry.! I and dissatisfaction became rampant at jihe slow progress. Much waa said of la short cut west that would eliminate &00 miles from their Journey SHOK itii i Ki H Hunt could nM dissuade them. and. about the first of November 100 wag- 1 on turned from the trail to attempt (the unknown short cut. leaving him 'with but seven wagona Three days ! later those taking the short cut came; to a precipice above a plain, and dls- J 1 couraged. most of them turned back to the original trail to follow Hunt. Hut the jl Jayhawkers pressed on. not knowing the short cut waa to take them acroee the region afterward ap , p-oprlately naiied Heath Valle TBO raoord from this point Is one of con -I tlnuoua hardship;", sufferings almost termination to live, tempered with self, sacrifice for comrades. Early on the Journey a man weakened weak-ened b consumption succumbed once tha Jayhawkers were eared b a enow , '..rm after aU days without water Their oxen, weakened b lack of grass and water on the arid, barren region became too weak to draw the wagons' , p rockv slopes Wagon were aban-i doned. men and oxen taking the bur- den upon their backa Fighting their i way through the sand, they came stamcerlng to a water hole In tha dee-. ert and were Joined by the Her. J. W Hrter hla wife end three children, who had been members of Hunt's original party Th" brought their number up! to thirty-five, one having died. The weeks that followed war large repetitions of what had gone be-! fore Thev were aeved again and again after days without water by, finding a s.antv suppl After ae-veral days thlrat. William lacrtam. exhaust 0l lay down m.d begged his OOB Ions to leave him Hours later the) found a trickling atream In the nd( and haatanad back la him lui ha was unable to swallow, nod died In their arms Oxen, lean and weak war killed and eaten their Mood being j drunk to allay thirat. on th shores Of an alkaline lake that mocked them, a man named Klsh gasped -Lit hi Ufa William Kobtn-on Kobtn-on died with hla faca to the waet Just aa acoute reported water a mile , away It waa the end of January Uia l snow j waa reached on a rising alope and ' Juniper aiid oak treee ware aeon far :wav to the south With renewed' i hope i ame more apeed. and on Kobru arv 4. 1"0. fat cattle were aaen graa-ng. graa-ng. Two of these wero ahot. attracting attract-ing Spanlah horseman of the San Fran-claqulto Fran-claqulto ranch. They trwated the I weary, emaciated Jayhawkers with companion and a few daa later the were gladdened by the eight f tnr eea at 8an Buena Ventura. California |
