The Path that Leads to Nowhere: The Story of the Donner Party

Willow East Junior Division Historical Paper

May 29,1861

Dear Thomas, You were probably too young to remember anything that happened in the winter of 1846 - 1847. You were only a small infant, about the age of 3. When you read this, I will have had probably passed away. So I will start from the beginning and go to the end and then tell you what brings me to speak of these things long unspoken of. It started in April, 1846. It was spring in Springfield, Illinois. There was a war that was heading from Texas to New York. Down south, Mexico, was saying that they owned the state of Texas, but the United States disagreed. In Texas, everybody is fighting about who gets what,
1

where, and why. They were debating if the United States or Mexico or even France should get the large property. To get away from this nonsense and to seek our independent futures, all of us are going on a long trip to San Francisco, California. The main reason we all left was because we and the Donner family heard about the free, fertile land. We invited our friends and they invited their friends. The only expectation was that they bring their own wagons and oxen, for we had none to spare. Me and your father, James, were just finishing up the packing of the wagons. Soon after, my mother called me over to her bed. Martha, dear daughter of mine, I don't know if I will make it all the way to California because of my old age and I am very weak these days. If I don't make it, I just want you to know that I love you and hope the best for you. She stopped talking and we sat still for a while. Then she asked me to fetch her favorite soup. I got the soup and brought it back to her. My headaches were getting worse. James thinks that the lower altitude in California will help and possibly get rid of the darn things. I went back to packing and I found a picture of my first husband, Lloyd Backenstone. He tragically died of cholera.1 I miss him. I had a daughter with him. She is your sister, Virginia. She was 13 at the time. I named her after the thought of free will in the state of Virginia. Also with us was the three of you that James and I had together. Your sister Martha was 7 and your brother James Jr. was 4.2 I remember talking to George Donner who was in his mid 60s about the trip. He was saying crazy things. He said that the trip was 2,500 miles and the oxen only averaged 2 miles per hour. That is about 30 miles a day! I suppose I realized it was a bit of madness but I was excited anyway. We all left somewhat at midday. The Breens, the Eddys, the Donners and the Murphys
1 2

Roger Wachtel. Cornerstones of Freedom.United States of America. Library of Congress. 2003 Roger Wachtel.

all traveled with us. A couple of farmers came with us, too. We left with no delay. Martha was playing with her little doll. She named it Dolly.3 Which to this day I think is ironic because it is a doll and she named it Dolly. I remember that doll well with its tannish pink dress. Her hair was silk black, drawn on with a marker. She had rosy red cheeks that were the color of a tomato. Your sister clung to that little thing of beauty. It helped bring her much peace through such tribulation. But I get ahead of myself... James has just read a book called The Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California. It advised a trail that offered as shortcut. He said that the book said it would save us 300- 450 miles.4 It also talked about how the trail started in Independence, Missouri. So we headed toward Independence to start the shortcut. Little did we know at the time, but the person who wrote it, Lansford Hastings, knew no one had ever even tried to negotiate the pass.

We made it to Independence safely. There were many paths to California from here. The Eddys and Murphys had not yet read The Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California. They were hesitant to choose their path. The Donners and us were definite that we were taking the new shortcut. The Murphys and Eddys decided they were not taking any chances. So they went the way they and everyone else knew was safe. Some of the farmers and immigrants went with us. Others went with the Eddys and Murphys. We left Independence yesterday on May 12, 1846,5 and we were joined by other wagons and people. One of those people was Colonel William H. Russell. He and his crew were going to follow us to the cutoff described in Hastings book. The cutoff was in toward the southwest corner of Wyoming. That is around the city of Lyman. Soon after they had joined us,
3 4 5

Rachel Laurgaard. Patty Reeds Doll. California. Tomato Enterprises. 1989 Kathy Weiser. Donner Party. Legends of America. updated April, 2012. January 7,2014 Old West Legends The Donner Party Tragedy. Legends of America. 2003. February 8, 2014

some horseback riders passed through and gave us a letter that talked about Mexico and the United States being at war.6 On March 24, 1846 we reach Marysville, Kansas. There was a river that blocked us from the other side. I will never forget,Marysville, Kansas.

Virginia was in the wagon watching my mom. Virginia ran out crying and she had trouble speaking. She told me that grandma had died. I ran in to my moms room which was on the second story of the wagon and I found her there lying there, motionless. We had very little time to have a funeral, but we did have time to bury her. We buried her near the edge of the river. It took me a little while to stop crying. Everyone started to build a bridge across the wide river so the oxen and wagons could cross. They gathered wood and string to make the bridge. Virginia had a diary and wrote Every time we come in the wagon, we look at the bed for her.7

For another month, we headed toward Lyman, during which time we came to Fort Laramie, Wyoming. At the fort, George Donner ran into one of his friends, James Clyman, who advised him and the group not to take the Hastings route. He talked about how it was barely passable on foot first of all. Then he said something about the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Great Desert. The kids got slightly scared. I told them that there was nothing to be scared of. George, as selfishly as possible, told us we were still going to take the Hastings Route because he thought it would make it so that they would reach their destination quicker. However, the trip felt like it was getting longer and longer. We were joined by the Breens, the Dolans and the Graves. The Breens are a family of 13. The Dolans are a family of 1. That one was Patrick Dolan. The Graves are a family of 13
6 7 7

Old West Legends Roger Wachtel. Cornerstones of Freedom.United States of America. Library of Congress. 2003.

also. The Graves disliked us because of how rich we were. They were so poor that they were not in possession of shoes.8

It was just about the time when we had reached the Great Desert when we started on the trip again.. Hastings said it is only about 40 miles long.9 The land there was barren and dry. Nothing grows. We were running on a shortage of food. Everyone else was too. All the children went around searching for things. Martha found a flower or two every 20 miles or so. They were dead, though the water dried up. We heard that Hastings was about two days ahead of us on the same trail. James was sweating. He was sent ahead with two other men on horseback to catch up with Hastings. I recall thinking that I saw a road runner or a peacock or something. That was a weird sight ,and I suspected that I was beginning to hallucinate. There was the Wasatch Mountains that we had to make a path though. A couple of our Oxen got away during the night.10 We had to shovel and rake away everything to clean the trail. It was only 40 miles, but it felt like 80. We soon got to the end of the long bright dessert. The whole group had lost around 60 oxen and we were exhausted. How wonderful it was to arrive in Nevada. For a day or two we traveled through grassy land and it was a smooth ride. We found food and water. I missed James. We met some Indians who healed our wounds with herbs. One morning, our progress came to an abrupt halt. I saw a large wall covered in white. The mountains seemed to run on for a very long time. We had reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

8 8 9

Kelly J. Dixon. Julie M. Schablitsky. Sharon A. Nowak. An Archeology of Depression. Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma. press. 2007

William Lindemann. Desperate Dreamers.2006. 10 Rachel Laurgaard. Patty Reeds Doll. California. Tomato Enterprises. 1989
10

All of us started up the everlasting hills except for George because he slit his hand when he was fixing his tire axle. When you got a cut or an open wound you should be aware that you were likely going to die from infection. So his family and the rest of the group left him to die. He wrapped his wound and ran to the group as we were departing.

It took us about 3 weeks, but we made it to the middle of the Sierras where we ran out of food. Some of us decided to build cabins as winter shelter.11 Many died but some survived. We waited for days on end. It was our last hope... to stay here or die from frostbite. The snow was piling in on us foot by foot. I was afraid I was going to lose you, and James Jr., and Martha, and Virginia. My mind became fogged with questions and visions. I had more kids than I originally had in my cabin. I was never sure who's they are. How long was the snow going to last? Where is the rescue team my husband sent for? Where is my husband?

It seemed like it has been forever since we had last seen anyone. It was so cold. Many died. We have been stuck in this cabin for what seemed like eternity. We we starving and thirsty. I took good care of the children for days. I gave them any provisions I could find in the cabin. All the hide or animal pelts we used for roofing the cabins were eaten.12 It feels like my stomach is eating itself from the inside out. Sometimes when people died they were our only source of food. The children got the flesh of the other family members and the adults got the insides. No one wanted to eat them. We did it in remorse if we did eat them.

The rescue party had come to save us. My husband must have made it to a village or something. They yelled the words HELLO, ANYONE HERE? Some of us screamed In Here! In Here! Others dug a hole up to the top of the snow. What we saw was a small amount
11 12

Old West Legends The Donner Party Tragedy. Legends of America. 2003. February 8, 2014 Ethan Rarick. The Ghoulish Tale of The Donner Party. UsNews. USA. 2014

of wagons, not enough to take us all back to the safe place they came from which was Sutters Fort, California. They told us that they could only take around 25 people. I was the last adult who had to make up my mind about staying or going. I went with the first group. Martha told me she would stay with you till you and her were brought by a group of rescuers to the camp. Well, Ma, if you never see me again, do the best you can.13 Martha said that as my eyes were filling with tears that dripped down my face one by one. The leader of the rescue group told us that James was going with the next rescue group to the camp and that they had already started their departure from the camp.

All of us that got saved started to think that eating the dead was the only way of survival. Thankfully my children never ate anyone that died. I believed it was a miracle. When James got back to the camp, you, Martha, Virginia, And James Jr. were fine. James told me When I got there the survivors looked more like demons than humans.14

The third relief party found only seven survivors. George Donner was going to die, and his wife Tamsen refused to go with the rest of the group. Her daughters and son left with the rest of the group. The fourth party only found one survivor. They found Keseberg. He was covered by a blanket of dead people.15 He was retrieved safely from what I heard from the teamster.

It had been about a year since we last saw Illinois. We moved to a beautiful farm where we raised pigs and cows. Some horses lived with us also. We all learned so very valuable things on the trip. I learned how to take care of many children when people went starving. Martha
13 14 15

Roger Wachtel. Cornerstones of Freedom.United States of America. Library of Congress. 2003. Scott P. Werther. The Donner Party: Survivor. Canada. Rosen book work inc. 2002. Old West Legends The Donner Party Tragedy. Legends of America. 2003. February 8, 2014

went on to take care of you like a babysitter would. You just learned a lot of information and I know this might be hard to take in. Take your time to comprehend what had happened during the winter of 1864. Your sisters will answer any and all questions you ask them. I talked to them after the excruciating trip about not to tell you till I told you. They swore that they would not tell you. They did a good job.

Now that I am 47 and about to die I must tell you a secret that no one must know. I have never told anyone this before.The reason we survived the tremendous trip was because I ate people. I resorted to cannibalism to get strength to help all of the children in the cabin. I was later called The Bravest of Brave. I thought a lot to myself all the time that I was some kind of monster, but later on, I realized that the freedom from this awful place came with many responsibilities. Mine was to eat the dead to solve all of your needs. I will always think back to those days as the days I wish I had died. Please keep this secret between us. I am sorry I had never told you this before. I felt like you weren't mature enough to handle this information.

- Love Mother

Works Cited Primary Sources

Kelly J. Dixon. Julie M. Schablitsky. Sharon A. Nowak. An Archeology of Depression. Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma. press. 2007. print I encased detailed information on the Donner party by a world renowned archeologist. Her name is Kelly Dixon. She told me to read this book. In this book i found cool information about the past of the donner party and what all the reasons they left were. I also found out that they were cannibalistic no matter how much you may disagree Kelly Dixon. 12/20/2013. email.

Secondary Sources
8

Old West Legends The Donner Party Tragedy. Legends of America. 2003. February 8, 2014 The information I dug out of this website helped me write about how the party got saved by the small groups of rescuers.

Ethan Rarick. The Ghoulish Tale of The Donner Party. UsNews. USA. 2014. web. In this pulled out some very sad things things from this website. Most of the things i found interesting in this is that they got blocked at the gate to California by a blizzard in the fall of 1846. It caught my eye when I read that the snow in the Nevada passes could be more than 30 ft. deep around this time.

Kathy Weiser. Donner Party. Legends of America. updated April, 2012. January 7,2014. web. In the first few paragraphs I had learned a lot of the main people in the happening of the Donner Party. Later on I dug out information about Patty Reed's doll. The doll wore a pinkish dress and used to have rosey red cheeks.

Scott P. Werther. The Donner Party: Survivor. Canada. Rosen book work inc. 2002. Print This book told me about who William Eddy was. He was an older man maybe in his 40s. He was sent ahead of the group on a horse and went to go find rescue. Luckily for him and 6 others they made it to a house who was owned by a lady who went with the name Harriet Ritchie.

Roger Wachtel. Cornerstones of Freedom.United States of America. Library of Congress.2003 Print. This book has helped me with writing most of my story. The information is easy to read and comprehensible. That is why I use it most. the information in it I have not been able to find anywhere else. Not sure if this is good or bad. Some information I found here but no where else is that Margaret Reed was married to a man who died of cholera. Rachel Laurgaard. Patty Reeds Doll. California. Tomato Enterprises. 1989. Print This story is told from Patty Reed's dolls perspective. It described to me what the doll looked like and how much Patty loved it.

10