The families of brothers George and Jacob Donner and local businessman James Reed left Springfield on April 14, 1846. The Donner Partycontinued to travel along the Humboldt River with their remaining draft animals exhausted. The wagon train reached Independence, Missouri about three weeks later, where they re-supplied. Reed also hoped that his wife, Margaret, who suffered from terrible headaches, might improve in the coastal climate. Even as they started ferrying wagons across, they found they couldn't keep up dozens of wagons were lined up waiting for their turn to cross. 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. When they died or got sick, the men were left to make things up like the husband of a Mrs. Knapp. Everything was made ready for a charge when Major Greer suddenly decided to talk with the Indians before commencing to fight. Road agents also became very much in evidence, and the robbery of stages was not uncommon. The letter stated that Hastings would meet the emigrants at Fort Bridger and lead them on his cutoff, which passed south of the Great Salt Lake instead of detouring northwest via Fort Hall (present-day Pocatello,Idaho.). On March 12ththe third relief led by William Eddy and William Foster reached Starved Camp where Mrs. Graves and her son Franklin had also died. 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. Children were especially susceptible to being run over by heavy wagons. Invariably such a storm meant a stampede of the mules, nor would a man dare to desert his shelter to seek them. On December 16 a party of 10 men and 5 women set out to cross the mountains on improvised snowshoes. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. From start to finish, it took between five and six months, and it's hard to imagine today. 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. Instead, they never gave them the warning, sending them to some of the darkest days imaginable, all in the name of making a buck. Twelve of the emigrants were dead and of the forty-eight remaining, many had gone crazy or were barely clinging to life. All the other migrants of 1846 had completed their journey to California, and the Donner party was racing the weather to clear the passes in the Sierra Nevada. The Donner Party wasted no time in administering their own justice. The Raton Range had been safely surmounted, and, just about dawn one morning, the heavy coach entered the canyon of the Canadian River, its occupants unsuspicious of any danger. According to Peter D. Olch, being run over by wagon wheels was the most frequent cause of injury or death. Reed and another rescuer, Hiram Miller, took three of the refugees with them hoping to find food they had stored on the way up. Here they came to a halt when they found a note from Hastings advising them not to follow him down Weber Canyon as it was virtually impassible, but rather to take another trail through the Salt Basin. The first relief party soon left with 23 refugees, but during the partys travels back to Sutters Fort, two more children died. I use these web pages to make available the sources of information that I run across - wagon . About the same time, a force of over 2,000 Indians made a determined attack upon a detachment of troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Collins at Rush Creek, Nebraska, 85 miles north of Julesburg. Heroically struggling through the deep snow, seven men reached the lake camp on February 18. Keseberg was the last member of the Donner Party to arrive at Sutters Fort on April 29th. There followed a 24-hour fight, from which the whites emerged with a loss of but three men killed and eight wounded. The passengers were all old frontiersmen and were prepared for a desperate defense, anticipating a possible robbery attempt. But treachery worked their ruin. In the beginning, the wagon train was lucky to make even two miles per day, taking them six days just to travel eight miles. Given the starvation that happened later, it's impossible not to wonder how many people died dreaming of everything they dumped. Talk about incentive. After building ferries to cross the water, the party was on their way again, following the Platte River for the next month. The text as it appears here, however, is not verbatim as it has been edited for clarity and ease of the modern reader. Wagon Train debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. Leaving his family, Reed was last seen riding off to the west with a man named Walter Herron. 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. 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. Two men who had joined the party at the lake also died. The warriors, or nearly all of them, threw themselves on the ground, and several vertical wounds were received by horse and rider. By the time the Donner party reached the Humboldt River, where Hastings Cutoff rejoined the main California Trail, it was late September. Yet, even more, a summer hailstorm was to be dreaded, for nowhere else do such ice-chunks descend from the sky. On the Trail - The Westward Movement. 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. Their first destination wasIndependence,Missouri, the main jumping-off point for theOregonandCalifornia Trails. Many of those who survived lost toes to frostbite. Generally, the first fire from the Indians killed one or two horses and tumbled a soldier or two off the top of the coach. But in the mountain district to be traversed before reaching Santa Fe, the most serious disasters usually occurred during the winter. According to a fellow traveler, it worked. Nice work, doc. 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. Compiled and edited by Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated December 2021. 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. 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. A week later they joined a large wagon train captained by Colonel William H. Russell that was camped on Indian Creek about 100 miles west ofIndependence. It is easy to conceive the danger which night and day pursued those men who were then employed upon the Overland Trail. Passengers and employees had to crowd into the coach and use every effort to keep from freezing, and at the end, often found themselves minus mules with which to complete the journey. Event image of various prairie wagons in use. Animals could cause very serious injury to their owners. This custom of guarding coaches by soldiers along the Overland Trail was inaugurated during the Sioux uprising of 1863. Reed soon found others seeking adventure and fortune in the vast West, including the Donner family, Graves, Breens, Murphys, Eddys, McCutcheons, Kesebergs, and the Wolfingers, as well as seven teamsters and a number of bachelors. The group now numbered 74 people in twenty wagons and for the first week made good progress at 10-12 miles per day. Mrs. White, her child, and nurse were borne away prisoners. For 15 years, he was the terror of the Trail, and his acts of atrocity were incessant. Tensions were running high among the exhausted migrants, and on October 5 an altercation between Reed and a teamster employed by another family ended with Reed fatally stabbing the man. In 1921, a rebellion against British colonial rule by Mappila Muslims broke out in the Malabar District of British India. With the Sierra pass just 12 miles beyond, the wagon train, after attempting to make the pass through the heavy snow, finally retreated to the eastern end of the lake, where level ground and timber was abundant. The tales of suffering, desperate fighting, and incredible endurance cling to every mile from the Little Blue River to the Laramie River. The history of his bloody deeds will never be told, for dead men tell no tales, and seldom did Bent leave any alive after a raid. The company included about 140 men, women and childrenthe women and children outnumbered the able-bodied men 2-to-1. The oxen moved slowly forwardand the long journey had begun.. One of their number, Gib Ryker, is a sociopath who enjoys antagonizing young Barnaby West. This list includes all of the Wagon Train main actors and actresses, so if they are an integral part of the show you'll find them below.You can various bits of trivia about these Wagon Train stars, such as where the actor was born and what their year of birth is. People could be crushed by wagons or animals, thrown by horses. A family of seven, killed by Indians, was buried here together in the wagon box from their covered wagon. Leave late, and you'd be waiting on the shores of a river where people and animals had been doing their business for months and months, and yes, you were drinking that water, too. On October 31 the weary migrants approached what is now Donner Pass across the Sierra Nevada and found their progress blocked by deepening snow. However, with only meager rations and already weak from hunger the group faced a challenging ordeal. On February 19th, the first party reached the lake finding what appeared to be a deserted camp until the ghostly figure of a woman appeared. 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. They'd established a safe home in the Walla Walla Valley, and within the year the seven had been officially adopted by the couple who were killed in a massacre three years later, along with John and Francisco Sager, the eldest children. Along the way, William Russell resigned as the captain of the wagon train and the position was assumed by a man named William M. Boggs. At Fort Laramie, James Reed ran into an old friend fromIllinoisby the name of James Clyman, who had just traveled the new route eastwardly with Lansford Hastings. They ate all kinds of nasty plants and passed the problems on in their milk. Not everyone could be taken out at one time and since no pack animals could be brought in, few food supplies were brought in. Patrick Breen was a member of the Donner Party and kept a diary of their ordeal during the winter of 1846-47. After the publicity, emigration toCaliforniafell off sharply and Hastings cutoff was all but abandoned. I don't know if anyone recorded the number of dishonest wagon masters, but in the hundreds of wagon trains heading to Oregon or California there certainly were some incompetent ones. No trace of either the child or the colored nurse was ever found. Ever feel like you have the worst luck on the planet? Infuriated by the teamsters treatment of the oxen, James Reed ordered the man to stop and when he wouldnt, Reed grabbed his knife and stabbed the teamster in the stomach, killing him. In April of that year occurred a terrible fight between the mail-stage and Indians on the Sweetwater River. Immediately a regular volley was poured in from the opposite side; four of the passengers fell dead, another was severely wounded. A few days later, the party was caught in a blizzard and had great difficulty getting and keeping a fire lit. The old man, who could not keep up with the rest of the party with his severely swollen feet, began to knock on other wagon doors, but no one would let him in. On August 6, the party reached the Weber River after having passed through Echo Canyon. The pioneer needed to go with little sleep, bear illness, suffering, and even, tragedy through the many weeks of travel. Other relief parties followed, but, because of illness and injuries, it was impossible to remove everyone. 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. As the elevation increased, the rain turned to snow and twelve miles from the summit the pair could go no further. He had his full share of narrow escapes. 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. On July 31st, the party left Fort Bridger, joined by the McCutchen family. On the Trail - McCully Wagon Train - 1852. 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. Plenty of people had the misfortune to listen to one of the quack doctors who hit the trail, too. The Sioux came out on top during that skirmish, and Grattan's body was recovered riddled with arrows. The three bodies, including that of Isaac Donner, had been cannibalized. When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp. The Hide Hunters. There, on May 12, they became a part of a main wagon train headed west. Encountering few problems along the trail, the pioneers reachedFort Laramiejust one week behind schedule on June 27, 1846. The next day five men, nine women, and one child departed on snowshoes for the summit, determined to travel the 100 miles to Sutters Fort. See production, box office & company info, Stage 19, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA. By late 1849 more than 100,000 people had come to California in search of gold near the streams and canyons where theDonner Partyhad suffered. Hide hunters, hunters who kill buffalo for their hides only, have temporarily joined up with the wagon train. Early contact between settlers and Native Americans was relatively peaceful, according to WyoHistory. 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. The breaking out of the Civil War required the withdrawal of many of the regulars from the Plains, and the Indians, quick to perceive their opportunity, began wholesale depredations. The Donner party stranded in the Sierra Nevada Range, 1847. Bryant wrote. In 1856, a series of poor harvests left the church with only a meager fund to . 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. On December 15, Balis Williams died of malnutrition and the group realized that something had to be done before they all died. The last survivor, Lewis Keseberg, who had supported himself during the last weeks by cannibalism, did not leave camp until April 21. Though Sarah Keyes was so sick with consumption that she could barely walk, she was unwilling to be separated from her only daughter. The accusations got so bad he even sued for slander and won $1, but when Keseberg died in 1895, even his obituary reminded everyone he was a cannibal. On November 20 Patrick Breen, whose family had joined the party in Independence, Missouri, began a diary which he continued until March 1. Hide hunters, hunters who kill buffalo for their hides only, have temporarily joined up with the wagon train. When he sees an opportuni 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. Julesburg was attacked on several occasions, and in February 1864, was burned to the ground. Fort Laramie Parade Grounds, photo by Kathy Alexander. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846-1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The party elected George Donner to serve as its leader, and at its peak the Donner party would number some 87 people29 men, 15 women, and 43 childrenin a column of 23 ox-drawn wagons. The stumps represent the depth of the snow at the time. Taking a vote among the party members, the group decided to try the new trail rather than backtracking to Fort Bridger. You'd be pretty mad, too. They lived, met, married, and had a son you probably know of: Butch Cassidy. George Donnerwas a successful 62-year-old farmer who had migrated five times before settling inSpringfield, Illinois along with his brother Jacob. It took him an hour to die, "in full possession of his senses." Time was supposed to heal all wounds, he wrote, but that was B.S. Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy. That's not a joke. On April 17th, the relief party reached the camps to find only Louis Keseberg alive among the mutilated remains of his former companions. 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. A large, well equipped wagon train rolled toward California in 1846. Only two of the ten men survived, including William Eddy and William Foster, but all five women lived through the journey. 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. On the far side of the desert, an inventory of food was taken and found to be less than adequate for the 600-mile trek still ahead. In July 1865, a stage carrying seven passengers and containing a considerable amount of gold bullion was the object of such an attack. It was a west-bound Concord, containing a full complement of passengers, including a Mr. White, his wife, child, and colored nurse. In the beginning, the wagon train was lucky to make even two miles per day, taking them six days just to travel eight miles. The Denver Post reports the plan was simple: British and Scandinavian converts who were too poor to buy wagons would load all their worldly possessions onto a handcart, push them across the U.S., and make the journey in only 60 days. The tale told by the Washington State Historical Society suggests they may have been the fortunate ones, because when the four soldiers took the first opportunity they had to pick the best horses and high-tail their way out of Dodge, they left the party with a broken defense. Cholera was the main scourge of the trail. The most important of these, situated in the very heart of this blood-stained territory, was Julesburg, Colorado. From the earliest attempts, accidents were frequent, and suffering from exposure to the elements was common. He found a camp of 15 people, including five dead who had been partially eaten by the starving living. 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. Charlie Wooster: Now, I don't have enough morals of my own, huh? As the rest of the party continued to what is now known as Donners Lake, snow began to fall. The Donner Party soon reached the junction with theCalifornia Trail, about seven miles west of present-day Elko, Nevada and spent the next two weeks traveling along the Humboldt River. resident and Western Writers of America executive director Candy Moulton traveled with the Mormon Trail Sesquicentennial Wagon Train in 1997, pushing and pulling a . s Wagon Train. With the trail blotted entirely from sight, all that could be done was wait for the storm to blow over. When it cleared, Isaac Donner had died and most of the refugees were too weak to travel. With scarcely any opportunity for defense, the unfortunate whites were shot down, scalped, and their mutilated bodies left upon the ground. When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy. During their first week in the Cutoff, the Donner party made good progress. Grattan took several howitzers, which is not how you start a peaceful negotiation when tensions are already high. Reed would continue west on horseback while the rest of his family remained with the Donner party. Donner Lake and Donner Pass, California, are named for the party. Cooper Smith: We're just giving you moral support. The Hastings Cutoff was a fairly untried shortcut, and Fort Bridger (pictured) sat at the trailhead. 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. A few days later their last few cattle were slaughtered for food and party began eating boiled hides, twigs, bones and bark. Emigrants only had what they could carry. Hastings had claimed that his route would shave more than 300 miles (480 km) from the journey to California. 320 North 4th Street The wagon tragedy also known as wagon massacre was an incident which occurred during the Malabar rebellion against British colonial rule in India that led to the deaths of 70 Indian prisoners. If you're of a certain age, you remember spending hours naming your Oregon Trail family after your own family or friends, guiding their MS-DOS-based adventures, and laughing when brother Stinky Johnny died of dysentery. In the Spring of 1865, the Plains tribes again became very troublesome and raided the stage line almost from end to end. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Donner-party, Legends of America - The Tragic Story of the Donner Party, EyeWitness to History.com - The Tragic Fate of the Donner Party, 1847, Online Nevada Encyclopedia - Donner Party, Donner party - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up).
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