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In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Donner Party, I created a daily diary of the Donner Party's journey. The daily information includes diary entries and quotes from original sources and histories. Now that the anniversary is over, I will keep the diary on the web for your research, education and enjoyment.
The Donner Party was the most famous tragedy in the history of the westward migration. Almost ninety wagon train emigrants were unable to cross the Sierra Nevada before winter, and almost one-half starved to death. Perhaps because they were ordinary people -- farmers, merchants, parents, children -- their story captures the imagination. The logs on this site contain the words of the participants from their diaries, letters and first-hand accounts, balanced by the perspective of later historians. The logs describe the locations of their trail and camps in detail so you can follow in the Donner Party's wagon tracks and footsteps.
One-hundred and sixty-five years ago this month, the members of the Snowshoe Party, lost in the western canyons of the Sierra, continued their desperate trek towards Johnson's Ranch. They crossed the 1,300 foot deep canyon of the North Fork of the American River, and clawed their way up the western wall, below.
The two Indians from Sutter's Fort, fearing for their lives, set out on their own. Eddy managed to shoot a deer, but it was too late for Jay Fosdick, who died in his wife's arms. Several days later, the remaining members of the Snowshoe Party were again out of food when they found the bodies of the two Indians. Once again, the living resorted to the flesh of the dead for survival. A few days later, they followed a trail into an Indian village. The Indians gave them food, and helped Eddy to Johnson's Ranch. The settlers near Johnson's brought in the other survivors. All five women, but only two of the men, survived the storms and difficult trek. Coincidentally, the San Francisco newspaper published a story that day about the emigrants trapped in the mountains, based on the accounts from Sutter's Fort where Stanton and Reed had obtained supplies the previous October. With the news of the arrival of the Snowshoe Party survivors, the settlers at Johnson's Ranch prepared to go to the rescue of the emigrants at the Lake. Johnson and Sutter provided supplies, which a small group of men prepared to carry in.
Meanwhile, at the cabins, conditions were bad. Many of the families survived by eating the hides which formed the roofs over their heads. Margaret Reed was so desperate that she set out to cross the mountains with her thirteen year-old daughter Virginia, her servant Eliza Williams and her teamster Milt Elliott. She left her three younger children with the other families. Also joining in the attempt was 18 year-old William Graves, whose father and two older sisters were with the Snowshoe Party. Heavy snows over the Pass forced this small group to give up the attempt and return to the cabins at the Lake. The view from the Pass towards the Lake is shown in the photograph, below.
Conditions continued to worsen. The Reeds, having used all the hides from their roof for food, were taken in by the Breens. Mrs. Graves seized the Reeds' property as collateral for repayment of their debt. Death continued to stalk the Donner Party. The infant Lewis Keseberg, Jr., born on the Trail, and 15-year old Landrum Murphy, died at the Lake cabins.
View maps of the Donner Party's route (the Hastings Cut-off), the camps at Alder Creek and Donner Lake, and the route of the Snowshoe Party.
Read what happened to the members of the Donner Party, those who survived, and those who didn't.
Read about the salvage operations, and the remains of the Alder Creek campsites and the Lake Cabins.
Read reports from other Donner Party buffs who visited historic sites and made new discoveries, or re-discovered a bit of history.
The families of the Donner Party faced horrible choices and made tough decisions the best they could. This winter, a bad shortcut created a fatal situation for one family, and a heavy snowstorm trapped two others.
KRQE in Albuquerque reported that a couple in their 80's were stranded in their car for six days as they traveled home from a Chandler, AZ, Thanksgiving to Albuquerque, NM. On December 1, they missed a turn in Globe, AZ, and took a shortcut to get back to their route. On the remote forest road, their car hit a rock, puncturing the transmission. The couple stayed in the car, starting it periodically to stay warm, drinking melted snow, and eating their meager supply of two sandwiches, three cookies and two candy bars. When the car ran out of gas after four days, the couple put on more clothes and began to walk out. After only 20 feet the wife collapsed and died. The husband continued for 7 miles, spending the night sleeping under a tree, until he was found by an Arizona game officer.
The Associated Press and Washington Post reported that a family of three from League City, TX became trapped in their SUV for two days while driving to a ski area in New Mexico. Although the road, US 56, was open, and their SUV had snow tires and 4WD, the snow stopped the SUV. When the father, who was driving, tried to rock the SUV out, it slipped down an embankment. It soon became covered by snow so the family was unable to open the doors and people driving by on the road could not see it. The family had ski gear, food and water, but it became harder to breathe inside the vehicle. The father was able to reach his brother by cell phone, who notified state police who began a search along the road. A rescuer probing the snow bank found the car and the family was dug out. The parents both had pneumonia but their 5-year old daughter was fine. 31 other cars needed to be pulled out of the snow, but only this family needed medical attention.
The Associated Press reported that a 23-year old Arizona student who went for a drive near the Mogollon Rim south of Winslow, AZ, became stuck on a dirt road on December 12. She was not able to turn the car around and it became stuck in the snow. She was not prepared for winter conditions, not having a winter coat or blankets. But she was clever enough to melt snow by putting it in a water bottle and setting the bottle on top of her car to melt the snow. She survived on the water and two candy bars until Forest Service employees on snowmobiles discovered her on December 21 while they were checking gates on the road.
On January 16, 1847, The California Star, Yerba Buena, reported a "most distressing situation" for "a party of emigrants." Ever since then, there has been no shortage of printed material about the Donner Party. The challenge has been to find accurate accounts. Often, the contemporary sources have not been the most reliable, such as the newspaper reports of the Relief parties and the first book published about the Donner Party. There have been almost as many fictional accounts as histories. The best selling "history" is actually told as a "dramatized" story. I have tried to rely on first-person accounts and well-researched histories, as listed in my bibliography of Donner sources.
Visit other websites for more information on the Donner Party, and related history websites.
There is a new contender for the single book to read to learn about the Donner Party. Historian, novelist and poet Allan W. Eckert, seven-time nominee for the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, has written Dark Journey: The Tragedy of the Donner Party." Mr. Eckert, author of the historical narrative series The Winning of America, says that "Dark Journey is fact, not fiction. ... certain techniques normally associated with the novel form have been utilized to help provide continuity and narrative flow." Thus, Mr. Eckert follows in the tradition of George Stewart, who said his book Ordeal by Hunger "is strictly factual, based upon the evidence of the sources and upon reasonable deduction from that evidence; it is not fiction." Dark Journey also includes quotes from primary sources, which follows the tradition of C.F. McGlashan's History of the Donner Party. Even with the extensive footnotes and quotations from source materials, a few errors crept into "Dark Journey." For example, Eckert refers to Margaret Reed as "Peggy" throughout the book, but it was Margaret Breen, not Margaret Reed, who was known as Peggy. So when Eckert attributes to Margaret "Peggy" Reed the greeting to the First Relief: "Are your men from California or are you angels come from heaven?" we're not sure who said it. Daniel Rhoads, who told the story to Prof. Bancroft in 1873, simply called her "the first woman" who had emerged from a hole in the snow. Margaret Reed's daughter Virginia wrote in 1891 that Mr. Breen, not a woman, was the first one up the icy steps, so it could have been Mrs. Breen who spoke the words. Either way, it's a great story, and that's what "Dark Journey" is. Available from the publisher Jesse Stuart Foundation.
Anacapa Entertainment brought
its movie The Donner Party
"based on the true story of survival," direct to DVD on January 26.
You can order a copy from
Amazon.com. The movie was a featured film at the
Austin Film Festival. You can
watch a clip at
MovieWeb.com. The movie was originally titled "The Forlorn"
which was much more evocative of the story and more accurate (the movie is about
the Snowshoe Party known as the Forlorn Hope, not a story of the entire Donner
Party). It was written and directed by TJ
Martin and stars Crispin Glover ("Beowulf" and "Back to the Future") as William
Foster, and Clayne Crawford ("Wristcutters: A Love Story") as William Eddy.
The issue of cannibalism is apparently on the minds of the filmmakers, as
indicated by Crispin Glover's comment that "This historical incident is a
fascinating portion of American history and rich material for an actor to sink
one's teeth into. The pun is intended." Other actors include Mark Boone
Junior ("Thirty Days of Night") as Franklin Graves, Jamie Allman ("The
Notebook") as Eleanor Eddy, Catherine Black ("American Psycho") as Ann Fosdick,
and Christian Kane ("Friday Night Lights") as Charles Stanton. The movie was filmed near the actual site
and most of the actors are near the ages of the characters they portray, with
the notable exception of star Crispin Glover, 48, playing 28 year-old William
Foster. There have been two name changes, probably
to avoid the confusion of having characters with similar names. Sarah
Foster sounds like Sarah Fosdick but most Donner buffs don't notice because
we refer to these two married women by the names of their families, Murphy and Graves. For
the movie audience, the filmmakers
call Mrs. Fosdick "Ann." William McCutcheon was changed to "Milt," no doubt
because there were already two other Williams (Foster and Eddy): Based on
stills from the
movie website, the movie has a fairly realistic look, although none of the actors appear to
have taken the extreme steps taken by
Emile Hirsch who lost 41 pounds to play Chris McCandless in "Into the Wild."
Celia Hayes, author of "To Truckee's
Trail", a novel about the Stephens Party of 1844, reviewed the The Donner Party
movie on her blog. She
thought the movie looked realistic, since it was filmed on location, but in the
name of drama they changed some events so the movie is not strictly accurate in
historical detail.
Students at Elitha Donner Elementary
School in Elk Grove, California, won a SEVA award in the 4th to 6th
Grade category for their documentary video about their school's namesake
Elitha Donner. Elitha was the daughter of George Donner. She
survived the Donner Party and settled in the Elk Grove area after marrying
Benjamin Wilder. The students interviewed experts, including
California State historian Steve Beck from Sutter's Fort and historical
novelist Naida West, author of River of Red Gold: The True Story of
Donner Party Survivors. Ms. West lives on the property along the
Cosumnes River east of Elk Grove where Elitha's house was located, and shows
the site in the video. The SEVA awards are presented by the
Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium.
You can see the video on the
SECCTV website.
Celia
Hayes has published "To Truckee's Trail," a novel based on the
1844 journey
of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party, who were the first party to successfully
bring wagons to California over the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Party,
guided by the Mountain Man Caleb Greenwood, met a Paiute Indian named Truckee
who showed them a route over a desert to a river that flowed from a lake below a pass in the
mountains. The Stephens Party were able to bring their wagons over
Truckee's Pass, although they were unable to bring them down the mountains until
the next Spring. Ms. Hayes tells their story with imagined diary entries from
the participants in addition to the narrative. The book is available from
the publisher BookLocker.
The Donner Party followed Truckee's Route two years later, and their fame led to
the renaming of Truckee's Pass and Truckee's Lake to Donner Pass and Donner
Lake. Only the river remains named for Truckee.
Poet Shana Youngdahl has written a long poem entitled "Donner: A Passing." This is not a history in poem form, but the author's attempt to convey the emotional difficulty of the journey and tragedy. Each of the 25 poems describes a particular event, from leaving Springfield to the rescue of Keseburg. The poems are short and terse, similar to haiku, but they cause the reader to pause and consider the event. Ms. Youngdahl is originally from Paradise, CA and draws on the history and landscape of the west in her poetry. Her poetry has been anthologized is the book White Ink: Poems on Mothers and Motherhood (Demeter Press, 2007), and appeared in many national literary magazines including Shenandoah, Margie and Paper Street. She has received writing residencies from Norcroft and Devil's Tower national monument. She holds a BA in English from Mills College and an MFA in Poetry from the University of Minnesota. The book is available from Finishing Line Press as a chapbook (a short book of 26 pages).
The
Metropolitan Playhouse in
New York presented
Mortal Decisions: a
diary of the Donner Party, a one-man show written by and starring Stu
Richel. Mr.Richel explores the questions surrounding the Donner Party,
such as "why them?" and "how would I have measured up?" Mortal
Decisions was premiered by Northside Theater Company in San Jose, California
in 1994, and Mr. Richel performed it at the 150th Anniversary gathering in Reno,
Nevada. The show ran on February 8, 9, 15 and 16, 2008.
.
Author
and photographer Mark McLaughlin
received the Northern California Publishers and Authors award for Best
Nonfiction Book of 2006, for his new book The
Donner Party: Weathering the Storm. a history of the Donner Party enhanced
with research into the weather conditions. The Donner history is well
written and includes numerous quotations from primary sources, especially
concerning the weather. Among other topics, Mark addresses the evidence
that the winter of 1846-47 was unusually wet, and the evidence that the snow
depth at Donner Lake was 22 feet. He supplements the history with recent
archaeology including the excavations at Alder Creek. The book is
available from
Mark's website. The website also includes climate data, snowfall and
snowpack measurements from 1879, a collection of weather stories and other
interesting information.
"The
Donner Party," Ric Burns' 1992 documentary for the PBS series The
American Experience, is now available on DVD, and for only $19.98, from
Shop PBS. This is an excellent documentary that tells the story
of the Donner Party using traditional sources and the then-new research of Prof.
Joseph A. King. With readings from primary sources, and footage of scenes
from the Trail and the cabins, this is an easy way to learn a lot about the
Donner Party in 90 minutes of enjoyable viewing For other Ric Burns films,
including The Way West, about the conflict between the Native Americans
and the European, visit Steeplechase Films.
Thanks to the efforts of the Historic Donner Trail Committee a portion of the California Trail from Donner Lake to the Summit won't be abandoned as a public road. This section of the Trail saw less use after the discovery of Roller Pass in 1846, but it became the main route with the construction of the Dutch Flat and Donner Lake Wagon Road in 1852, and later the Lincoln Highway. It decayed after the construction of US Highway 40 and became a "Jeep" trail until a landowner blocked it. A group of citizens has been fighting to preserve the old trail, and has stopped an attempt by Nevada County to abandon the road. The fight isn't over so visit the Historic Donner Trail Committee website to see how you can help.
Frankye Craig, Donner Party buff and author
of the soon to be released book, "The
Fateful Journey of Tamsen Donner" hosted a very successful Donner Party cross-country
bus tour and symposium in October, 2006. The guided bus tour went from Independence, Missouri
to Donner Lake The guides were Trail historian Ross Marshall and
Donner Party historian Frank Mullen author of the
Donner Party Chronicles. The commemoration and symposium was held at Boomtown Hotel near Reno, Nevada,
and included a dinner with Frank
Mullen Jr. as a story-teller. The commemoration included a bus tour of the trail from
Verdi through the encampments and the summit. Thanks to symposium and tour
organizer Frankye Craig,
E-Mail: FrankyeEBD@aol.com, Phone:
+1 (775) 747-1139
The Meadow Brook Theater presented "Devour the Snow", described as "a riveting courtroom drama drawn from the harrowing saga of the ill-fated Donner Party and encompasses the struggles of man vs. nature and man vs. man. One of the earliest recorded slander trials in American history this factual account follows Lewis Keseberg, a German emigrant and survivor of the tragic Donner Party expedition, and his suit for slander against several other survivors, who have accused him of being a grave robber and murderer. Directed by David Regal this production features award winning MBT actor Dennis E. North (Art, Of Mice and Men)." Actually Keseburg did not sue other survivors, he sued Ned Coffeemeyer of the Fourth Relief. The Meadow Brook Theater is on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. The performances ran from March 15 to April 9, 2006.
Cathy Ward and Eric Wright mounted an exhibition entitled "Destiny Manifest - Eden's End" at Cafe Gallery Projects London, The Gallery by the Lake, Southwark Park, London SE 16 2UA from 13th July to 7th August 2005. Destiny Manifest is a body of work inspired by a 7500 mile journey that traced the wagon roads of pioneer America. This journey was precipitated by a long-standing interest in the tragic Donner Party story. The exhibit comprised a 10 ft by 40 ft panoramic painting, sculptures, video projections and photographs. Visit the exhibition website for more information.
You'd have to
be pretty brave to write a Donner Party Cookbook, and Terry Del Bene,
Ph.D. is. His book combines a history of the Donner Party
with recipes for meals similar to those prepared by wagon train emigrants.
Mr. Del Bene is an anthropologist who has participated in archaeological digs
and living history demonstrations of life on the Oregon-California Trail.
So he knows what it takes to survive for five months on the Trail. He also
knows what it takes to sell books, so in the proud tradition of previous Donner
Party books he plays on the lurid aspects of the story. He includes sample
invitations to a "Donner Party ... Lose Weight and Party All at the Same Time!"
But other than the gory cover art and a few shocking statements such as "None of
the members had any recipes for human flesh before starting their journey,"
the book is a solid history of the Donner Party and a solid cookbook of trail
food. Recipes range from home style favorites such as corn bread and mince
meat to camp-out specials such as antelope pudding and elk roast. The recipes use modern ingredients and methods, although Mr. Del Bene details how food was prepared in the 19th Century. Mr. Del Bene
puts his own spin on history, such as calling Stanton's return and Reed and
McCutcheon's attempted return "Relief Expeditions" when that title is usually
associated with the parties that reached the survivors in the Spring,
which Del Bene calls "Rescue Parties." But other than a few minor points,
this is a well-researched history with endnotes to explain the more subtle
points, even though Del Bene says in the preface that he "tried to refrain from
the cumbersome system of footnoting." Available from the publisher
Horse Creek Publications and
from bookstores near you, including Amazon.com.
The Discovery Channel showed an episode about the Donner Party on its Unsolved History series. The Discovery Channel sponsored a dig at the Donner family campsites along Alder Creek, led by Oregon state archaeologist Julie Schabilitsky. The dig uncovered fire-cracked rocks, bone fragments and various artifacts. The bones exhibit evidence of butchering and are being analyzed at the University of Oregon to determine if they are human remains. You can buy the show on DVD or VHS.
You can see a National Park Service video about an earlier dig in 1994 by University of Nevada students, at the Have Fun with History.com website.
Michael Bitterman and T.G. Harper have written a musical Forlorn Hope: A Donner Party Musical, based on the writings of Virginia Reed and focuses on the Reed family. The play follows the Reeds from their hopeful sendoff in Springfield, Illinois, through their troubles on the Trail and entrapment at the Lake, to James Reed's rescue of his family. Michael Bitterman is a veteran Broadway composer.
Disney's "One More Mountain" is no longer available from Disney. This made-for-TV movie tells the story from Margaret Reed's viewpoint, and emphasizes her struggle to keep her family alive. Starring Meredith Baxter. When it was available, Disney charged $99 a copy.
Trails West Inc., is a non-profit corporation formed by volunteers dedicated to preserving trail markers on the California Trail through Nevada. Starting June 23, 2000 Trails West volunteers revised some signs, and relocated others, to reflect new research about the trail from the Humboldt Sink to Truckee. This created a controversy, as reported by Frank Mullen, Jr. in the Reno Gazette-Journal of June 10, 2000. You can also judge for yourself by examining maps and reading diaries describing the Truckee Meadows.
The preservation of the Emigrant Trail is an ongoing battle. The County of Washoe, Nevada considered a request by A&K Earthmovers to build a new gravel pit in the southeast Truckee Meadows area. The proposed plans include leveling a 200-foot knoll covering 68 acres that overlook the Emigrant Trail. According to retired high school teacher and trail historian Fred Horlacher, the gravel pit won't disturb the Trail, but it will be an eyesore. Read the complete story in the Reno Gazette-Journal of October 11, 1999,
Marian Calabra has written The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party, a highly regarded book for readers aged 9 to 12. Ms. Calabra tells the story from Virginia Reed's point of view, supplemented by other sources and historical details. The book has been critically praised for its sensitive handling of the issue of cannibalism, allowing young readers to understand the hard choices faced by the Donner Party. Includes a complete transcript of Virginia Reed's 1847 letter. My then 9 year old daughter read the book to prepare for her trip to Sutter's Fort, where she portrayed Virginia Reed. My daughter enjoyed the book almost as much as I did. Published by Clarion Books. Available at Amazon.com.
The 3rd edition of Winter of Entrapment by Joseph A. King was published posthumously. The late Prof. King offered a new perspective on the Donner Party, and explored the biases in the previous histories. The older editions are carried at most of the historical sites and visitor centers in "Donner County". The new edition is also available from the publisher: K&K Publication, P.O. Box 564, Lafayatte, CA 94549, phone and fax: 925-228-9205. Also available at Amazon.com
The
Emigrant Trail
Museum at Donner Memorial State Park, Donner Pass Road, 2 miles west
of Truckee, contains displays about the emigrant trail over the Sierra,
including artifacts from the Donner Party. Artifacts include William
Foster's rifle, right, Tamsen Donner's china, and wagon parts excavated
from the Salt Desert. The bookstore sells many of the histories of
the Donner Party. The rangers lead regular Donner Party History hikes
at least twice and some-times three times a week which start at 10:00 am
in front of the museum. They are free to the public. For information
and reservations for trips, call (530) 582-7892.
The Oregon-California Trails Association conducts numerous events to preserve the emigrant trail. Local chapters include Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, California/Nevada, and the Northwest.
The survivors of the Donner Party settled throughout California, and some became quite famous. As it happens, I used to live in Elk Grove, California, the final resting place of Elitha Cumi Donner Wilder, daughter of George and Mary Blue Donner. John Jameson, a descendant of Elitha Donner, has opened a Web page and is interested in keeping track of other Elitha Donner descendants.
For years Sue Montgomery managed the Denton Family Genealogy website. Her family continues her efforts, including a page on John Denton.
If you are searching for genealogical information about your family, the US Gen Web Project is an excellent source.
I am very much an amateur historian. You are welcome to assist in this effort. If you have any corrections, information, pictures, maps or other Donner memorabilia to share, let me know. If you want to send me a message about the Donner Party, or any other topic...E-mail me.
visitors since April, 2008
Thank you everyone
(c) 1996-2009 Daniel M. Rosen