(The snow-covered, saw-toothed mountain range)
Donner Pass in the 1870s (above) and the Donner Party Memorial along the Donner Pass (below). Pictures found here.
Donner Party: Fact vs. Fiction
What do you really know about the Donner Party? What seems to be the common consensus is that a group of pioneers crossed the Sierra Nevada in the nineteenth century some time around the California Gold Rush. The common legend says that this group was trapped in the snowy hills of the Sierra. Over time, they ran out of food and consumed each other -- became cannibals.
But what is true? More than 80 travelers came west along the California Trail led by George Donner. Most prominently they were from the Donner and Reed families traveling from Iowa and Illinois, where they set off with 33 members. James Reed led the latter. They passed through Missouri's legendary Fort Bridger (the last port of supply for Westward travelers). Historians dispute the actual numbers in the Donner Party, with some estimates in the 90s at certain points. Most accounts agree that about 87 people were with the group at the point the snows set in and caught them.
The Donner Party had expected to find an easier path -- a short cut that would save them time; however, the relative uncharted area, proved mortal for them. They even received a note from a guide who had set out days earlier with another party. In his letter the guide, a man named Hastings, pleaded with the Donner Party to find an alternate pass, saying this one was impassible. They continued anyway, behind schedule with early storms approaching. Their path into the Sierra Nevada began in October, 1846.
At one point, James Reed got in an argument with a man in the group he is leading (which has fallen behind the group led by George Donner). The argument turned into a fight, and Reed stabbed the man, killing him. Reed was then banished from the group of travelers.
Reed and another man set out on foot ahead of everyone else. Leaving his family behind, and aware of the impending dangers of weather, Reed arrived at Fort Sutter just as the Donner Party found themselves being able to travel no further.
As the first significant snows began to set in at the end of October, James Reed attempted a rescue but was turned back by foul weather.
The group made an effort to push on but was forced to return to to a lake that had passed a few days before (now Donner Lake) and take refuge. There they were unexpectedly trapped by snow. Food quickly ran out and the Donner Party found themselves in dire straits.
The trapped emigrants were split into two groups. The Donner family and others made a makeshift cabin and attempted to wait out the weather near the lake. The others found an abandoned cabin atop a nearby hill. Nevertheless, supplies were running out and the weather was too cold to last out the winter. They would likely starve or freeze if they attempted to do so.
In December, ten to twelve men (including a boy) and five women set out with snowshoes to seek help. All of the women and two of the men survived. Admittedly, they resorted to cannibalizing the dead for their survival. This group was later given the name the Forlorn Hope.
When the survivors made their way to a ranch on the west side of the Sierra, rescue efforts from Fort Sutter then followed. However, the severe weather and the minimal numbers of rescuers prevented relief attempts from saving all of the emigrants at one time, and they were forced to conduct multiple rescue attempts.
When the first rescuers arrived near the end of February, 14 members of the party were already dead, but there had not been any reports of cannibalism. The rescue party was only able to return with 23 of the trapped travelers.
The second rescue effort, led by Reed, found that no one else had died, but there were conflicting reports of cannibalism as the remaining emigrants could no long survive on the boiled rawhide that had so far sustained them. Reed journals reveals what he found upon his return:
"Among the cabins lay the fleshless bones and half-eaten bodies of the victims of the famine. There lay the limbs, the skulls, and the hair of the poor beings who had died from want and whose flesh preserved the lives of their surviving comrades who, shivering beneath filthy rags and surrounded by the remains of their unholy feast, looked more like demons."
In an effort to put an end to the cannibalism, Reed left one of his strongest members behind, J. Alfred Birdwell, who was known for being both strong in mind and body, but the conditions were even too much for this pioneer, who had earlier crossed the Sierra Nevada on his own. Even Birdwell gave way in order to survive. Alfred Birdwell is sometimes listed as a member of the Donner Party, however, he is more accurately a member of the second relief, and therefore not on the rosters as a member of either the Reeds or the Donners.
The third rescue found only 9 survivors remaining, for were rescued. By the fourth and final attempt, only one survivor remain.
George Donner did not survive the journey, and by most accounts, had probably resorted to cannibalism to survive as long as he did.
Ultimately, 41 members of the Donner Party died as a direct result of the being trapped in the Sierra Nevada.
The path they traveled has since been named Donner Pass.
Those are the facts. The myths and legends are that there was an abundance of cannibalism taking place with the survivors. In fact, so much so, that some of them continued this lifestyle after, staying near the areas of the Sierra where they could period take part in the practice of cannibalism. There are rumors of groups taking in wayward travelers, welcoming them with warm fires and open arms, then ritualistically consuming them. Additionally, there are multiple areas along the Donner Pass, especially around Donner Lake, where people report the ghostly sightings of Donner Party ghosts. Other local legends suggest that too much time spent at Donner Lake in isolation will resort in someone finding "the hunger."
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