Student Exercise: The Donner Party
1996 marks the sesquicentennial of the emigrants' long winter in Truckee The United States was just
70 years old and growing fast when stories about the wonders of California began to filter back to
the East. Many Americans were convinced that this Mexican state would soon become part of the
Union.And, people said, it was possible to take a wagon directly overland on a new trail to
California.
Among the many who could not resist the tales of sunshine, warm winters, and bountiful land
were two prosperous Illinois farmers, George Donner and his brother Jacob. Both men were in
their 60s, but in April 1846 they took their families and as many of their possessions as they could
fit into six wagons and headed west. They were accompanied by their good friend James Reed, a
well-to-do cabinetmaker, and his family. Together they joined a stream of people of all sorts, rich
and poor, bound for California. By early summer, this stream had reached the plains west of the
Mississippi River. Tamsen Donner, George's wife, wrote to a friend that the journey up to that
point had been both beautiful and pleasant. But at a fork in the trail beyond South Pass in what is
now Wyoming, the stream of emigrants divided. An ambitious and eloquent promoter of
westward migration, Lansford Hastings, was recommending a shortcut via Fort Bridger that he
said would save 350 miles. Several families decided to take the new "Hastings
Cutoff" and soon 20 wagons and a total of 89 people were committed to the route,
including an Irish family by the name of Breen, the Murphys,
the Graves and the family of Lewis Keseberg, a well-educated German who spoke four languages.
George Donner was elected wagonmaster and the group therefore came to be known as the
Donner Party. As it turned out, the "shortcut" was no timesaver. The group wore
itself out hacking a 36-mile road through the Wasatch Mountains and then lost most of its oxen
and cattle while crossing the desolate, completely waterless, 80-mile-wide Great Salt Lake Desert.
As a result, several wagons and many possessions had to be abandoned. By the time the party
returned to the main California Trail in eastern Nevada, they were a full three weeks behind the
wagontrain they had started out with. Tired, frustrated, hungry and disillusioned, the party turned
from a cooperative group into a cluster of bickering families. James Reed knifed a man during a
heated argument and, though he had acted in self-defense, sentiment ran high against him. In the
end he was banished from the party and traveled on to California alone while his wife and children
stayed with the main party. Late October found the Donner Party in Truckee Meadows (near
present-day Reno). The local Paiute Indians were harassing them, and they were exhausted,
demoralized, bitter and completely out of food. Then Charles Stanton, a bachelor who had gone
ahead to obtain provisions, returned from Sutter's Fort (Sacramento) with seven pack mules
loaded with beef and flour. He also brought news of a very difficult mountain crossing up ahead,
so the group rested for nearly a week to gather strength. The delay proved fatal. Winter came
early to the Sierra Nevada that year. By the time the party reached Donner Lake there was snow
on the ground. The Donner families became snowbound at Alder Creek, six miles from the lake,
while stopped to fix a broken wagon axle. The rest of the party tried three times to cross Donner
Pass but finally gave up.The Camp. Still hoping that a thaw would open the pass, the group at the
lake settled in for the winter. The Murphys built a cabin against a large boulder, while the Breens
and Kesebergs partitioned an existing cabin into two rooms, one for each family. The Reed and
Graves families built a two-room log cabin further downstream, and with snow swirling about
them, the Donners built two teepee-style, hide-covered brush shelters against trees. Food was
soon scarce once again, and efforts at hunting and fishing in the snowy mountains were
unsuccessful. Families with the most provisions could not be induced to share with
the less fortunate. Individual survival instincts were already showing. In December, with snow
continuing to pile up, 10 men and five women decided to make a desperate attempt to get to
Sutter's Fort. They left camp on crude snowshoes made from oxbows and rawhide strips, carrying
only six days' skimpy rations. Five days out, Stanton - the only one who knew the route - became
exhausted and snowblind. To avoid delaying the group, he stayed behind to die. The others
quickly became lost and had to sit out a three-day Christmas storm huddled under blankets to
keep from freezing. Four of them died and, with no other food, the rest ate their bodies. One
month later, two men and all five of the women, all extremely emaciated, arrived at a settlement.
They had survived on one deer and the bodies of their dead companions. The Rescuers Relief
was slow in coming for the Donner Party.
There was a war going on, and men to take food into the snowy mountains were hard to find.
Finally, in late February, seven men reached the cabins buried in the snow at Donner Lake.
Several half-starved people emerged as the rescuers approached, and one woman asked,
"Are you men from California, or do you come from Heaven?" They had been
reduced to eating the last of the oxhides and ox bones. Several deaths from starvation had already
occurred. Gathering 21 able-bodied survivors, including some children, the rescue party started
back across the mountains to the west. Having eaten all its food, this group was fortunate to meet
a second party led by the once-banished James Reed. After a brief reunion with his wife, Reed
pressed on to the cabins and was reunited with his young children on March 1. At the Donner
tents, Reed saw his old friend George Donner, dying from a badly infected cut on the hand. And
he saw evidence of cannibalism at both the cabins and the Donner camp. Leaving five survivors at
the cabins and six at the Donner Camp, Reed started back with the rest. Tamsen Donner insisted
on remaining with her ailing husband.
Themselves reduced to starvation, Reed's party was forced to wait out another three-day
blizzard at a spot later known as Starved Camp, scene of more deaths and cannibalism. After the
blizzard, Reed and the strongest members of the group pressed on and met a third relief party of
four men at Emigrant Gap. These men, among them the two male survivors of the December
snowshoers, continued on to Donner Lake to bring out the last able survivors. Of those who were
still able to move about, only two remained behind: Lewis Keseberg who was suffering from a
bad foot, and Tamsen Donner who still refused to leave her husband. In April 1847 - only a year
after the Donners had started out with such high hopes from Illinois - one last party of rescuers
came to salvage the emigrants' belongings. Keseberg alone was still alive. He had been subsisting
for several days on Tamsen Donner's body. The Donner story is a tragic page in the saga of
westward migration. Poor judgment, heroic sacrifice, struggle for survival and plain bad luck all
played their part. Though other parties had made it through Donner Pass intact, the winter of
1846-47 was one of the worst ever recorded in the Sierra. The base of the monument at Donner
Memorial State Park stands 22 feet high - the reported depth of the snow that trapped the
travelers. Only 47 of the 89 members of the party, including the entire Breen and Reed families,
survived the terrible ordeal. Most of the survivors carried out their original intention of settling in
California, but their lives were marked indelibly by the events of that winter. Keseberg, for
example, died a tormented half-crazed man after being hounded throughout his life by people who
accused him of having murdered Tamsen Donner
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What determines who lives or dies under such circumstances?
Recently Donald Grayson of the University of Washington analyzed
the fate of the Donner Party members and identified some rather
striking differences between those who survived and those who died.
His analysis suggests that under similar circumstances similar
results can be expected. Reproduced below is the information upon
which Prof. Grayson's analysis was based.
Your task is to identify the similarities among those who
survived as opposed to those who died. From that information,
deduct a plausible explanation or conclusion as to who is likely to
survive in a similar situation in the future. You can assume that
death was by natural causes unless otherwise noted. Those who
survived have no entry under the heading "Incidents of Death."
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Bill of Laden of the Donner Party
Name Sex Age Incidents of Death
DONNER FAMILY
Jacob Donner M 65 died in Nov. in winter camp
George Donner M 62 died in Apr. in winter camp
Elizabeth Donner F 45 died in Mar. in winter camp
Tamsen Donner F 45 died in Apr. in winter camp
Elitha Donner F 14
Solomon Hook M 14
William Hook M 12 died Feb. 28 with first rescue team
Leanna Donner F 12
George Donner M 9
Mary Donner F 7
Frances Donner F 6
Isaac Donner M 5 died Mar. 7 with second rescue team
Georgia Donner F 4
Samuel Donner M 4 died in Apr. in winter camp
Lewis Donner M 3 died Mar. 7 or 8 in winter camp
Eliza Donner F 3
MURPHY-FOSTER-PIKE FAMILY
Lavina Murphy F 50 died cMar. 19 in winter camp
William Foster M 28
William Pike M 25 died Oct. 20 by gunshot
Sara Foster F 23
Harriet Pike F 21
John Landrum Murphy M 15 died Jan. 31 in winter camp
Mary Murphy F 13
Lemuel Murphy M 12 died Dec. 27 with snowshoers
William Murphy M 11
Simon Murphy M 10
George Foster M 4 died in early Mar. in winter camp
Naomi Pike F 3
Catherine Pike F 1 died Feb. 20 in winter camp
GRAVES-FOSDICK FAMILY
Franklin Graves M 57 died Dec. 24 with snowshoers
Elizabeth Graves F 47 died Dec. 24 with snowshoers
Jay Fosdick M 23 died Jan. 5 with snowshoers
Sarah Fosdick F 22
Mary Graves F 20
William Graves M 18
Eleanor Graves F 15
Lavina Graves F 13
Nancy Graves F 9
Jonathan Graves M 7
Franklin Graves, Jr.M 5 died Mar. 8 with second rescue team
Elizabeth Graves F 1 died soon after rescue by second team
BREEN FAMILY
Patrick Breen M 40
Mary Breen F 40
John Breen M 14
Edward Breen M 13
Patrick Breen, Jr. M 11
Simon Breen M 9
Peter Breen M 7
James Breen M 4
Isabella Breen F 1
REED FAMILY
James Reed M 46
Margaret Reed F 32
Virginia Reed F 12
Patty Reed F 8
James Reed, Jr. M 5
Thomas Reed M 3
EDDY FAMILY
William Eddy M 28
Eleanor Eddy F 25 died Feb. 7 in winter camp
James Eddy M 3 died in early Mar. in winter camp
Margaret Eddy F 1 died Feb. 4 in winter camp
KESEBERG FAMILY
Lewis Keseberg M 32
Phillpine Keseberg F 32
Ada Keseberg F 3 died Feb. 24 with first rescue team
Lewis Keseberg, Jr. M 1 died Jan. 24 in winter camp
MCCUTCHEN FAMILY
William McCutchen M 30
Amanda McCutchen F 24
Harriet McCutchen F 1 died Feb. 2 in winter camp
WILLIAMS FAMILY
Eliza Williams F 25
Baylis Williams M 24 died Dec. 16 in winter camp
WOLFINGER FAMILY
Mr. Wolfinger M ? killed c. Oct. 13 by Reinhardt and
Spitzer
Mrs. Wolfinger F ?
UNRELATED INDIVIDUALS
Mr. Hardkoop M 60 died c Oct. 8, abandoned
Patrick Dolan M 40 died Dec. 25 with snowshoers
Charles Stanton M 35 died c.Dec 21. with snowshoers
Charles Burger M 30 died Dec 29 in winter camp
Joseph Reinhardt M 30 died in Nov. or Dec in winter camp
Augustus Spitzer M 30 died Feb. 9 in winter camp
John Denton M 26 died Feb. 24 with first rescue team
Milton Elliot M 28 died Feb. 9 in winter camp
Luke Halloran M 25 died Aug. 20 of consumption
William Herron M 25
Samuel Shoemaker M 25 died in Nov. or Dec. in winter camp
James Smith M 25 died in Nov. or Dec. in winter camp
John Snyder M 25 killed Oct. 5 by James Reed
Jean B. Trubode M 23
Antoine M 23 died Dec. 24 with snoshoers
Noah James M 20
.