The Donner Party by Susan Sales Harkins

Author:Susan Sales Harkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mitchell Lane

*Sources vary on the exact number. Not all the pioneers were on the original manifest (list of travelers). At least six people died before reaching the winter camp.

As the pioneers grew colder and hungrier, some of them decided to leave camp and go for help. They made snowshoes and began their desperate journey over the pass.

CHAPTER FIVE

A Ghastly Choice

The winter of 1846 was a nightmare for the Donner Party. Most lived near Truckee Lake, in shacks and lean-tos covered with buffalo hides. The Donners spent the winter in tents a few miles down the trail. A few families still had cattle. They charged high prices for the meat. Some men hunted wild birds and deer, but there was never enough to eat.

By December 1, the cattle were gone. Charles Stanton’s pack mules were missing. The campers roasted mice and boiled hides for soup. Everyone suffered from malnutrition. Many people were sick.

A few adults made snowshoes out of twigs and hides. On December 16, they headed for the summit. The group, called the Forlorn Hope, stumbled around for days, lost in the snow. One by one, they began to die. Starving and cold, they made a dreadful choice. They sliced the flesh from a dead body. Most of them cried as they ate their companion.

Finally, some Native Americans led a few of them to a white settlement in California. After hearing about the trapped pioneers, the Californians quickly put together a rescue team. They reached the Donner Party on February 19. They found nothing but white mounds of snow.

They called out, “Hello!”

A woman’s head popped up through the snow. She said, “Are you men from California or are you from heaven?”

Starved campers crawled from their snow-covered cabins. They cried and laughed. The rescue party led several survivors over the mountain to safety. Many had to stay behind. The food the rescue party left behind ran out quickly. Rather than starve to death, they dug up dead bodies for food.

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