Among the several parties of overland pioneers that
come to Mexican California, none suffered more hardships than the
Donner party. The party was organized in Springfield, Illinois, and
made good time in the early spring of 1846 as it headed westward
across the plains. It later lost valuable time by taking what was
believed to be a shortcut south of the Great Salt Lake.
The Donner party began its ascent of the Sierra Nevada
in October and had the misfortune of being caught near the summit
during the heaviest snowfall in thirty years. As the snow reached
a depth of more than twenty feet, the group lived in crude log cabins
and lean-tos. When food provisions ran out, first the pack animals
were eaten, then the hides and the boiled leather from their snowshoes,
and finally the flesh of those who died. Only about half of the eighty-seven
members of the party survived the winter.
There was heroism as well as horror during that terrible
winter in the Sierra. James Reed left the party to seek help and
returned leading a relief expedition. When rescuers arrived, Tamsen
Donner refused to leave her husband George who was too weak to travel.
Their three daughters were saved, but George and Tamsen died.
