The tragic story of the Donner group: mountains, cold and cannibalism

By the middle of the 19th century, the east of the United States was densely populated. The land there was expensive, and the work is low -paid. Therefore, more and more people were looking for happiness in the western part of the continent. Huge territories were empty there, the climate was favorable, and besides this, gold was mined. California has become a real promised land for those who did not find themselves off the Atlantic coast. But the path there was not easy. The crossing of the continent took months, and on the path of immigrants there were deserts, mountains, full -flowing rivers and unfriendly Indians. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk, travelers hired experienced conductors for the money.

Short route

One of those who earned on immigrants was lawyer Landscord Gastings. This person has been in California repeatedly and was considered an experienced guide. In addition, he knew the path that was 600 km shorter than those that others proposed. The authority of Gastings was significant, so three families decided to use his services: Donner, Murphy and Rida.

Migrants near wagons. Photo of the 19th century

Gastings, who had the gift of eloquence, managed to convince his customers that the trip would be a pleasant walk. He also said that the mountains indicated on the maps are just hills that can be crossed without the slightest labor. In May 1946, the expedition set off, hoping to achieve solar California to the first cold weather.

The detachment turned out to be rather big. It included more than 90 people, among whom there were no more than 30 healthy strong men. The rest of the travelers – women, children and the elderly, among whom were those who themselves with difficulty. The leader of the group was George Donner – a bold and decisive person. He completely trusted the conductor and, as it turned out, in vain. Later it turned out that Gastings had never walked along a new route and did not even imagine what difficulties were waiting for wanderers on the way.

James and Margret Read

The fact that the guide was a deceiver knew one journalist. He has already made an unsuccessful attempt to achieve California along a short route. He left in a shop where Donner bought products addressed to him. But by an inconsistent accident, it did not get to the addressee. Interestingly, Gastings himself promised to join the group later, but did not. The travelers had only a map he had drawn up.

The hardships of the path

The first few weeks of travels took place without incident. But then the problems began to arise one by one. First, the carts that could not withstand multi -day riding along rocky roads began to fail. The immigrants had to stop for a long time in order to repair the wheels. Men meekly endured the hardships of the road, but it was very difficult for women, children and the elderly.

The route of the Donner group

The short path suddenly turned out to be longer than traditional. On the path of the Donner group, either impenetrable forests or swamp swamps appeared. They had to go around, wasting time and effort. After one of the crossings, the wanderers lost half of their livestock. He was abducted by the Indians, who constantly circled around the caravan. After that, the first quarrels began among the travelers. Family members of Reed accused the Donner of abducting and appropriating their livestock and part of the provisions. The atmosphere gradually heated.

Soon the first conflict with the victim occurred. During a quarrel, James Reid stabbed one of the satellites, John Snyder. By the general decision, the killer was expelled from the group, leaving without provisions and weapons in the wild. As it turned out later, this saved the life of Reed. His daughter secretly left him everything necessary for survival and he, unlike most satellites, did not die.

After this incident, conflicts began between the Donners and Murphy. The heads of the families ceased to trust each other, and the once close -knit team broke into two warring camps. Every day the wanderers, the route was given to the wanderers harder. The oxen, pulling the carts, were weak, and the provisions ended. Soon they began to hurt and die the weakest immigrants.

Hunger and frost

So the story of the Donner group approached the tragic interchange. On the way of travelers there were Mounts Wasatch, which Gastings called the hills. It was possible to escape in only one way – to cross the barrier before the first snowfall on the onset of the first. But on November 4, 1846, the air temperature suddenly fell and a strong snowstorm began. It was impossible to move further, and the immigrants defeated the camp.

Mountains Wusatch in Utah

The food ended at that moment, but there were not enough warm things. People began to die one after another. To feed on, they stabbed the remaining oxen. But their meat was not enough for a long time and soon the hunt for mice and other small rodents began. They even ate the oxen skins from which shelters were made from bad weather.

Soon, the survivors made a difficult decision – there are the bodies of those who could not stand the hardships and died. People brought up on Christian values ​​accepted this idea with horror. But there was no other way out. The first ate Patrick Dolan, who lost his mind, and then died. Later, two more corpses were eaten for food. The survivors claimed that they ate only those who died themselves. But later, rescuers found a woman and a child near the camp of the body. They were shifted to the bones and obviously died not their death.

Salvation

The missing people realized only in January 1847. On February 4, a rescue expedition set off in search of a Donner group from California. On February 18, the military and hunters found a camp of disaster. The first of them met Murphy's wife. She asked the arrivals: “Are you from California or from heaven?”

Even the soldiers who have seen species were amazed at the view of the camp. There were corpses everywhere, slightly sprinkled with earth and snow. Detested people wandered between them, some of whom lost their minds. George Donner was at death. He received an accidental injury that led to infection and gangrene. The rescuers managed to take 23 people from the camp. This group included the weakest and most sick.

On March 1, 1847, rescuers returned and took the surviving children. Unfortunately, not all of them withstood a difficult path to California – some died on the road. When the third group of the military arrived at the camp, cannibalism reigned again. This time it was possible to withdraw another group of people. Unfortunately, this was the last raid. The weather did not let the military and volunteers get to the camp for the fourth time, and people remaining in the mountains died.