Donner Party, Westward Movement

''Westward ho, who wants to go to California without costing them anything? As many as eight young men of good character who can drive an ox team will be accommodated. Come, boys, you can have as much land as you want without costing you anything.'' -G. Donner

The optimistic beginning to a trek across the desert and mountains into California sounded so promising. Unfortunately it ended in tragedy for those who happened to travel with the Donner Party. 

How many people were in the Donner Party and how many died? The answer depends on specifics:

• Of the 91 people associated with the group, including 1 who left the party and 6 who died before reaching the Sierra camps, 44 died and 47 survived.
• Of the 87 emigrants who took the cutoff, plus  2 Miwok Indians who joined them in Nevada, 81 were trapped in the mountains because some pioneers had either left the group or died before reaching the Sierras.
• Of the 81 people trapped in the mountains, 36 died and 45 survived. 

On April 16, 1846 George Donner, a 62-year-old farmer and his family left Springfield, Illinois heading for a better life in California. The Donner Party is the name given to George Donner's group of pioneers who became trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the winter of 1846-47.

The 81 (trapped) members of the Donner Party  traveled 2,500 miles in seven months.  But they arrived a day too late. They had taken a short cut which cost them valuable time needed to reach the mountains before winter set in.

Arriving at the base of a steep mountain just as snow covered it, some in the group were able to reach the summit, but were forced to turn back. There  was no way the whole party could get through. They retraced their steps to a lake and started building a winter camp. Down by the lake and up on the dark summit above them it snowed and snowed and snowed. The weather in the Sierra Nevadas was horrible. Just 150 miles from safety at Sutter's Fort in California, 25 men, 15 women and 41 children, including six nursing infants huddled miserably in two makeshift winter camps.

 When they ran out of food, they mixed what little meat remained with anything they could chew. They boiled hides, charred bones, twigs, bark and leaves. Death hit the camp on December 15,  when Balis Williams died of malnutrition. For those willing, cannibalism of the dead kept the grim reaper at arm's length. Several starving members of the Donner party even drew straws to chose one of themselves as the next meal. But they didn't have the heart to kill one of their own. Controversy over the lack of proof that cannibalism occurred has not completely be resolved. However, Patrick Breen's diary makes reference to r Patrick Breen's diary includes this alarming entry: "Mrs Murphy said here yesterday that thought she would Commence on Milt. & eat him. I dont that she has done so yet, it is distressing."

Accusations of cannibalism and murder during that long winter jolted the civilized world. Survivors of the ordeal mostly chose not to discuss what occurred. Several efforts have been made to uncover charred bone remains, evidence that human bodies were cooked. Lack of hard evidence does not disprove the many accounts of cannibalism told by rescuers and survivors. While no graves have been found, there are numerous accounts that many of the victims were buried at the lake. 

Two more attempts to get over a mountain pass ended in failure and left the emigrants floundering in the 20-foot drifts. By early February, the first rescue party reached the lake encampments. Not everyone could be taken out and many had already died. The last survivor was taken to Sutter's Fort (in Sacramento) in April. Of the 87 men, women and children in the Donner Party, 46 survived, 41 died: 5 women, 14 children and 22 men. Two thirds of the women and children made it through. Two thirds of the men did not. All four adults and four children of the Donner family  died before reaching their dream.