1847 : Donner Party rescued
On this day in 1847, the first rescuers reach surviving members of the
Donner Party, a group of California-bound emigrants stranded by snow
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In the summer of 1846, in the midst of a Western-bound fever sweeping
the United States, 89 people--including 31 members of the Donner and
Reed families--set out in a wagon train from Springfield, Illinois.
After arriving at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, the emigrants decided to
avoid the usual route and try a new trail recently blazed by
California promoter Lansford Hastings, the so-called "Hastings
Cutoff." After electing George Donner as their captain, the party
departed Fort Bridger in mid-July.
The shortcut was nothing of the sort: It set the Donner Party back
nearly three weeks and cost them much-needed supplies. After suffering
great hardships in the Wasatch Mountains, the Great Salt Lake Desert
and along the Humboldt River, they finally reached the Sierra Nevada
Mountains in early October. Despite the lateness of the season, the
emigrants continued to press on, and on October 28 they camped at
Truckee Lake, located in the high mountains 21 kilometers northwest of
Lake Tahoe. Overnight, an early winter storm blanketed the ground with
snow, blocking the mountain pass and trapping the Donner Party.
Most of the group stayed near the lake--now known as Donner
Lake--while the Donner family and others made camp six miles away at
Alder Creek. Building makeshift tents out of their wagons and killing
their oxen for food, they hoped for a thaw that never came. Fifteen of
the stronger emigrants, later known as the Forlorn Hope, set out west
on snowshoes for Sutter's Fort near San Francisco on December 16.
Three weeks later, after harsh weather and lack of supplies killed
several of the expedition and forced the others to resort to
cannibalism, seven survivors reached a Native American village.
News of the stranded Donner Party traveled fast to Sutter's Fort, and
a rescue party set out on January 31. Arriving at Donner Lake 20 days
later, they found the camp completely snowbound and the surviving
emigrants delirious with relief at their arrival. Rescuers fed the
starving group as well as they could and then began evacuating them.
Three more rescue parties arrived to help, but the return to Sutter's
Fort proved equally harrowing, and the last survivors didn't reach
safety until late April. Of the 89 original members of the Donner
Party, only 45 reached California.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1847 : Donner Party rescued
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52407
1473 : Copernicus born
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6812
1807 : Aaron Burr arrested for treason
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4773
1942 : Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4774
1974 : Solzhenitsyn reunited with family
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=50496
##########################################
On this day in 1847, the first rescuers reach surviving members of the
Donner Party, a group of California-bound emigrants stranded by snow
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In the summer of 1846, in the midst of a Western-bound fever sweeping
the United States, 89 people--including 31 members of the Donner and
Reed families--set out in a wagon train from Springfield, Illinois.
After arriving at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, the emigrants decided to
avoid the usual route and try a new trail recently blazed by
California promoter Lansford Hastings, the so-called "Hastings
Cutoff." After electing George Donner as their captain, the party
departed Fort Bridger in mid-July.
The shortcut was nothing of the sort: It set the Donner Party back
nearly three weeks and cost them much-needed supplies. After suffering
great hardships in the Wasatch Mountains, the Great Salt Lake Desert
and along the Humboldt River, they finally reached the Sierra Nevada
Mountains in early October. Despite the lateness of the season, the
emigrants continued to press on, and on October 28 they camped at
Truckee Lake, located in the high mountains 21 kilometers northwest of
Lake Tahoe. Overnight, an early winter storm blanketed the ground with
snow, blocking the mountain pass and trapping the Donner Party.
Most of the group stayed near the lake--now known as Donner
Lake--while the Donner family and others made camp six miles away at
Alder Creek. Building makeshift tents out of their wagons and killing
their oxen for food, they hoped for a thaw that never came. Fifteen of
the stronger emigrants, later known as the Forlorn Hope, set out west
on snowshoes for Sutter's Fort near San Francisco on December 16.
Three weeks later, after harsh weather and lack of supplies killed
several of the expedition and forced the others to resort to
cannibalism, seven survivors reached a Native American village.
News of the stranded Donner Party traveled fast to Sutter's Fort, and
a rescue party set out on January 31. Arriving at Donner Lake 20 days
later, they found the camp completely snowbound and the surviving
emigrants delirious with relief at their arrival. Rescuers fed the
starving group as well as they could and then began evacuating them.
Three more rescue parties arrived to help, but the return to Sutter's
Fort proved equally harrowing, and the last survivors didn't reach
safety until late April. Of the 89 original members of the Donner
Party, only 45 reached California.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1847 : Donner Party rescued
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52407
1473 : Copernicus born
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6812
1807 : Aaron Burr arrested for treason
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4773
1942 : Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4774
1974 : Solzhenitsyn reunited with family
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=50496
##########################################
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