USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > The beginnings of San Francisco : from the expedition of Anza, 1774, to the city charter of April 15, 1850 : with biographical and other notes, Vol. II > Part 12
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letters for emigrants in the rear warning those with wagons not to take the cut-off but keep to the old trail by Fort Hall ;* letters that were not delivered.
Encamped at the southern end of the lake, death claimed on September 3d, another member of the Donner party. Luke Halloran was a consumptive, without friends or kinsman, who had joined the train hoping to find health in the change of climate. He succumbed to the hardships of the journey and was buried in a bed of salt at the foot of the lake. From September 9th to the 15th the party were crossing the Salt Lake desert, which Bridger and Vasquez had assured them was but fifty miles across, but which they found to be seventy-five. Reed's oxen, driven by thirst, disappeared in the desert leaving him helpless with three wagons and a family of six, the rest of the party having passed on. With his youngest child in his arms and followed by the others, Reed walked twenty miles to the camp on the head waters of a stream flowing into the Humboldt. Several days were passed here while an unsuccessful search was made for the lost cattle. Reed's only re- maining cattle were one ox and one cow. Graves and Breen each loaned him an ox, and by yoking his cow and ox, together he had two yokes which he hitched to one wagon, and loading on that all he could, he abandoned the other two and cached such of his property as could not be carried.
Before leaving the desert camp a careful account of provisions was taken, and deeming the amount insufficient Stanton and Mccutchen volunteered to go forward to California and bring back a supply. Their services were accepted and they started, each with a horse, about September 20th. All were put on short rations and
* Bryant: What I Saw in California, p. 144.
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resuming the march they reached the emigrant road on the Humboldt river about the end of September, long after the last parties had passed. They now began to realize their danger. A storm came on and in the morn- ing the mountain tops were covered with snow. It was a dreadful reminder of the lateness of the season and of the horrors they feared must await them. The com- pany now fairly demoralized, pushed on as rapidly as possible, each family looking out for itself. All organi- zation seems to have come to an end. The Indians, ever hostile, hovered about the train and stole the cattle at every opportunity. The poor animals were in a pitiable condition. The grass was scanty and of a poor quality, and the water was bad, causing much loss among them. At every slight ascent the teams would have to double up and it required five or six yokes of oxen to move one wagon. The days of feasting and merry- making, of song and story around the evening camp fire, had long departed; they could not survive the deadly monotony of the journey. The people became irritable and quarrelsome under the never ceasing toil, the constant sense of danger, the scanty food, and the difficulties of their position. The differences that had existed among them from the beginning were greatly increased and they regarded each other with feelings of suspicion and dislike, that only needed opportunity to break forth in acts of hostility. At Gravelly Ford, on October 5th, in a quarrel between Snyder and Reed, the latter was savagely beaten by Snyder. Mrs. Reed rushed between the furious men and received a blow on the head from the butt end of Snyder's heavy whip stock. In an instant Reed's hunting knife was out and Snyder fell, mortally wounded, and died in fifteen minutes. Consternation siezed the emigrants. Camp was immediately pitched and after burying the dead man a council was held to
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determine the fate of the slayer. All the animosity of the company now centered on Reed. It was first pro- posed to hang him, and one man fastened up his wagon pole for that purpose; but it was finally decided to banish him to the wilderness, alone, with neither food nor arms. Reed accepted the verdict and mounting his horse rode out into the desert. His little daughter Virginia followed him after dark, and carried him his rifle, some ammunition and food. George and Jacob Donner with their wagons and families were two days in advance of the main train. Walter Herron was with them, and when Reed came up, Herron determined to accompany him to California. The two set out together and of Herron we hear nothing further.
On the 12th of October the train reached the sink of the Humboldt, and the cattle, closely guarded, were turned out to graze. At daybreak the guard came into camp to breakfast, leaving the cattle unguarded, and during their absence twenty-one head were stolen by the Indians. This left the company in a bad plight. Several families had neither oxen nor horses left. All who could must walk. Men, women, and children were forced to travel on foot and, in many cases, carry heavy burdens to lighten the loads for the oxen. Eddy and his wife each carried a child and such personal effects as they were able. No one was allowed to ride but the little chil- dren, the sick, and the utterly exhausted. Seven of the women had nursing babies and all were on the smallest allowance of food that would sustain life. In this condition the company began the desert lying between the sink of the Humboldt and the lower crossing of the Truckee river. The Belgian, Hardcoop, an old and feeble man, fell; he could walk no further, and the train passed on, leaving him to his fate. I suppose the old man had no money to purchase the place of a bale of
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goods on one of the wagons. On October 14th the German, Wolfinger, failed to come into camp. He had been walking in the rear with Keseberg. His wife induced three young men to go back in the morning and look for him. Keseberg had said that Wolfinger was but a short dis- tance behind him and would soon be along. The searchers failed to find him, but about five miles back came upon his wagon, and near it, the oxen, still chained together. There were no signs of Indians. The men hitched the oxen to the wagon and drove them in. It was thought that Keseberg murdered Wolfinger for his money, but no inquiry was made concerning the missing man and the wife supposed the Indians had killed him. McGlashan says that Joseph Rhinehart, when dying of starvation in George Donner's tent, confessed that he had some- thing to do with the murder of Wolfinger.
On the nineteenth of October, at the lower crossing of the Truckee (site of Wadsworth) the starving emigrants met Stanton with relief. Captain Sutter, without com- pensation or security, had sent them seven mules, five of them loaded with flour and beef. Mccutchen had been ill and unable to return and Sutter had sent two Indian vaqueros, Luis and Salvador, to assist Stanton with the train and guide the emigrants over the mountains. The relief was timely and had the party pushed res- olutely forward there is little doubt that they could have crossed the mountains; but with a lack of decision that had characterized them from the start, they concluded to rest three or four days at the Truckee meadows (Reno). The delay was fatal. On the twenty-third, alarmed by the threatening appearance of the weather, they hastily resumed their journey. It was too late. At Prosser creek they found six inches of snow and at the summit the snow was from two to five feet deep. With an efficient leader and a definite plan of action, the party might
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yet have succeeded in crossing the range. But there was no leader, all was confusion and the panic stricken emigrants, each for himself, made frantic efforts to break through the snow barrier that imprisoned them. Some families reached Truckee lake, as it was then called, on October 28th; some on the 29th; some on the 31st, and others never got beyond Prosser creek. Several wagons passed up the old emigrant road on the south side of the lake almost to the summit and were there abandoned. Some took the north side of the lake and passed far up towards the top of the pass, only to be left imbedded in the snow. For two weeks the emigrants wasted their strength in desultory efforts to escape, and then realizing the hopelessness of such attempts, determined upon an organized effort. Never before, from the formation of the Donner party, had they ever agreed upon any im- portant proposition. The terrible situation they were in caused them to forget for a time their petty differences and united them in one cause. They decided to kill all the animals, preserve the meat, and on foot cross the summit. That night a heavy snow fell and for a week the storm continued with slight intermissions. Ten feet or more of snow fell at the lake, and, for a time, all their energies were required for the preservation of life. The mules and oxen, their main reliance for food, blinded and bewildered by the storm, strayed away and most of them perished, being buried in the snow where only a few were ever found. Those remaining were slaughtered and the meat preserved in the snow. The emigrants now realized that the winter must be spent in the mountains and made such preparations as they could for shelter. One cabin, built by an earlier party, was still standing and others were hastily constructed. These were built below the foot of the lake on what is now Donner creek. Seven miles to the eastward, on Alder creek, a branch
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of Prosser creek, the two Donner families with several of the unmarried men were encamped in tents and brush wood huts over which were stretched rubber coats, quilts, etc. Truckee lake and river are famous for the beautiful trout with which they abound, but after two or three unsuccessful attempts to catch them the effort was abandoned and soon the lake was covered over with thick ice. The entire party seemed dazed by the calamity which had overtaken them.
Before leaving the Truckee meadows death had taken another of the party. While engaged in loading a re- volver, William Foster accidentally shot and killed William Pike. This reduced the original company to seventy-nine persons. In the party must now be counted Luis and Salvador, the Indians sent by Sutter, making eighty-one souls in the camps: namely, twenty-four men, fifteen women, and forty-three children. Some of the children may have been grown but as the chroniclers do not give the ages, it is impossible to tell. Of the company, the women were the bravest, the most resource- ful, and most successfully endured the struggle with cold and hunger, as will be seen later. The unmarried men, fifteen in number, most of whom were young and vigorous, gave way to despair, and after the first attempts to escape made no further effort. The only exceptions were Stanton, Denton, and Dolan, whose feeble exertions were soon ended. Of the fifteen only two survived.
In all the company there was but one gun. It belonged to Foster, and with it, Eddy shot a bear and two or three ducks. After that no more game was seen.
On December 16th a party known as the "forlorn hope" started on improvised snowshoes in an attempt to cross the mountains. There was a possibility of their getting through and their going would leave fewer hungry mouths in camp. The party consisted of Eddy, Graves,
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Stanton, Dolan, Fosdick and wife, Foster and wife, Lemuel Murphy (age 13), Mrs. Pike, Mary Graves, Mrs. Mc- Cutchen, Antonio, Luis, and Salvador: nine men, five women, and a boy.
Taking rations for six days they started and on the second day crossed the summit. On December 22d they had consumed the last morsel of food. This day Stanton gave out. He had been snow-blind for two days and was two weak to keep up. It was he who had brought the relief from Sutter's fort and had remained and cast his lot with the party, when he might have escaped, having no ties of kindred among them. They left him sitting by the camp fire. It was I suppose the only thing they could do. They could not help him and their own case was desperate. On Christmas they reached the "camp of death" where a snow storm confined them for a week. Dolan, Graves, Antonio, and Lemuel Murphy died and were eaten by their starving companions. By the thirty-first, this food was gone and on New Year's day they ate their moccasins and the strings of their snow- shoes. The two Indians, Luis and Salvador, had refused to eat of the dead bodies, and kept themselves apart from the rest of the company, enduring the pangs of hunger with Indian stoicism; but seeing ominous glances cast in their direction they fled during the night of December 3Ist. The party again pressed on. Fosdick died on the fourth of January and was eaten. His wife would not touch the food, but on this day, Eddy, who had Foster's gun, shot a deer. This lasted until January 6th. There was no food on the seventh and on the eighth Foster took the trail left by the bare and bleeding feet of the Indians, overtook them, shot both, and again the party, now reduced to two men and five women, was supplied with food. On the eleventh they passed out of the snow and came upon an Indian rancheria.
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Amazed to see such tattered, disheveled, skeleton creatures emerge from the sierra, the Indians ran off in fright, but soon returned to furnish such relief as they could and supplied them with acorn bread, all the food they had. After a brief rest the march was resumed and accompanied by the Indians the refugees traveled for seven days, being compelled to rest frequently. At last they could go no further and here, in the full view of the beautiful valley of the Sacramento, laid themselves down to die. The Indians, however, took Eddy, and partly leading, partly carrying him, brought him to Johnson's rancho. Four men started at once with provisions and guided by the Indians, found Eddy's companions fifteen miles back and brought them in the next day. It was January 17th; they had been thirty-two days coming from Donner lake, and of the fifteen that started, eight had perished.
At Johnson's rancho there were only three or four families of poor immigrants, but a volunteer set off at once for Sutter's fort, forty miles below, for aid for the snow-bound people in the mountains. Captain Sutter and John Sinclair, alcalde of the district and manager of Rancho Del Paso, offered to furnish provisions, and men volunteered to carry them over the mountains. There was considerable delay in organizing the relief and securing saddle and pack animals, the country having been pretty well cleared of men and animals by the formation and equipment of the California battalion; but on February 5th, the first relief, a well appointed party of fifteen, under command of Reasin P. Tucker, started for the rescue of the beleagured immigrants. The ground was very wet and their progress was slow, while heavy rains on the sixth and seventh kept them three days in camp. On the tenth they reached Mule springs on the Bear river, opposite the site of the present Dutch Flat, having traveled the last four miles in snow, which,
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at the camp, was between three and four feet deep. The animals could go no further and sending them back under charge of William H. Eddy, who was one of the volunteers, ten men, carrying from twenty-five to fifty pounds of provisions, pushed forward on foot leaving two men to guard the provisions left. On the twelfth they halted to make snowshoes but could not use them and went on without. The next day they reached Bear valley which was covered with ten feet of snow. They examined a cache made by Reed and Mccutchen and found that the provisions had been destroyed by bears. Here it rained or snowed all night. The next morning, February 15th, three of the men refused to go further and started for home. This left but seven of the original thirteen and it looked discouraging. They held a con- sultation and determined to go forward. Captain Tucker guaranteed to each man who persevered to the end, five dollars per day from the time they entered the snow. That day they made fifteen miles and the next day five miles through a heavy snow storm, and camped in snow fifteen feet deep. Five miles were made the following day, eight the day after, and they camped in Summit valley. The next day, February 19th, they crossed the summit, with thirty feet of snow on the pass, and reached the camp at the foot of the lake on the evening of that day.
We have seen the safe arrival of the Harlan party at Johnson's rancho, October 24th. The day following, in the midst of a heavy rain storm, a man was seen riding slowly towards the camp. It was James F. Reed, who after great suffering, having been reduced to the verge of starvation, had reached California. The fate of his companion, Herron, does not appear. After a rest, Reed went to Sutter's fort where he met Bryant, Lippin- cott, Grayson, and others of the Russell party. Here
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steps were being taken to raise a company for the Cali- fornia battalion, and immigrants were being enlisted as they came in. Reed was made a lieutenant and leave given him to return to the mountains for his family whom he expected to meet at Bear valley, forty miles west of the summit. Sutter furnished Reed with horses and provisions and gave him an order on Theodore Cordua of the Honcut rancho (near the present Marysville) for more horses. At Sutter's fort Reed was joined by McCutchen, who had recovered his health, and together they set out from Johnson's rancho for the mountain camps with thirty horses, one mule, and two Indian vaqueros. At Bear valley they found a man named Jotham Curtis who with his wife had come over the moun- tains and both were in a starving condition. Reed relieved their necessities and leaving provisions to last until his return, continued on his way. The snow was two feet deep in the upper part of the valley. That night their Indians deserted them and the next day the deepening snow rendered further travel with horses impossible. After an ineffectual attempt to proceed on foot they returned to Curtis' camp in Bear valley. Securing their flour in the wagon of Curtis (the cache looked for by Captain Tucker) they returned to Sutter's fort, taking Curtis and his wife with them. Sutter considered the number of cattle the emigrants were supposed to have and stated that if they killed the cattle and preserved the meat in the snow there need be no fear of starvation before relief could reach them. He told Reed that there were no able-bodied men in that region, all having enlisted under Frémont, and advised him to go to Yerba Buena and lay the case before the naval commander. Proceeding by way of San José Reed found the lower peninsula in possession of the Californians under Sanchez, and joining the volunteers took part in the
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famous battle of Santa Clara as first lieutenant of the San José company. On the happy conclusion of the Santa Clara campaign Reed was relieved of further mili- tary duty, having served a month and a half, and after receiving the commendation of his commander for gallant conduct on the plains of Santa Clara, continued his journey to Yerba Buena, where he arrived in the latter part of January; a somewhat leisurely proceeding, considering the starving families. At Yerba Buena a mass meeting was called and steps were being taken for the relief of the party when the news was received of the arrival at Johnson's rancho of the survivors of the forlorn hope. It was now realized that immediate action was necessary if any emigrants were to be saved. A relief party was organized under command of Selim Woodworth, and leaving them to follow by boat up the Sacramento, Reed and Mccutchen, with Brittan Greenwood, a half breed mountaineer and guide, hurried on by way of Sonoma to Sacramento, thence to Johnson's rancho. Johnson drove up his cattle and said, "Take what you want." They killed five head and with the aid of Johnson and his Indians, had the meat fire-dried and ready for packing. Other Indians were making flour by hand mills and by morning had two hundred pounds ready. The war had taken so many men that it was difficult to find any willing to brave the dangers of the Sierra Nevada, and well might they fear it, as we shall see. At Johnson's Reed learned of the party commanded by Captain Tucker which had passed in seventeen days before. Reed packed his provisions and with seven volunteers-making with himself, Greenwood, and Mccutchen, ten in all-started from Johnson's, February 22d, carrying seven hundred pounds of flour and the dried beef of five head of cattle. This was the "second relief."
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It is now time to look after the emigrants in the moun- tains. The snow-fall continued, alternating with rain and hard frosts until the cabins were buried and steps had to be cut in the snow to reach the surface, now some twenty feet above the ground. Wood there was in abundance but it was difficult for these weak hands to cut down a tree, and sometimes when it fell it would be so buried in snow that they could not get at it, and many days they had no fire. By the sixth of January their only food was the hides of such animals as they had slaughtered .* They also gathered up the bones that had been cast away and boiled or burnt them until they crumbled, then ate them. Mrs. Murphy's little children used to cut pieces from a rug in the cabin, toast them crisp on the coals and eat them. Mrs. Reed and her children had been without other food than hides since Christmas. At Alder creek the families were even worse off since they had only brush huts and tents. George Donner had met with an accident which disabled him, and of which, aggravated by want of nourishment, he finally died. Jacob Donner, a man in feeble health, never rallied from the shock of finding himself imprisoned in the mountains. He gave up in despair and died early in December. Williams died at the lake December 15th, and Shoemaker, Rhinehart, and Smith at Alder creek before the twenty-first. Patrick Breen's diary written from day to day, from November 20th to March
* The green hides were cut into strips and laid upon the coals or held in the flames until the hair was completely singed off. Each side of the piece of hide was then scraped with a knife until comparatively clean, and was placed in a kettle and boiled until soft and pulpy. There was no salt and only a little pepper for seasoning. When cold, the boiled hides and the water in which they were cooked, became jellied and resembled glue. The stomachs of the little children and of some of the grown people revolted at this loathsome food.
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Ist, is the principal source of information. He frequently comments on the scarcity of wood as well as food. "Hard work to get wood"; "Don't have enough fire to cook our hides"; "No wood," are some of his many entries. Burger, young Keseburg, John L. Murphy, Eddy's wife and child, Mccutchen's child, Spitzer, and Elliott, all died between December 30th and February 9th. With- out fire, without food, without protection from the dampness occasioned by the melting snows, the men, women, and children were huddled together, the living and the dead, in the gloom of their buried cabins, while above them raged the tempest with a sound that was dreadful in their ears. From time to time small parties made feeble efforts to cross the mountains but these ceased after January 4th, and the unfortunates waited with lessening numbers and growing despair for the relief that seemed far away. Day after day they looked for help to come and day after day they became more hopeless. For nearly four months they had been held prisoners in the snow and it was more than two months since the forlorn hope made its desperate effort to break through the barrier and bring succor to the people. All food was gone! Even the repulsive hide was no longer to be had and the last resort must be to the bodies of the dead. On the evening of the 19th of February, the silence was broken by a shout from the direction of the lake. In an instant weakness and infirmity were for- gotten and up from the depths, climbing the icy stairways leading to the surface, came the poor, starving wretches. It was Captain Tucker and his men, the seven heroes of the first relief. Coming down from the summit to find a wide expanse of snow covering forest and lake and a stillness that was like the silence of the grave, they sent up a loud shout to see if happily any could answer. The cry was answered, and around the relief
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party came the weak and trembling forms of little children, of delicate women, and of what had once been strong men. The pitiful sight was too much for the men of the relief and they sat down in the snow and wept. Half a miles below the lake was the cabin of the Graves and Reed families. Captain Tucker, who had crossed the plains in company with the Graves family, before the latter took the Hastings' cut-off with the Donners hastened down the creek to see them. He saw smoke issuing from a hole in the snow, and, as before, he shouted, and up to the surface came Mrs. Graves and Mrs. Reed and the little children. Mrs. Graves' first question was for her husband and daughters. Did all reach the valley? The stout heart of Tucker failed him. How could he tell this starving woman of the fate of her husband and her son-in-law! He assured her that all were well. The same answer was given to the rest. Had the truth been told, the survivors of the camps would not have had the courage to attempt the journey. Food was given to the sufferers carefully and in small quantities, and the provisions were guarded lest the famished people should obtain more than was good for them. The members of the relief party camped in the snow, unable to endure the sights within the cabins, and in the morning three of them visited the Donner tents on Alder creek, seven miles below.
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