Donner Party - Families and Progress

Families and Progress

In the spring of 1846, almost 500 wagons headed west from Independence. At the rear of the train, a group of nine wagons containing 32 members of the Reed and Donner families and their employees left on May 12. George Donner was originally from North Carolina, but had gradually moved west to Kentucky, Indiana, and Texas. In early 1846, he was a 62-year-old farmer in Springfield, Illinois. Donner brought his 44-year-old wife Tamsen and five daughters ranging in age from three to 13. Donner's older brother Jacob also joined the party, along with his wife, two teenage stepsons, and five children, the eldest of whom was nine.

James F. Reed was a wealthy Irish immigrant who settled in Illinois in 1831. His wife Margret, daughters Patty and Virginia, sons James and Thomas, and his mother-in-law Sarah Keyes traveled with him. Keyes was in the advanced stages of tuberculosis, and died on May 28; she was buried by the side of the trail. The Reeds hoped that the climate in the West would help Margret, who had long been sickly. Reed had built an ornate, custom-designed, and unusually large wagon for his family, which Virginia later described as the "Pioneer palace car", likening it to the railroad "palace cars", or luxury carriages. Equipped with spring seats and a stove, it took eight oxen to pull it. They were accompanied by several young men hired to drive the oxen, and a hired girl.

Within a week of leaving Independence, the Reeds and Donners joined up with a group of 50 wagons nominally led by William H. Russell. By June 16, the company had traveled 450 miles (720 km), with 200 miles (320 km) to go before Fort Laramie, Wyoming. They had been delayed by rain and a rising river, but Tamsen Donner wrote to a friend in Springfield, "indeed, if I do not experience something far worse than I have yet done, I shall say the trouble is all in getting started." Young Virginia Reed recalled years later that during the first part of the trip she was "perfectly happy".

Several other families joined the wagon train along the way. Levinah Murphy, a widow, headed a family of 13, including her five adolescent children and two married daughters with their families. The Eddy family was headed by a young man with a wife and small child. Patrick Breen brought along his wife Peggy and seven children, all but the youngest of whom were boys. A 40-year-old bachelor named Patrick Dolan camped with the Breens, and a general animal handler named Antonio also came along. Lewis Keseberg, a German immigrant, joined with his wife and daughter; a son was born on the trail. Two young single men named Spitzer and Reinhardt traveled with another German couple, the Wolfingers, who also had a hired driver, "Dutch Charley" Burger. An older man, a Belgian immigrant named Hardkoop, rode with them. Luke Halloran, a young man who seemed to get sicker with tuberculosis every day, was passed from family to family, as none could spare the time or resources to care for him.

To promote his new route, Hastings sent riders to deliver letters to traveling emigrants. On July 12, the Reeds and Donners were given one of these letters. Hastings warned the emigrants that they could expect opposition from the Mexican authorities in California, and advised them therefore to band together in large groups. He also claimed to have "worked out a new and better road to California", and said he would be waiting at Fort Bridger to guide the emigrants along the new cutoff.

At the Little Sandy River, the larger wagon train opted to follow the established trail via Fort Hall. A smaller group, which opted to head for Fort Bridger, now needed a leader. Most of the younger males in the group were European immigrants and not considered to be ideal leaders. James Reed, who had been living in the U.S. for a considerable time, was older and had military experience, but his autocratic attitude had rubbed many in the party the wrong way, and they saw him as aristocratic, imperious, and ostentatious. By comparison, the mature, experienced, American-born Donner's peaceful and charitable nature made him the group's first choice.

Edwin Bryant, a journalist, reached Blacks Fork a week ahead of the Donner Party. He saw the first part of the trail, and was concerned that it would be difficult for the wagons in the Donner group, especially with so many women and children. He returned to Blacks Fork to leave letters warning several members of the group not to take the shortcut. By the time the Donner Party reached Blacks Fork on July 27 Hastings had already left, leading the 40 wagons of the Harlan-Young group. Jim Bridger, whose trading post would fare substantially better if people used the Hastings Cutoff, told the party that the shortcut was a smooth trip, devoid of rugged country and hostile Indians, and would therefore shorten their journey by 350 miles (560 km). Water would be easy to find along the way, although a couple of days crossing a 30–40-mile (48–64 km) dry lake bed would be necessary. Reed was very impressed with this information, and advocated for the Hastings Cutoff. None of the party received Bryant's letters warning them to avoid Hastings' route at all costs; in his diary account, Bryant states his conviction that Bridger deliberately concealed the letters, a view shared by Reed in his later testimony.