Episode 35: Snowed In and Out of Options
Lansford Hastings
The man who wrote about Hastings pass in the 1845 Emigrant's Guide, even though he had not tested the whole trail himself. His bad decisions led to the Donner parties demise.
The Donner Camps
Stuck at Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) the settlers had to try to survive the winter after being abandoned by Hastings and James Reed.
Depth of the Snow
These trees were cut by members of the Donner Camp. As the Donners were already buried in the snow of the storms they were experiencing you can see the depth of the snow that they were battling.
Lewis Keseberg - Survivor
Found on the third rescue attempt made, rescuers found that Lewis had eaten two children at the Donner camp. He was found alone, having eaten all of his companions. He later admitted to eating Tamson Donner, the wife of George, even though she had been relatively healthy. It is suspected that he murdered her and ate her after George's death. It is said that he bragged about eating human flesh stating Tamson's liver was "the sweetest morsel he'd ever tasted". He was ostracized from society for his actions at the Donner camp and was destitute and living in poverty by the 1870's.
Jean Baptist Trudeau - Survivor
A teenager at the time he crossed Hastings pass, rescuers reported having seen him carrying, and eating, a human leg when they found him. He later admitted to consuming human flesh to stay alive.
Eliza Donner- Survivor
Only four at the time her mother sent her from the camp with rescuers while she stayed with her husband who was afflicted with gangrene. All four of her sisters and three of her cousins survived the winter at Donners Pass.
Patty Reed- Survivor
The daughter of James and Margaret Reed, she survived the winter at Donner Pass. The Reeds were one of two families who did not experience any losses.
Donner Lake
Truckee Lake has been renamed Donner Lake, you can visit and walk the same path as the Donner party to this day.