Donner Party Essay Research Paper Donner PartyWas free essay sample

Donner Party Essay, Research Paper Donner PartyWas the Donner Party a immense calamity, or a fatal error merely waiting to go on to anyone? This paper is traveling to demo the errors and bad lucks of the Donner Party. When George Donner, and his brother Jake took the advice of a adult male they did non cognize, they felt confident in his word. He told them of a trail that was purportedly faster than the popular California Trail. They took his advice and set off. The party left with an abundant sum of nutrient and supplies. The party looked no different from any other except for one waggon that stood out from the others. It was three narratives tall and had an Attic to hive away apparels and nutrient. The party left from Little Sandy, Illinois, on July 20,1846. The group had Americans, Germans and a few other aliens. The group was to get down on the California Trail and so travel to the left at the Little Sandy Creek. Everyone felt confident with the determination to travel on the nameless, unheard-of trail. The Donner brothers thought they would get at the Sierra mountain scope by at least September, and at most late October.Most of the households brought merely nutrient, apparels, and of import points. However the 1s those brought excess points would shortly happen that they were punished badly by the unsmooth trails and stricken with cattle. The traveling was smooth for a long clip. The lone jobs were a few broken wheels, and axles. The cattle were demoing great strength and power, and seemed to be drawing harder as the yearss went by. The nutrient was remaining fresh, and cipher was of all time Hungary. Was this truly the trail that Lanford Hastings promised to the Donners # 8217 ; ? Everyone felt great and was happy to see that they were in front of agenda. However, the party realized their great fortune would non last them the whole trip. Already there were marks of harder going. Every twe nty-four hours the dreaded Colorado Rockies seemed to be acquiring bigger. The group had yet to mount a existent mountain, merely small hills they were non educated in traversing mountains. They were non certain if their cattle were strong plenty to draw the heavier waggons up the steep hillside. The first trial of the oxen # 8217 ; ability to draw up a hill came in the foothills of the Rockies. The squad was faced with a long ascent followed by a steep decent which could easy tip a waggon. The cattle appeared to be drawing good up the hill, but the decent would be a wholly different challenge. The lone means of halting the waggons on downhill was to lock the axles so they would non be able to whirl. The first decent took a long clip, because it was the first clip they had done it. It went really smooth except for a twosome of tipped waggons. The first hill was thought to be difficult, but compared to the mountains that had yet to be faced ; this hill was nil. After the hill they c amped at a topographic point with grass and a spring.1 The cattle were refreshed with fresh grass, and the people enjoyed the scenery, and drank the cold refreshing H2O. However, they could non conceal the job of traversing the mammoth Rockies. The Donner party followed Hastings trail until it turned up into the Rockies. The group now felt confident that they cross the Rockies, and that the trail would take them to easy spreads in the mountains. Every so frequently the group would direct out a adult male in front of the group to see how the trail looked. They sent out a adult male, and when he came back after two yearss everyone was truly aroused. However, the intelligence wasn # 8217 ; t as exciting. He said the trail went into some highly unsmooth parts that could merely be passed on horseback. He besides said that there was another topographic point that they could travel by. Everyone agreed that doing their ain trail was the best thing to make. Their cattle were still non at fu ll strength, but they had to travel on. The party set out on a palling journey that was speedy in run outing their energy, and decelerate in doing milage. The group was discouraged, but kicking would make them no good now. At this point the group was doing its lowest milage yet.2 The Donner Party eventually made it over the great Rockies, but non without a immense blow to their heads and on their weak organic structures. The party rested for a hebdomad and a half at a nice topographic point with cool H2O, and green grass. Finally they felt good plenty to travel on. The cattle were still tired, but good plenty to travel on. The traveling was easy for a few yearss until they foremost spotted the Wasatch Range. They dreaded the idea of holding to traverse another scope, but they had to maintain traveling. The party felt discouraged about holding to traverse more mountains, but there was no other manner around the mammoth Wasatch. The ascent up was long. It took eight yearss to make the acme. However, traveling up was the easy portion. The nice down was filled with broken axles, and broken wheels. The Wasatch took its toll on the Donner Party. Their nutrient supply was traveling down, and Indians were get downing to trouble oneself them. The Indians tried to be friends with the Donners # 8217 ; , and were. Then, one forenoon everyone woke up to happen two oxen dead, and meat stolen from a waggon. The party so decided to direct two work forces in front to seek the country. The two work forces came back and reported seeing a immense lake3 followed by a long desert. It took the party a whole hebdomad to travel where the work forces on Equus caballuss went in three yearss. The party found a cantonment by the lake, but found the H2O to be saltier than any ocean. The H2O was unsuitable to imbibe, so the group found another topographic point that they called 20 springs. By the springs they found a mark that said # 8220 ; NO WATER FOR TWO DAYS AND TWO NIGHTS. # 8221 ; The party was certain that it wouldn # 8217 ; t be that long so they packed adequate H2O for two yearss. The mark was right, they went two yearss and two darks, and found no H2O. Their H2O supply was non plenty. The last few beads of H2O were so of import that non even thirsty babes received H2O. The Donner Party really began to believe that they might decease of thirst, or now even hunger. They had been out in the desert for three yearss now. They have been able to see mountains for a long clip. They sent out two work forces to seek for H2O in the nearby mountains. After three yearss the work forces came back with some bad intelligence. They said that there is no H2O for 50 more stat mis. The group decided to go forth the waggons behind, and merely take Thursday vitamin E most of import things in a few waggons. The cattle were besides really tired. They left behind most of the cattle besides. They got to the H2O merely in clip. There was merely one gallon of H2O left. Some cattle had died, most were excessively ill to travel. The work forces went back into the desert to look for some cattle. The adult females were left at cantonment, and while they were entirely the Indians took some nutrient, and shot some oxen.4 The work forces came back tired and with few cattles. The squad rested a small, and so put out once more. They moved easy, but were still retrieving. They faced really small mountains. The traveling was easy. They eventually connected back into the California trail. They moved along the Humboldt river directly into the Sierra Nevada mountains. It had already snowed in the mountains, so the party was disquieted they would non acquire across the scope, but if they didn # 8217 ; T they would all decease. 5The party stayed the dark, but woke up to two pess of new snow. The party was devastated. However, they knew they had to seek and travel on. They tried to force on, but they couldn # 8217 ; t. The snow was excessively deep. They went back to the lake that they stayed at the dark earlier. There were already two garrisons at that place. The group sent out some work forces to acquire aid earlier. The work forces came back and found the group in the garrisons half frozen to decease, half starved to decease. The work forces brought back seven mules. The group set off one time more, but once more found the snow excessively deep to travel in. They were stuck. They had no nutrient, and had small apparels. They had to believe of something to make. They were traveling to decease easy if they didn # 8217 ; t acquire nutrient. They tried to maintain composure. The group was panicking. Would this be the terminal? It was merely November, 4th. It was possible the snow could run. The snow kept coming down. Illnesss were traveling about, and a few people had died of hungriness. The daze of seeing decease was excessively much for some people. The garrisons were crowded, and the people were foul. The ill people were placed in one subdivision of the garrison, and the healthy in another. The malodor of waste and puke lingered in the air. As the yearss went by the conditions got worse. Cipher knew how deep the snow was, because cipher had been outside for yearss. Hunger got so bad that people were reduced to eating their waste, their fingers that had frostbite, and finally, their ain DEAD. The determination was made: SEND 15 Peoples TO FIND RESCUE TEAM6. The 15 people sent out, and were out of sight in an hr. The people left at cantonment were praying for the safety of the squad. Thingss at cantonment were merely acquiring worse. The winter was non even a one-fourth of the manner over, and more snow had fallen than would fall in a whole year.7 The opportunities of the deliverance squad happening aid was rather good, the opportunities of the saviors happening the deceasing Donner Party was slender, but hopeful. The Donner Party had been trapped in the snow for one month. They survived on the organic structures of their dead, and muddy snow. Occasionally they would eat one of their cattle, if they could happen one.8 Everyone was truly ill, except for a few people. By now, it was no large trade to see a individual picking at a dead individual # 8217 ; s organic structure for nutrient. The thing that was traveling on was that the party was eating each other and the illness that the dead individual had is eaten by 10 people and so one of those people is eaten, and so on. The organic structures of the dead were still stacking up despite people eating them. Still, some people would non eat the organic structures of their friends, and household. The people who did non eat the dead, became the dead9. The lasting people weren # 8217 ; t certain if the deliverance squad would come back for them. However, the deliverance squad faced their ain jobs. They besides had no nutrient, no H2O, except for melted snow, and faced serious unwellness, and even decease. They excessively were reduced to eating their dead. The deliverance squad did finally make aid. After three hebdomads in the snow the deliverance squad, with eight people left found aid. None of the members were good plenty to take a squad back to the cantonment. Without a deliverance member th ere was no manner to happen the deceasing Donner Party. The squad had to wait for person to acquire better so they could happen the party. After a hebdomad two work forces were good plenty to travel back. There was still the job of acquiring the subsisters out, and to acquire them down to Sacramento. Obviously no 1 would be able to acquire out by themselves. Everybody would hold to sit on horseback down to safety. There was still no manner of cognizing how many subsisters their were. 60-50-or none? 10The deliverance squad set out in hope to happen the party. They brought no Equus caballuss because the Equus caballuss had nil to eat, and would decease. The two work forces set out in hope to happen the topographic point from which they left from. They had no markers to travel by, or a map, merely inherent aptitudes. The topographic point looked a batch different because of new snow autumn. That didn # 8217 ; t maintain the squad from traveling on. The two recognized really small but that was plenty to demo the manner. After another hebdomad in the snow the deliverance teem spotted the party from a far off mountain extremum. They would be at the cantonment in two more yearss. By this clip the at bay Donner Party had lost all hope in the saviors. The bulk of the group was on the brink of decease. Typhus, and lice had infested the cantonments, and no one went to bed without something populating off of them. Hope had been lost, and so had a batch of lives. The lone things # 8217 ; people talked about were how nice it would be to decease, and how good a Meleagris gallopavo sandwich would savor. The deliverance squad arrived and found merely the really top of the chimneys lodging out where the snow had melted. The squad feared the worst. The victims had been remaining in the cabins for two months, populating off of liquid snow, and dead organic structures. The deliverance squad found the party in better status than they expected. The squad helped nurse them back to wellness. The deliverance squad brought nutrient, and soap. They bathed the immature kids, and bathed the grownups. The people were given clean covers, and towels. The job of typhus, and lice still existed. The lone manner to acquire rid of it was to fire it. The apparels of the subsisters were burned, and the organic structures of the dead were burned. Wholly, the Donner Party expedition was a complete calamity. The entire loss for the trip was 42 DEAD, and 47 left with the idea of calamity, and decease.