The ill-fated Utter-Van Ornum wagon train would go down in history with the dubious honor of being the deadliest wagon train (via the Idaho Chapter Oregon-California Trails Association). On May 25ththe train was held for several days by high water at the Big Blue River near present-day Marysville,Kansas. The greater portion of the Plains country was then without permanent inhabitants, scarcely anything breaking the desolation excepting the isolated stations along the Overland and Santa Fe Trails, with a few scattered settlements extending into the prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. Never for a moment could they feel secure; every trip promised to be their last, and many a time, the coach dashed up to a station only to find it in ruins and surrounded by dead. Their first destination wasIndependence,Missouri, the main jumping-off point for theOregonandCalifornia Trails. Caching their provisions in Bear Valley, they returned to Sutters fort hoping to recruit more men and supplies for the rescue. As soon as Cody got a glimpse of the Indians, he handed the reins to Flowers and began applying the whip. Twenty-two people, consisting of the Donner family and their hired men, stayed behind while the wagon was repaired. One of their number, Gib Ryker, is a sociopath who enjoys antagonizing young Barnaby West. By the time they reached the shore, they also blamed James Reed. That's not a joke. This horrific incident came to be called the Jalian Wallabagh of the South. As the rest of the party continued to what is now known as Donners Lake, snow began to fall. Though member, Lewis Keseberg, favored hanging for James Reed, the group, instead, voted to banish him. Sutters Fort in Sacramento, California, 1847. Burials often were done right in the middle of the trail, where wagons could roll over and animals trample it down in order to erase the scent so wolves could not pick up the scent. There were a few reasons for it, and Brian Altonensays part of the problem was the saline-alkaline waters of the Platte were the perfect breeding ground for cholera left behind in settlers' waste products. However, many would linger in misery for weeks in the bouncy wagons. On the Trail - The "IKENBERRY" Party - 1849. On October 5that Iron Point, two wagons became entangled and John Snyder, a teamster of one of the wagons began to whip his oxen. When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy. He was as cruel and heartless an Indian as ever ambushed a stagecoach or murdered helpless women. George P. Belden, well known in those days as The White Chief, thus describes the disagreeable duties: Troops were stationed in small squads at every station, about ten miles apart, and they rode from station to station on the top of all coaches, holding their guns ever ready for action. The Reeds, the Donners, and a number of others chose to head southwest toward Fort Bridger. The Sioux came out on top during that skirmish, and Grattan's body was recovered riddled with arrows. On December 15, Balis Williams died of malnutrition and the group realized that something had to be done before they all died. When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy. Talk about incentive. In later years Kicking Bird, also a Kiowa, became the terror of the Plains. The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west.. One member of the party, Charles Stanton, snow-blind and exhausted was unable to keep up with the rest of the party and told them to go on. When they died or got sick, the men were left to make things up like the husband of a Mrs. Knapp. The very next day, five more feet of snow fell, and they knew that any plans for a departure were dashed. In 1921, a rebellion against British colonial rule by Mappila Muslims broke out in the Malabar District of British India. Omissions? The Raton Range had been safely surmounted, and, just about dawn one morning, the heavy coach entered the canyon of the Canadian River, its occupants unsuspicious of any danger. From start to finish, it took between five and six months, and it's hard to imagine today. Tensions were running high among the exhausted migrants, and on October 5 an altercation between Reed and a teamster employed by another family ended with Reed fatally stabbing the man. Road agents also became very much in evidence, and the robbery of stages was not uncommon. Jim Bridger and his partner Louis Vasquez assured the Donner Party that the Hastings Cutoff was a good route. It could attack a perfectly healthy person after breakfast and he would be in his grave by noon. Mail coaches, freight caravans, ranches, and parties putting up hay were attacked simultaneously. Two men who had joined the party at the lake also died. On March 3rd, Reed left the camp with 17 of the starving emigrants but just two days later they are caught in another blizzard. There were 1,100 people in those two companies alone (via WyoHistory), and they didn't set out until August. Here they fought their assailants all day, six of the men being wounded, and all their stock was driven off. This food was never otherwise than loathsome, insipid, and disgusting. Time was supposed to heal all wounds, he wrote, but that was B.S. The old man, who could not keep up with the rest of the party with his severely swollen feet, began to knock on other wagon doors, but no one would let him in. Indian Attack on a Wagon Train by Charles Marion Russell. Stantons partner, William McCutchen had fallen ill and remained at the fort. According to the National Park Service, six children set off from Missouri with their parents in early 1844, with the seventh being born in the wagon. Susannah succumbed to "milk sickness," and while we don't know how many babies died from it, we do know livestock were forced to forage some seriously overgrazed land. Generally, the first fire from the Indians killed one or two horses and tumbled a soldier or two off the top of the coach. Obviously adventurous, the brothers decided to make one last trip toCalifornia, which unfortunately would be their last. ", He spent two months in the cabin, surrounded by the bodies of his dead friends, with wolves scratching to get to the meat inside. They reached the Humboldt River on September 26th. At the bottom of JacobDonnerssaddlebag was a copy of Lansford Hastingss Emigrants Guide, with its tantalizing talk of a faster route to the garden of the earth. On August 25th, the caravan lost another member, one Luke Halloran, who died of consumption, near present-day Grantsville,Utah. 8.1 (40) Rate. Updates? January 17, 2016 Late one afternoon in July 1864, a party of American Indians rode up to a small wagon train on the Oregon Trail and, using signs, asked in a friendly way for something to eat. From Walnut Creek to the mountains, no traveler was safe from attack by the dog soldiers, Often, a caravan started forth having the disguised George Bent as a guide, for his plans usually involved treachery. He was last seen sitting under a large sagebrush, completely exhausted, unable to walk, worn out, and was left there to die. Despite the disastrous crossings of Willie and Martinthe worst single tragedies to befall any overland travelersthe church continued to support the handcart scheme. The Hastings Cutoff and Highway 80 Tragedy of the Donner Party Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846-1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Not everyone could be taken out at one time and since no pack animals could be brought in, few food supplies were brought in. With George were his third wife, Tamzene, their three children, Frances, Georgia, and Eliza, and Georges two daughters from a previous marriage, Elitha and Leanna. In less than 15 minutes, 21 of the 46 actors in this strange combat were slain or disabled. The boy died as they hacked off the leg with a butcher knife and a handsaw, and it wasn't a happy ending. Other causes of injury or death included attacks by emigrants on other emigrants, lightning, hailstorms, grass fires, gunpowder explosions, snakebite and suicide. When it was obvious a person wouldnt last the day, the train would often hold up moving in order to wait for the end. The Donner Camp has been the site of recent archeological excavations. "The child was dead his miseries were over!" The ordeal of the Donner party highlighted the incredible risks that were inherent in the great overland trek, but it did little to slow the pace of migration. While the journey west was traditionally considered dangerous and deadly, this was especially the case for the Donner Party. Swollen rivers could tip over and drown both people and oxen. Never take no cutofs and hury along as fast as you can. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 would turn the flow of migrants into a virtual flood, and the legacy of the Donner party would become less a cautionary tale and more a grim historical footnote in the story of the great westward movement. Cyndi's List - Migration Routes, Roads & Trails - Wagon Trains You'd be pretty mad, too. Murphy, Idaho. Ominously, snow powdered the mountain peaks that very night. This point was then the junction between the Overland mainline and the newly established branch leading to Denver. Fort Laramie Parade Grounds, photo by Kathy Alexander. Animals could cause very serious injury to their owners. I remember the days traveling in a Connastoga Wagon and nites sleeping under the . Plenty of people had the misfortune to listen to one of the quack doctors who hit the trail, too. Two men saved their lives, one feigning death in the bottom of the coach, the other escaping into the brush. Photo courtesy of Hansen Wheel & Wagon Shop https://www.hansenwheel.com . Many of those who survived lost toes to frostbite. Given the starvation that happened later, it's impossible not to wonder how many people died dreaming of everything they dumped. Whether it's better to eat or be eaten is a discussion for another time, but the tragic footnote is that the entire thing could have been avoided. During a months harrowing, often overwhelming hardships from cold, storms, deep snow, and inadequate food, they struggled on. The Deadliest Wagon Train On The Oregon Trail - YouTube By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Yet, even more, a summer hailstorm was to be dreaded, for nowhere else do such ice-chunks descend from the sky. Here they came to a halt when they found a note from Hastings advising them not to follow him down Weber Canyon as it was virtually impassible, but rather to take another trail through the Salt Basin. However, upon their arrival at Fort Bridger, of Lansford Hastings, there was no sign, only a note left with other emigrants resting at the fort. He was interviewed a few times, and when he was 62 he issued his first formal statement. On the far side of the desert, an inventory of food was taken and found to be less than adequate for the 600-mile trek still ahead. Mrs. White, her child, and nurse were borne away prisoners. Antonio, Patrick Dolan, Franklin Graves, and Lemuel Murphy soon died and in desperation, the others resorted to cannibalism. The notorious tragedy occurred on 10 November 1921, the Wagon Tragedy.The Muslims who were captured by the British in connection with the Malabar riots were seized by a train wagon from Tirur and sent to Coimbatore, most of whom were wounded and suffocated.This is a kind of brutal massacre. Being caught there by a raging snowstorm was undoubtedly a terrible experience. The last survivor, Lewis Keseberg, who had supported himself during the last weeks by cannibalism, did not leave camp until April 21. Most of the party thereupon built crude cabins near what is now known as Donner Lake. Again, hindsight they were buried under feet of snow, hundreds died, and those who survived lost arms and legs to frostbite. Reed soon found others seeking adventure and fortune in the vast West, including the Donner family, Graves, Breens, Murphys, Eddys, McCutcheons, Kesebergs, and the Wolfingers, as well as seven teamsters and a number of bachelors. Extra foodstuffs, and one account even talked about the 20,000-odd pounds of bacon left behind. National Oregon/California Trail Center Wagon Train debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It was not pleasant; this sitting perched up on top of a coach, riding through dark ravines and tall grass, in which savages were ever lurking. In the end, five had died before reaching the mountains, thirty-five perished either at the mountain camps or trying to cross the mountains, and one died just after reaching the valley. Good in theory, but how many bankers knew which way to hold a gun? On August 30, after gathering as much water and grass as they could carry, they entered the Great Salt Lake Desert. Road to hell and all. According to Peter D. Olch, being run over by wagon wheels was the most frequent cause of injury or death. The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used two-wheeled handcarts to transport their belongings. The letter successfully allayed any fears that the party might have had regarding the Hastings cutoff. The researchers themselves clarified, however, that the absence of archaeological evidence did not rule out the possibility that cannibalism had occurred, especially given the extensive contemporary accounts by members of the rescue parties and the survivors themselves. At the lake stood one existing cabin and realizing they were stranded, the group built two more cabins, sheltering 59 people in hopes that the early snow would melt, allowing them to continue their travels. Mormon Handcart Tragedy of 1856 - Legends of America Mountain Meadows Massacre - HistoryNet Well educated in St. Louis, Missouri, he no sooner returned to the Plains than he developed into a blood-thirsty desperado, organizing a body of young warriors, later known as dog soldiers, and beginning a series of depredations against the whites. Leave late, and you'd be waiting on the shores of a river where people and animals had been doing their business for months and months, and yes, you were drinking that water, too. They were attacked on September 9, 1860, and 11 died in the two-day confrontation. Of the 81. Don Brooke is desperate for money for his pregnant wife Bonnie, whose condition is too delicate for the long trip without more medical care so he seeks a bank loan. I use these web pages to make available the sources of information that I run across - wagon . Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Easy Travel Organization Tips You Will Love, Bidwell-Bartleson Party Blazing the California Trail. 8.1 (40) Rate. Leaving his family, Reed was last seen riding off to the west with a man named Walter Herron. title role in this Wagon Train story. He had his full share of narrow escapes. Bents Fort was occupied by troops, and, in anticipation of coming events, several new posts were established throughout the Indian country and occupied by small garrisons. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp. On August 11th, the wagon train began the arduous journey through the Wasatch Mountains, clearing trees and other obstructions along the new path of their journey. "Tragedy at Mountain Meadows takes . The Hide Hunters. Hopeless, they retraced their steps where five feet of new snow had already fallen. Ever feel like you have the worst luck on the planet? Satisfied, the emigrants rested for a few days at the fort, making repairs to their wagons and preparing for the rest of what they thought would be a seven-week journey. Ironically, on the very day that theIllinoisparty headed west from Springfield, Lansford Hastings prepared to head east from California, to see what the shortcut he had written about was really like. However, what was not known by Reed was that the Hastings Route had never been tested, written by Hastings who had visions of building an empire at Sutters Fort (nowSacramento.) They ate all kinds of nasty plants and passed the problems on in their milk. In wet weather, for mile after mile, the passengers might be compelled to plod beside the wheels, laboriously prying them out of the clinging mud and burdening the air with profanity. On October 31 the weary migrants approached what is now Donner Pass across the Sierra Nevada and found their progress blocked by deepening snow. On March 12ththe third relief led by William Eddy and William Foster reached Starved Camp where Mrs. Graves and her son Franklin had also died. By late 1849 more than 100,000 people had come to California in search of gold near the streams and canyons where theDonner Partyhad suffered. The group had elected to use a shortcut to California that had been recommended to them by an unreliable guide named Lansford Hastings. Utter Wagon Train Disaster - Mendon, Utah Five of the emigrants died before reaching the mountain camps, 34 at the camps or on the mountains while attempting to cross, and one just after reaching the settlements. Led by Elijah Utter (sometimes written "Otter"), the group included four families, 21 children, and a few former soldiers. Having traveled an extra 125 miles through strenuous mountain terrain and dry desert, the disillusioned partys resentment of Hastings, and ultimately, Reed, was increased tremendously. Santana had his headquarters in what is now known as the Cheyenne Bottoms, eight miles from the Great Bend of the Arkansas Riverand about the same distance from old Fort Zarah,Kansas. There were two coaches loaded with mail and nine men, the leaders being Lem Flowers, a division agent, and the conductor named Brown. The heavy snow made trailing almost impossible, yet the scouts discovered signs and, amid much suffering, followed the Indian trail for nearly four hundred miles and finally located the village. The Government offered $5000 for his capture, dead or alive, but death finally came to him in the form of malarial fever. Other relief parties followed, but, because of illness and injuries, it was impossible to remove everyone. According to The Plains Across, Fort Laramie became a major trading post. Mormon Handcart Horrors - HistoryNet The 1840s wagon train journey to California usually began at Independence, Missouri, around the first of May. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The settlers of California organized a relief party which left Fort Sutter (Sacramento) on January 31, 1847. The migrants began the ascent of the Sierra foothills low on food, and Paiute warriors killed several of the remaining oxen. While at Fort Laramie, Reed had been warned against attempting the route by an old friend from Illinois who had just completed the west-to-east journey through Hastings Cutoff, but the group chose to press ahead. The warriors, or nearly all of them, threw themselves on the ground, and several vertical wounds were received by horse and rider. Sure, there are a lot of ways to go on the trail, but no one wants to be remembered like that (and he definitely wasn't the only one). Cholera was the main scourge of the trail. Reed and another rescuer, Hiram Miller, took three of the refugees with them hoping to find food they had stored on the way up. Parrish also wrote several other books, including When Wilderness Was King, My Lady of the North, Historic Illinois, and others. The passengers were all old frontiersmen and were prepared for a desperate defense, anticipating a possible robbery attempt. Applebee's great wagon train of 1843 was fairly unusual in its size (120 wagons), but it did what only . Several Indians were killed, and at night they withdrew, leaving the defenders to harness themselves to the running gear and thus draw their wounded comrades to safety. Tales and Trails of the American Frontier, Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Easy Travel Organization Tips You Will Love, Bidwell-Bartleson Party Blazing the California Trail. About 55 miles of the telegraph line was destroyed, stage stations razed, and employees killed, for long distances east and west. The total of deaths was thus 42, with 47 survivors. We join his story about three weeks after the Donner Party arrived at the blocked pass: The people in camp were being starved by a combination of the holdup of promised rations and suddenly needing to share their resources with thousands of extra mouths. You don't have anything on the seven Sager orphans. Firearms were the second leading cause of emigrant injury and death and a surprisingly large number of pioneers were injured by accidental firearm discharges. Here, the train split, with the majority of the large caravan taking the safer route. With the trail blotted entirely from sight, all that could be done was wait for the storm to blow over. Surviving the Oregon Trail was just the beginning for some people just ask Lewis Keseberg. The tale of the Donner Party is one of tragedy, hardship, and gruesome details. The terrible summer storms sweeping the level Plains, or driving desert sand in clouds, would delay the weary travelers for days in the utmost discomfort. Such accidents could cause the loss of life and most or all of valuable supplies. A large, well equipped wagon train rolled toward California in 1846. The tale told by the Washington State Historical Society suggests they may have been the fortunate ones, because when the four soldiers took the first opportunity they had to pick the best horses and high-tail their way out of Dodge, they left the party with a broken defense. The village head, Conquering Bear, also died, and it only escalated from there. His name was John Lawrence Grattan, and he was a second lieutenant in the Army stationed at Fort Laramie. In the Donner Party tragedy, two-thirds of the men in the party perished, while two-thirds of the women and children lived. 320 North 4th Street A history project by Sandy Wilbur. The Donner Party | History to Go Donner Party Map, courtesy Donner Party Diary. On Thanksgiving, it began to snow again, and the pioneers at Donner Lake killed the last of their oxen for food on November 29th. Tragedy was no stranger to western trails, but the sad experience of this ill-fated group has come to symbolize the hardships of all. When he sees an opportunity at the bank, it leads to tragedy.Don Brooke is desperate for money for his pregnant wife Bonnie, whose condition is too delicate for the long trip without more medical care so he seeks a bank loan. Journey to Martin's Cove: The Mormon Handcart Tragedy of 1856 Two months later, Collins was again in battle at Mud Springs, Nebraska but succeeded in driving off his assailants. There was actually someone riding ahead of the Donner Party acting as a scout, and Edwin Bryant sent a letter back warning them it was too dangerous to take the so-called shortcut. The weather and their hopes were not to improve. But in the mountain district to be traversed before reaching Santa Fe, the most serious disasters usually occurred during the winter. Reed also hoped that his wife, Margaret, who suffered from terrible headaches, might improve in the coastal climate. It was here that the new trail met up with Hastings original path. Another memorable raid was made all along the 200 miles between Julesburg, Colorado, and Liberty Farm, at the head of the Little Blue River in Nebraska, in August 1864. The company included about 140 men, women and childrenthe women and children outnumbered the able-bodied men 2-to-1. The first notable tragedy on the Santa Fe Trail connected to stage coaching occurred almost with the first effort to establish the line. Keseberg had sent his wife and a child on ahead, and said, "For their sakes I must live. This list includes all of the Wagon Train main actors and actresses, so if they are an integral part of the show you'll find them below.You can various bits of trivia about these Wagon Train stars, such as where the actor was born and what their year of birth is. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) was a driver between Split Rock and Three Crossings, one of the most perilous sections. On their eighty mile journey through the Salt Lake Desert, they had lost a total of thirty-two oxen; Reed was forced to abandon two of his wagons, and the Donners, as well as man named Louis Keseberg, lost one wagon each. Charlie Wooster: Now, I don't have enough morals of my own, huh? The surviving members had differing viewpoints, biases and recollections so what actually happened was never extremely clear. However, the Mexican War had drawn away the able-bodied men, forcing any further rescue attempts to wait. Hide hunters, hunters who kill buffalo for their hides only, have temporarily joined up with the wagon train. Wagon Train - Season 8 - IMDb Granny medicine, essentially home remedies passed down from mother to daughter, was common, according to Historic Oregon City. Nine days later, the boy "called to his mother that he could feel worms crawling in his leg," and yes, those were maggots. Thegeneral uprising among the tribes that followed extended to the Rocky Mountains and even to the banks of the Columbia River. No wonder he was so badass, just look what his parents went through. Early contact between settlers and Native Americans was relatively peaceful, according to WyoHistory. Wagon Tragedy Memorial Town Hall in the city Tirur Indeed, even the survivors of the party encouraged others to undertake the journey. The dead of those awful years lies numberless and nameless in their unknown, scattered graves. The pioneers lost valuable days conducting a fruitless search for the missing oxen before beginning a circuitous navigation of the Ruby Mountains in modern northeastern Nevada. At Taos, New Mexico, were several troops of the Second Dragoons under Major Greer. However, many would linger in misery for weeks in the bouncy wagons. They then took 23 of the starving emigrants, including 17 children, back to the settlements; several deaths occurred on the way. He had shot White Wolf several times.. Also dumped? Major threats to pioneer life and limb came from accidents, exhaustion, and disease. A week later they joined a large wagon train captained by Colonel William H. Russell that was camped on Indian Creek about 100 miles west ofIndependence. About this time, fear began to set in as provisions were running low and time was against them. It was a west-bound Concord, containing a full complement of passengers, including a Mr. White, his wife, child, and colored nurse. On February 19th, the first party reached the lake finding what appeared to be a deserted camp until the ghostly figure of a woman appeared. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Of the eight dead, seven had been cannibalized. Infuriated by the teamsters treatment of the oxen, James Reed ordered the man to stop and when he wouldnt, Reed grabbed his knife and stabbed the teamster in the stomach, killing him. All the other stations were guarded in like manner, so it happened that every coach carried some soldiers.. The Santa Fe Trail was the first used for staging purposes and was also the first to be reddened with blood and witness the hardships of prairie travel.