wagon train tragedies

Mail coaches, freight caravans, ranches, and parties putting up hay were attacked simultaneously. After dogs and cowhides had been devoured, many deaths occurred, and the survivors were forced to resort to cannibalism of the dead bodies. There, on May 12, they became a part of a main wagon train headed west. Patrick Breen was a member of the Donner Party and kept a diary of their ordeal during the winter of 1846-47. On July 19ththe wagon train arrived at the Little Sandy River in present-day Wyoming, where the trail parted into two routes the northerly known route and the untested Hastings Cutoff. [Colonel Henry Inman] describes what followed: Both lines by command fired, following the example of their superiors, the troopers, however, spurring forward over their enemies. 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. Indian Attack on a Wagon Train by Charles Marion Russell The first notable tragedy on the Santa Fe Trail connected to stage coaching occurred almost with the first effort to establish the line. On April 16, 1846, nine covered wagons leftSpringfield,Illinoison the 2,500-mile journey toCalifornia, in what would become one of the greatest tragedies in the history of westward migration. His wife Tamzene, though in comparatively good health, refused to leave him; sending her three little girls on without her. There were two coaches loaded with mail and nine men, the leaders being Lem Flowers, a division agent, and the conductor named Brown. Reed would continue west on horseback while the rest of his family remained with the Donner party. 8.1 (40) Rate. Again, hindsight they were buried under feet of snow, hundreds died, and those who survived lost arms and legs to frostbite. Eight of the men died, and the bodies of some of these were eaten by the others. Some blamed the power-hungry Lansford W. Hastings for the tragedy, while others blamed James Reed for not heeding Clymans warning about the deadly route. 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 next day, they arrived at Alder Creek to find that the Donners had also resorted to cannibalism. Hindsight is 20/20, so let's see if you can guess what went wrong with Brigham Young's plan to bring Mormon converts to their new paradise on Earth. ", He spent two months in the cabin, surrounded by the bodies of his dead friends, with wolves scratching to get to the meat inside. The Sioux came out on top during that skirmish, and Grattan's body was recovered riddled with arrows. It was usually safer to keep rifles unloaded.and the third cause was stampeding livestock.Indians proved not to be any real danger to most pioneers. As soon as Cody got a glimpse of the Indians, he handed the reins to Flowers and began applying the whip. 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. 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 they didnt know was that the desert sand was moist and deep, where wagons quickly got bogged down, severely slowing their progress. After building ferries to cross the water, the party was on their way again, following the Platte River for the next month. Seriously, you don't have it that bad, and if there's one consolation it's the surviving girls' memoirs that talk about the kindness they experienced along the way. With the train desperately needing fresh meat, Cooper Smith, along with Barnaby, sets off . In less than 15 minutes, 21 of the 46 actors in this strange combat were slain or disabled. 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. Occasionally the eight frisky mules would prove too much for their driver, and there would be a runaway, and a broken coach, to be repaired with whatever tools might be at hand. Murphy, Idaho. They traveled on with the wagon train and ended up in the care of missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. He was interviewed a few times, and when he was 62 he issued his first formal statement. 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. Hastings had claimed that his route would shave more than 300 miles (480 km) from the journey to California. As they turned for a third charge, the surviving Indians were seen escaping to a deep ravine, which, although only one or two hundred paces off, had not previously been noticed. That's horrible, but there's a fascinating footnote that comes out of all this. They estimate one in ten travelers didn't survive, and the National Oregon/California Trail Center says the 2,000-mile trail averaged 10 deaths per mile. Jim Bridger and his partner Louis Vasquez assured the Donner Party that the Hastings Cutoff was a good route. Two months later, Collins was again in battle at Mud Springs, Nebraska but succeeded in driving off his assailants. Wagon Train is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957-1962), and then on ABC (1962-1965). It could attack a perfectly healthy person after breakfast and he would be in his grave by noon. 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. Donner party, also called Donner-Reed party, group of American pioneersnamed for the expeditions captain, George Donnerwho became stranded en route to California in late 1846. As a protection for both lines, the Government later erected Fort Sedgwick on the South Fork of the Platte River. Though Sarah Keyes was so sick with consumption that she could barely walk, she was unwilling to be separated from her only daughter. In April of that year occurred a terrible fight between the mail-stage and Indians on the Sweetwater River. The Donner Party wasted no time in administering their own justice. With the train desperately needing fresh meat, Cooper Smith, along with Barnaby, sets off . The company included about 140 men, women and childrenthe women and children outnumbered the able-bodied men 2-to-1. The migrants began the ascent of the Sierra foothills low on food, and Paiute warriors killed several of the remaining oxen. Led by Elijah Utter (sometimes written "Otter"), the group included four families, 21 children, and a few former soldiers. In July 1865, a stage carrying seven passengers and containing a considerable amount of gold bullion was the object of such an attack. By this point, the members of the company had cached, or buried, virtually all their personal possessionsexcept for food, clothing, and the barest essentials necessary for survivalin an effort to minimize the load on their exhausted animals. On the Trail - The Westward Movement. This food was never otherwise than loathsome, insipid, and disgusting. The troopers charged twice, killing and wounding more than a hundred Indians, but the chief escaped, and, when the soldiers finally captured the village, they found there the body of Mrs. White, yet warm, with three arrows in her breast. Twenty men stayed at Devil's Gate to guard the wagon-train goods for the rest of the winter. Bell was not hit, but four or five of his men were killed or wounded. On October 5that Iron Point, two wagons became entangled and John Snyder, a teamster of one of the wagons began to whip his oxen. The group made good progress all the way to Fort Laramie (in what is now southeastern Wyoming), covering roughly 650 miles (1,050 km) in six weeks. Settlers would keep as much as they could on their overloaded wagons in hopes of trading once they reached the fort, but that wasn't always possible. Surviving the Oregon Trail was just the beginning for some people just ask Lewis Keseberg. As the rest of the party continued to what is now known as Donners Lake, snow began to fall. By 1850, the area was swimming with cholera. The wagon tragedy also known as wagon massacre was an incident which occurred during the Malabar rebellion against British colonial rule in India that led to the deaths of 70 Indian prisoners. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Donners, whose progress was delayed by a wagon accident, made a similar camp a few miles farther east on the trail near Alder Creek. Wagon Train cast list, including photos of the actors when available. During 1863-65 the Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne were all upon the warpath. About the same time, a force of over 2,000 Indians made a determined attack upon a detachment of troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Collins at Rush Creek, Nebraska, 85 miles north of Julesburg. The party elected George Donner to serve as its leader, and at its peak the Donner party would number some 87 people29 men, 15 women, and 43 childrenin a column of 23 ox-drawn wagons. Such diseases as cholera, small pox, flu, measles, mumps, tuberculosis could spread quickly through an entire wagon camp. Reed also hoped that his wife, Margaret, who suffered from terrible headaches, might improve in the coastal climate. Many of those who survived lost toes to frostbite. Two days after they started out it began to rain. The caravan camped for five days 50 miles from the summit, resting their oxen for the final push. More than 155 years ago one of the worst tragedies in American travel occurred during the westward migration. 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. More than 40 whites were killed, and the destruction of property was extensive. Being caught there by a raging snowstorm was undoubtedly a terrible experience. They then took 23 of the starving emigrants, including 17 children, back to the settlements; several deaths occurred on the way. 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).

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