Now, onto the most notorious tragedy in westward expansion history: the Donner Party. Let’s start from the beginning. You may remember The Professor saying that the Donners and James Reed were from Springfield, Illinois, a town that probably rings a history bell. Who else was from Springfield that we covered this season? Oh, that’s right — our boy, Kate Warne’s old pal, Mr. Abraham Lincoln. What a funny coincidence! Except the coincidence runs deeper. Businessman James Reed had worked with a young lawyer Lincoln in the course of his business, and the two had become good friends. When Reed decided to set out west, Lincoln was interested in joining him. YES, how crazy is this: There was a chance that Lincoln and Mary Todd could’ve joined the Donner Party. This was 20ish years before his presidency, after all; imagine what would’ve been different in U.S. history! Lincoln was intrigued with the thought of California, and Mary had family out there. But at that point in time, they had a toddler and another baby on the way, and Lincoln had just embarked on his political career, so they decided not to go. But Mary Todd Lincoln was part of the group that waved the Donner party goodbye as they set off on their journey from Springfield. Much later, it was discovered that James Reed had taken papers with Lincoln’s handwriting on it with him on his journey to California. Even when he was banished from the group, he left the papers with his wife — so papers with Lincoln’s handwriting were present during the horrific events in the Sierra Nevada. How bonkers is that?!

Lansford Hastings, of Hastings’ Cutoff, was also more present than the Donners’ experience would’ve suggested. In fact, originally, the Donners were supposedto meet up with Hastings to be guided by the man himself through the route. But, as The Professor mentioned, the Donners were running late, and they missed his expedition. Stupidly, they decided to try it themselves. (To be fair, the group that was guided by Hastings didn’t have an easy time either, though it was nothing as catastrophic as the Donners’ experience.) 

In the episode, Ryan asked The Professor: “How far were they into this shortcut when they realized, ‘oh, this road is pretty unsuitable, we have to fix it’?” The answer is: Pretty quickly, but not quite quick enough to turn back and go the established route. They had a great first week on the road, but it was within a fortnight that they hit those Wasatch Mountains. I’m sure they were just like, let’s just keep going, it’ll get better. But they had no idea what was ahead of them! A fun fact that I came across while researching this is that for over 90 years after the Donner Party’s trip across the Salt Flats of Utah, their wagon tracks remained visible, and artifacts that they’d left behind continued to be found. No one ever took Hastings Cutoff again after the Donner Party, but Mormon settlers coming to Utah the following year did follow their route to the Salt Lake Valley (but stopped there).

The Professor mentioned the incident (murder) that caused James Reed to be expelled from the Donner Party. But that was just one of several clashes between party members. Two days after Reed’s banishment, a Mr. Hardkoop was kicked out of Lewis Keseberg’s wagon (he of cannibalism fame). He was left on the side of the trail, and no one else in the party stopped to look for him. Another man, Wolfinger, stopped along the side of the road to bury some valuables; while he was doing that, he was murdered by two other men from the group,Joseph Reinhardt and Augustus Spitzer. And this was before they reached the Sierra Nevada. Lovely!

Once they did reach the Sierra Nevada site where they’d spend the next few months, snow was already on the ground and falling heavily. But they didn’tjust give up immediately. They arrived on Halloween, and between Nov. 1 until around Nov. 20, there were attempts to pass through the mountains. Author Ethan Rarick made a great point to U.S. News & World Report in 2008: “They kept thinking they would be able to get out, that maybe the snow would melt. Remember, these were people from the Midwest.” They just weren’t used to having 20 feet of snow on the ground, and didn’t know how to navigate it, or survive in it. Weather records show, however, that the winter of 1846-1847 was especially severe for the area. Luckily, there was already a cabin standing in the location; in fact, it’s why they chose that particular spot to stop. It had been built by members of the Townsend-Stephens-Murphy Party in 1844. 

As for the whole, ya know, eating other humans thing. With the possible exception of Lewis Keseberg, all cannibalism was done to those who had died of natural causes, not murder, and they’d exhausted all other food options before they turned to this last desperate measure. The Forlorn Hope party resorted to cannibalism first, on Dec. 26, 1846, while those back at camp lasted until Feb. 26, 1847, after the first rescue group had come and gone. Author Michael Wallis told NPR in 2017, “They tried their best not to consume flesh of family members, they were so careful.” So, you know, there’s that. Fun(?) fact: According to a University of Brighton study, boars and beavers have about 1,800 calories into each pound of muscle, while a modern human contains just 650 calories. So like, FYI, humans aren’t the most calorie-rich food out there. Cool to know! But I guess the whole point is that boars and beavers (and other more normal animals to eat) weren’t readily available. 

The opposite of a hero in that situation was Lewis Keseberg. The Professor described the grisly scene where he was found as the lone survivor in April 1847; when he finally arrived at Sutter’s Fort, Keseberg was accused of murdering Tamsen Donner, as she had been in good health when the third rescue team left. With no witnesses, however, a conviction was impossible. Keseberg’s innocence is still in question to this day, and there are reports that Keseberg later bragged about his cannibalism, remarking that human liver — especially that of Tamsen Donner — was the best food he’d ever eaten. But the story was also sensationalized in the press at the time, and Keseberg especiallygot a bad rap. He was nicknamed “The Human Cannibal,” and a journalist in the 1870s tracked Keseberg down to find him tormented by the accusations. By that point, he was widowed, poor, and caring after two mentally disabled daughters. (A German immigrant, Keseberg at some point introduced lager beerto the Sacramento area.) The journalist, C.F. McGlashan (who went on to author History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the Sierra, published in 1880), brought him together with Eliza Donner Houghton, a surviving daughter of Tamsen Donner. Keseberg reportedly dropped to his knees in front of Eliza, then stood, looked her in the eyes, and swore he had not murdered her mother (though he did not deny eating her posthumously). Eliza supposedly believed him. Later, though, his descendents would change the family name.

There are a surprising number of firsthand accounts from the surviving members of the Donner Party; there’s Patrick Breen’s journal, and Eliza (Donner) Houghton and Virgina Reed Murphy’s books. I highly, highly recommend giving them a perusal. They are WILD.