1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,200 Speaker 1: All right, I got a question for you. What would 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: you be willing to do? How far would you be 3 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:08,399 Speaker 1: willing to go just to survive? Well, this week we 4 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: had this like gigantic snowstorm on the East coast and 5 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: it was a bear just walking down my driveway. I 6 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: started thinking about people stranded by frozen mother nature, like 7 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,240 Speaker 1: the Netflix flick Society of the Snow and the Donner 8 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: Party trapped by a mountain blizzard back in eighteen forty six. 9 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele. Blizzards and cannibalism. That's next on the backstory. 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: The backstory is back. Did you catch the Netflix movie 11 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: Society of the Snow a couple of years ago. It's 12 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: the true story of a rugby team from Uruguay over 13 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: fifty years ago, whose airliner crashed in the snowy mountains 14 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: of Argentina. Of the forty five passengers on board, twenty 15 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: nine survived the crash, and another thirteen died later of 16 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: injuries and illness. The sixteen who may survived by eating 17 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,040 Speaker 1: their dead teammates. Not the first story of its kind, 18 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: it turns out, and all these folks had to ask 19 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: themselves the difficult question, how far am i willing to 20 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: go to survive. It's the question that faced a group 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 1: of pioneers who took off from Illinois and Missouri in 22 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: the eighteen forties and headed west. Two families, the Donners, 23 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: headed by George Donner and the Reeds, headed by James Reed, 24 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: hit the trail with nine covered wagons. It was an 25 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,119 Speaker 1: incredibly difficult undertaking. They expected to cover as much as 26 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: fifteen miles a day, getting to California in four to 27 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: six months, but timing was everything in those days. They 28 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: had to leave early enough to make it past the 29 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: western mountain ranges before winter, but late enough to avoid 30 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: getting bogged down in the mud from spring rains. They 31 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: also had to make sure to travel when there was 32 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: still enough spring grass for their cattle and horses to 33 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: feed on along the way. It's the first day of departure, 34 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: May twelfth, eighteen forty six. The two families, thirty two 35 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: people in all, with everything they own packed into those wagons, 36 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: are leaving for a new life in the West. But 37 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: the group starts to grow. They eventually meet up with 38 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: other folks looking for a new life, and now there's 39 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: eighty seven pioneers. The early part of the trip goes 40 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: about as planned, and by June sixteenth they've covered four 41 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty miles. Unfortunately, one bad decision seals their fate. 42 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: After another month, the group decides they're going to break 43 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: off from the traditional Organ trail route and try a 44 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: new one called the Hastings Cutoff. It was being promoted 45 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: by a merchant named Jim Bridger. He suggests using the cutoff, 46 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,679 Speaker 1: which would take them across a steep and craggy set 47 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: of mountain ranges as well as across the Great Salt 48 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: Lake desert. See he has an angle. Bridger has a 49 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: trading post on that route, giving him a vested interest 50 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,839 Speaker 1: in steering them in that direction. Most other groups were 51 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: opting for the known route, but the Donner and Reed 52 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: families and others traveling with them take the bait right away. 53 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: There are problems. The first mountains they hit are insanely 54 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: difficult to cross with all those creaky wagons. The group 55 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: is only able to travel about a mile and a 56 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: half a day at that point, so they're losing precious time. 57 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: By August twentieth, they finally can look down from the 58 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: mountains and see the Great Salt Lake and the desert 59 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: stretching beyond it. Problem is, it takes almost two more 60 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: weeks just to travel out of the mountains, and then 61 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: their second guessing begins. The men start arguing about whether 62 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: they'd chosen the right trail. Worse yet, food and supplies 63 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: begin to run out for some of the families, so 64 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: the goodness and light and the unity they shared at 65 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: the outset starts to crumble under the weight of hunger, exhaustion, fear, 66 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: and disagreement. They begin to cross the Great Soltalt Lake Desert, 67 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: and in the heat of the day, the moisture underneath 68 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: the salt crust rises to the surface and turns it 69 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: into a gummy mess. Some of the wagon wheels sink 70 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: into it, right up to the wheel hub or axle. 71 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: The days were ferociously hot, and the nights, of course, freezing. 72 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: That's the desert. After three days, the water is gone, 73 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: and some of the animals are so weak they have 74 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: to abandon them, or in some cases they become so 75 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: crazed with thirst they bolt off into the desert on 76 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: their own. The journey across the eighty miles of the 77 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: Great Salt Lake Desert takes one hellish week. Now autumn 78 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,799 Speaker 1: is in full swing and in the mountains it gets cold. 79 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: Early things start to get even more complicated. Vicious fights 80 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: break out. One of the original leaders, James Reed, gets 81 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: into a battle with another man and winds up stabbing 82 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: him to death. Now what well, some in the group 83 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: think Reed should be hanged, but instead they decide to 84 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: banish him. He's allowed to leave the camp, but he 85 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: can't take his family or any supplies with him, although 86 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: his stepdaughter secretly gives him a rifle and a bit 87 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: of food. But it gets worse. The pioneers are attacked 88 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: by unfriendly natives who kill or steal a whole bunch 89 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: of their remaining animals. Fortunately, though some friendly natives give 90 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: them some supplies, as well as two guides who would 91 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: travel with them. They just need to get past the 92 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:33,239 Speaker 1: biggest mountain ranges before winter was their nightmare almost over, 93 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: guess not. By early November, the group has reached the 94 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: Sierra Nevada and the last one hundred miles but the 95 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: most difficult part of their journey, and that's where they 96 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: get trapped by an early heavy snowfall. The blizzard lasts 97 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,919 Speaker 1: eight full days and the problem is this is a 98 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: region with hundreds of massive mountain peaks, some topping out 99 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: at twelve thousand feet, and an area that gets as 100 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: much as five hundred inches of snow every winter. So 101 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: each family builds a small hut made from sticks and 102 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: strips of ox skin covering the roof. Most of their 103 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: cattle are either dead or dying. Families become so desperate 104 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: they start to eat the ox hides. 105 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 2: They're using for their roofing. 106 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,239 Speaker 1: Now, as winter really sets in, they're stuck in massive 107 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: snow drifts high in the mountains. More snowfalls, and by 108 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: mid December their food supplies are almost gone. At this point, 109 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: seventeen of them decide to leave to try to get 110 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: some help. They set out wearing snow shoes. What happens 111 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,280 Speaker 1: next is horrific, but for some it was the only 112 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: way to survive. For those trying to get help, supplies 113 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: begin to run super low. After a number of days 114 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: without any food, one man proposes that somebody ought to 115 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: volunteer to die in order to feed the others. 116 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 2: They actually debate the idea. At first. 117 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: They suggest a duel or maybe a lottery to choose 118 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: who to sacrifice. Now it's sounding kind of like the purge, 119 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: right but trapped in the snow, they start dying naturally 120 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: before having to kill anybody, and that's when the others 121 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: begin to eat the body parts of the first victims. 122 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: The next day, they strip muscle and organs from the 123 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: other three bodies and preserve it by drying. Question is 124 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: how do you get around that without gagging? I guess 125 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: it's better than starvation and maybe anyway, When the food 126 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: runs out, the group secretly discusses killing and eating the 127 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: two native guides. The pair hear about that plan and 128 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: they escape, although nine days later they are found in 129 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: very weak condition. They're shot and butchered for meat, and 130 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: it's not much different back at the main camp. The 131 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: first relief party doesn't arrive until the middle of February 132 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: eighteen forty seven, almost four months after the wagon train 133 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: was trapped by that early blizzard, and what rescuers find 134 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: is disturbing, to say the least. A woman tells one 135 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: of them that her family was considering eating one of 136 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,679 Speaker 1: the wagon drivers they'd hired for the trip. That man's 137 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: mutilated body is found later. In another case, the first 138 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: two members of the relief party see a man carrying 139 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: a human leg when he notices them, he throws it 140 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: into a hole in the snow, where they find the 141 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: mostly dismembered body of George Donner's son, who had died 142 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: of natural causes. His young wife had refused to eat 143 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: her husband's remains, but was feeding it to her children 144 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: to keep them alive. The rescuers said three other bodies 145 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: had already been eaten. Ironically, when the first of those 146 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: who were rescued reach civilization, George Donner's twelve year old 147 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:46,079 Speaker 1: step grandson breaks into a food storage container and eats 148 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: so much he dies. Ultimately, of the eighty seven members 149 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: of the Donner party, forty eight survive the ordeal. Although 150 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: the pain doesn't end there for everybody. Some receive death threats, 151 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,479 Speaker 1: others are shunned by people who just can't get past. 152 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 2: What they've done to survive. 153 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: Now. On the upside, some including the Reed family, go 154 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: on to actually create the life they'd dreamed of before 155 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: heading west. James Reid, who'd been banished for killing a 156 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: man who detect him and his wife, found his way 157 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: back to his family and settled in California with him 158 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: during the Gold Rush of eighteen forty nine. 159 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 2: He became a really wealthy businessman. 160 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: Now. The state of California eventually recognized the Donner story 161 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: as the most dramatic of the full story of Western migration. 162 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 1: They built a memorial on the site of one of 163 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,359 Speaker 1: the cabins, which had all been burned in the immediate aftermath, 164 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: and that site has hundreds of thousands. 165 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 2: Of visitors a year. 166 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: I guess their story sort of tells us that the 167 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: sheer strain of survival can bring out both the best 168 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: and the worst in us. And again, much like with 169 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: society the snow, you have to ask yourself how far 170 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: you'd be willing to go to save your children and 171 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: yourself when you're put to that kind of an existential test. 172 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: Hope you're enjoying The Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave 173 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 1: a review and follow or subscribe for free to get 174 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: new episodes delivered automatically. And if you have a story 175 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: you'd like me to take a deep dive into and share, 176 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: please DM me on Facebook at Patty Steele or on 177 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: Instagram at real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory 178 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, 179 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:35,319 Speaker 1: and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser, Our 180 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 181 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 182 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:46,080 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at real Patty Steele and 183 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 184 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history 185 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:54,080 Speaker 2: You didn't know you needed to know.