by his "Open Letter," led part of the
band to take his new road, which ultimated in dire tragedy, is well
known.

The Oregon division of the divided party took the right-hand trail,
while the other took the left-hand to Fort Bridger. It is the
experiences of this latter party with which we are concerned.
Misfortune came to them thick and fast from this time on. The wagons
were stalled in Weber Canyon and had to be hauled bodily up the steep
cliffs to the plateau above; some of their stock ran away, after
heartbreaking struggles over the Salt Lake desert; mirages intensified
their burning thirst by their disappointing lure; Indians threatened
them, and finally, to add despair to their wretchedness, a quarrel
arose in which Mr. Reed, in self-defence, killed one of the drivers,
named Snyder. Reed was banished from the party under circumstances of
unjustifiable severity which amounted to inhuman cruelty, and his wife
and helpless children, the oldest of them, Virginia, only twelve years
of age, had to take the rest of the journey without the presence of
their natural protector. Food supplies began to give out, the snow
fell earlier than usual and added to their difficulties, and before
they reached the region of the Truckee River they were compelled to
go on short rations. Then, under suspicious circumstances one of the
party, Wolfinger, was lost, and though his wife was informed that he
had been murdered by Indians, there was always a doubt in the minds of
some as to whether that explanation were the true one. On the 19th
of October, an advance guard that had gone on to California for food,
returned, bringing seven mules ladened with flour and jerked beef. The
story of this trip I have recounted more fully in the book _Heroes
of California_. Without this additional food the party never could
have survived. On the 22nd they crossed the Truckee River for the
forty-ninth time.

Heavy snow now began to intercept their weary way. They were finally
compelled to take refuge in an abandoned cabin near the shore of what
is now known as Donner Lake, and there, under circumstances of horror
and terror that can never fully be comprehended and appreciated, the
devoted men, women and children were imprisoned in the snow until the
first relief party reached them, February 19th, with scant provisions,
brought in at life's peril on snowshoes. A "Forlorn Hope" had tried to
force its passage over the snowy heights. Fifteen brave men and wo