Laura J. (Lcharlesjohnson) reviewed Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party on + 11 more book reviews
Fantastic book. I knew of the Donner Party and the tragedy that befell them but this book, written in 1936, is a great retelling of the details of the journey, the storm that traps the, their tales of survival, and their eventual rescue.
LaVonne W. (Grnemae) -
We all think we know the Donner Party story - they got stranded in the mountains in the winter and ended up being cannibals. There is so much more to the story. What we do not know is that greed, mistakes and arrogance caused many of the issues that caused them to be stranded.
The Donner brothers, Jacob and George, were very wealthy men as was James Reed. The one thing they were not was frontiersmen. They had to hire men to drive their oxen and they had large heavy laden wagons. Mrs Reed was a semi- invalid and one of their wagons was a double decker with a built in iron cookstove (where the hired maid did the cooking) and the upper layer was the bedroom. Others in the party were also wealthy with way too many silly provisions with them. They made the mistake of trusting the word of a man who told them of a shortcut which was not really a reliable trail for wagons and it cost them lots and lots of time and many days without water. James Reed was banished from the wagon train after he killed another man in a stupid argument. Now the Reed family of a semi invalid and 4 children under 12 was on their own with only hired help. In the group were lots and lots of children- 43 total with 28 being under 12 and many of them were under 4 years of age. Soon wagons and possession were being abandonded as the trail which was not really a trail got more and more difficult. They spent days cutting trees and brush to create a road, this was done by many men who had never done physical labor. Lots of back biting and bickering was occuring. They ran into heavy snow in the mountains on October 28 and it became apparent that they could not go further. There were 2 groups of travelers spread over 5 miles. The Donners in the camp furthest away and the rest of the party in 3 roughly put together shacks. Finally on December 16 a group decided to try and find their way over the mountains on homemade snowshoes. Twenty started out, when on January 17 they finally found help only 5 of the 15 men had survived but all 5 women survived the trek. They were they first to eat human flesh to stay alive. Rescue parties were being put together and one was being lead by James Reed but it took several tries by several groups before any rescuers arrived. Meanwhile back at the camps of those still stranded they were reduced to eating the pet dogs and then to boiling the hides from the butchered or storm killed cattle. Soon they were also reduced to surviving on human flesh. The conditions in the cabins where they had taken refuge from the weather were horrible and everyone was guarding what little items of nourishment (1/2 tsp flour was a day's food for example) from everyone else. Several rescue parties arrived but they brought very little food and could only help the strongest to walk out with them to safety. It took many tries by the rescuers to get the others out of the camps. Finally on April 21 1847 the last man was rescued from the camps,
The author used journals and diaries from the dead and survivors as well as oral stories from survivors and rescuers to accurately portray the awful conditions this group endured. Of the 87 in the party when they entered the Sierra Nevada mountains 39 died plus 2 rescuers from California died. Many of the children who lived were some of the youngest in the party included 1 girl who was only 1 yr old.
The Donner brothers, Jacob and George, were very wealthy men as was James Reed. The one thing they were not was frontiersmen. They had to hire men to drive their oxen and they had large heavy laden wagons. Mrs Reed was a semi- invalid and one of their wagons was a double decker with a built in iron cookstove (where the hired maid did the cooking) and the upper layer was the bedroom. Others in the party were also wealthy with way too many silly provisions with them. They made the mistake of trusting the word of a man who told them of a shortcut which was not really a reliable trail for wagons and it cost them lots and lots of time and many days without water. James Reed was banished from the wagon train after he killed another man in a stupid argument. Now the Reed family of a semi invalid and 4 children under 12 was on their own with only hired help. In the group were lots and lots of children- 43 total with 28 being under 12 and many of them were under 4 years of age. Soon wagons and possession were being abandonded as the trail which was not really a trail got more and more difficult. They spent days cutting trees and brush to create a road, this was done by many men who had never done physical labor. Lots of back biting and bickering was occuring. They ran into heavy snow in the mountains on October 28 and it became apparent that they could not go further. There were 2 groups of travelers spread over 5 miles. The Donners in the camp furthest away and the rest of the party in 3 roughly put together shacks. Finally on December 16 a group decided to try and find their way over the mountains on homemade snowshoes. Twenty started out, when on January 17 they finally found help only 5 of the 15 men had survived but all 5 women survived the trek. They were they first to eat human flesh to stay alive. Rescue parties were being put together and one was being lead by James Reed but it took several tries by several groups before any rescuers arrived. Meanwhile back at the camps of those still stranded they were reduced to eating the pet dogs and then to boiling the hides from the butchered or storm killed cattle. Soon they were also reduced to surviving on human flesh. The conditions in the cabins where they had taken refuge from the weather were horrible and everyone was guarding what little items of nourishment (1/2 tsp flour was a day's food for example) from everyone else. Several rescue parties arrived but they brought very little food and could only help the strongest to walk out with them to safety. It took many tries by the rescuers to get the others out of the camps. Finally on April 21 1847 the last man was rescued from the camps,
The author used journals and diaries from the dead and survivors as well as oral stories from survivors and rescuers to accurately portray the awful conditions this group endured. Of the 87 in the party when they entered the Sierra Nevada mountains 39 died plus 2 rescuers from California died. Many of the children who lived were some of the youngest in the party included 1 girl who was only 1 yr old.
Carol C. (cjc72348) reviewed Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party on + 17 more book reviews
A detailed, gripping account of the Donner Party tragedy. A real page turner. Includes diaries of some of the survivors.
Please note: This is a library copy in good condition, but the library name has been inked out (Magic Marker) on both ends of the closed pages. This doesn't affect the inside pages at all and there are no marks on the inside pages.
Please note: This is a library copy in good condition, but the library name has been inked out (Magic Marker) on both ends of the closed pages. This doesn't affect the inside pages at all and there are no marks on the inside pages.
