History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the SierraMcGlashan, C. F. (Charles Fayette)
History
History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the Sierra
McGlashan, C. F. (Charles Fayette)
Donner Party; Overland journeys to the Pacific
The Indian spoken of refused to be interviewed. To quote the language of
Mr. John Breen, "he did not seem to be at all curious as to how or
why there was a white man alone (as it must have seemed to him) in the
wilderness of snow." The Indian was trudging along with a heavy pack on
his back. As soon as he saw Mr. Breen, he halted and warned him with
a gesture not to approach. Taking from the pack a few of the fibrous
roots, he laid them on the snow, still cautioning with his hand not to
approach until he was well out of reach. As soon as the Indian was gone,
Mr. Breen went out and got the roots, which were very palatable. It is
probable that this was one of the band of Indians seen by Clark, Cady,
and Stone.
When Patty and Thomas Reed had been returned to the cabins by Aquila
Glover, they had been received by the Breen family, where they remained
all the time until their father came. The Breen cabin was the first
one at which Mr. Reed arrived. His meeting with his daughter is thus
described by Mr. Eddy, in Thornton's work: "At this camp Mr. Reed saw
his daughter Patty sitting on the top of the snow with which the cabin
was covered. Patty saw her father at some distance, and immediately
started to run and meet him, but such was her weakness that she fell.
Her father took her up, and the affectionate girl, bathed in tears,
embraced and kissed him, exclaiming: 'Oh, papa! I never expected to see
you again when the cruel people drove you out of camp. But I knew that
God was good, and would do what was best. Is dear mamma living? Is Mr.
Glover living? Did you know that he was a Mason? Oh, my dear papa, I
am so happy to see you. Masons must be good men. Is Mr. Glover the same
sort of Mason we had in Springfield? He promised mamma upon the word of
a Mason that he would bring me and Tommy out of the mountains.' Mr. Reed
told Patty that Masons were everywhere the same, and that he had met her
mother and Mr. Glover, and had relieved him from his pledge, and that
he himself had come to her and little Tommy to redeem that pledge and to
take out all that were able to travel."
The greatest precaution was taken to keep the suffering emigrants from
overeating. Cady, Stone, and Clark had distributed a small portion of
food to each of the famished beings. Patty Reed was intrusted with the
task of giving to each person a single biscuit. Taking the biscuits
in her apron she went in turn to each member of the company. Who shall
describe the rejoicings that were held over those biscuits? Several of
the survivors, in speaking of the subject, say that to their hungry eyes
these small pieces of bread assumed gigantic proportions. Never did the
largest loaves of bread look half so large. Patty Reed says that some of
the little girls cut their portions into thin slices, so as to eat them
slowly and enjoy them more completely.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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