You may have learned about the donner party in history class. They were a group of pioneers who, while migrating to California, were stranded in a blizzard near what is now Donner lake. This week, one group of historian athletes showcased the heroic and little-known tale of the rescue party by taking their 100-mile route over the span of 5 days.
Friday is the 175th anniversary of the donner rescue expedition, a team of 7 finally made it's way down to rescue the survivors of the donner party, and that was in 20 feet of snow coming off of donner summit.
"An amazing feat, they came up and back, 100 miles each way. 40 people were ultimatly saved,” said Donner Relief Expedition Member Bob Crowley.
To commemorate the anniversary today, a team of 7 historian athletes decided to reenact that journey, which took them from Johnson Ranch near Sacramento all the way to the Donner Memorial Park.
“To learn more about the Donner Party, the Forlorn Hope, the Relief party, and to be able to follow in their footstep, having that opportunity is really rare and special," said Elke Reimer, another Donner Relief Expedition Member.
The Donner Relief Expedition started their journey on Monday, and made that same treacherous hike for 5 days. While dressed in period gear for the first and last stretch of the trip, they admit that it's unfathomable that someone almost 200 years ago made that same expedition.
“We are trained runners and back country guys, and we know that foot care is really important, have the right foot wear, and I can't imagine having to hike from Johnson to here in leather boots," said Tim Twietmeyer, who is also part of the Donner Relief Expedition.
But this expedition was not made on a whim. Crowley, who enacted the part of John Stark, poured over every historical record he could in order to get into the mindset of one of the original heroes who volunteered for the mission, turning down a cash reward saying "it's just the right thing to do".
“He arrived at the pass and found a pool of people, sunken 25 feet into the ground, their fire had burnt down. 2 had died, the 11 that remained were mostly children, and were dying," said Crowley.
Records show that while his other partners took 1 child each, Stark carried the 9 remaining children on his back, 2 at a time in short stretches for days back towards safety.
“He was broken down, he was tired, he had come all this way, 90 sum miles to the pass where he found them, but he had the courage, he had the resolve to save them no matter what."
The whole point of this expedition was to remember those 7 rescuers, who signed up for a suicide mission to save their fellow man.
“Authentic hero's are ordinary people who come out of the shadows, and the commit an extraordinary feat. We are here to shine a light on that shadow, and to celebrate their courage and honor their heroism, and that's why we are doing this," said Crowley.
Of the 14 people who originally set out for the rescue mission 175 years ago, only 7 finished the trip. Of the 81 members of the original Donner Party, only 45 survived, and 32 of them were children.
