Route of Forlorn Hope Re-enactors, December 2020.
Retracing the Steps of the Donner Party’s Forlorn Hope
By Judy DePuy
On December 16th, 2020, presuming the weather is cooperative, three experienced long-distance runners and history and outdoor enthusiasts will leave the Donner Memorial State Park at Donner Lake to re-enact the travels of the Donner Party’s Forlorn Hope.
First, a little background. At the end of October 1846, the Donner Party was trapped by snow. They had made mistakes, but they would have made it over the Sierra if the weather had not turned against them. Over the ensuing weeks snow continued to fall, they lost their cattle and made four attempts to get over the Summit to escape. They were trapped and starving.
On December 16th, fifteen people attempted a final escape and were known as the Forlorn Hope party. They made snowshoes and thought they could snowshoe to California in ten days and bring back help to their desperate families. It took them thirty-one days with only seven survivors, five women and two men, making it to Johnson’s Ranch, California. When the first man, helped by Native Americans, knocked on a settler’s door, the woman who answered broke into tears. Bloody footprints trailed behind him; he was emaciated and almost dead. They galvanized a response that resulted in four rescue parties over the following months that saved about half of the Donner Party.
This year’s re-enactors, Bob Crowley, Tim Twietmeyer and Jennifer Hemmen, plan to make the trip with modern clothing, equipment, and adequate food— with all members surviving until the end, in five or six days. You can imagine the work these three have undergone figuring out the logistics, trying to divine the route of the Forlorn Hope, and preparing mentally and physically. In 1846, the Forlorn Hope group was more interested in surviving than plotting the route, especially since they were hopelessly lost. During their ordeal they were starving and suffering from hypothermia and frostbite. To survive they ended up eating those in their party that had perished.
These three extreme athletes plan to start their journey from the Donner Memorial State Park's museum exactly 174 years to the day of the Forlorn Hope journey (December 16, 1846). Their approximately 100-mile route will take them up and over the eastern Sierra at Donner Pass (7,057'), across the high chaparral, into and across the daunting North Fork American River canyon and down the foothills to the northern Sacramento Valley.
Event: Forlorn Hope Reprise
Date: December 16, 2020
Time: 6:45 a.m. (for the 7:00 a.m. sendoff)
Location: Donner Memorial State Park Museum, 12593 Donner Pass Rd, Truckee, CA
For more information on this incredible reprise visit our website at http://forlornhope.org/
If you want more background on the Donner Party, the Donner Summit, and the Forlorn Hope, read the “Donner Party and Donner Summit: Heroism, Pathos, and the Human Spirit.” (http://www.donnersummithistoricalsociety.org/PDFs/stories/DonnerParty&DonnerSummit-Heroism....pdf).
To track their progress and follow their trip please join our Facebook group, via Instagram or on Garmin:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/371977447411728
https://www.instagram.com/forlornhopeparty/
https://share.garmin.com/MTN200S
Photos by Greg Zirbel; photos from Day 1
HCS 1/4/2021
First, a little background. At the end of October 1846, the Donner Party was trapped by snow. They had made mistakes, but they would have made it over the Sierra if the weather had not turned against them. Over the ensuing weeks snow continued to fall, they lost their cattle and made four attempts to get over the Summit to escape. They were trapped and starving.
On December 16th, fifteen people attempted a final escape and were known as the Forlorn Hope party. They made snowshoes and thought they could snowshoe to California in ten days and bring back help to their desperate families. It took them thirty-one days with only seven survivors, five women and two men, making it to Johnson’s Ranch, California. When the first man, helped by Native Americans, knocked on a settler’s door, the woman who answered broke into tears. Bloody footprints trailed behind him; he was emaciated and almost dead. They galvanized a response that resulted in four rescue parties over the following months that saved about half of the Donner Party.
This year’s re-enactors, Bob Crowley, Tim Twietmeyer and Jennifer Hemmen, plan to make the trip with modern clothing, equipment, and adequate food— with all members surviving until the end, in five or six days. You can imagine the work these three have undergone figuring out the logistics, trying to divine the route of the Forlorn Hope, and preparing mentally and physically. In 1846, the Forlorn Hope group was more interested in surviving than plotting the route, especially since they were hopelessly lost. During their ordeal they were starving and suffering from hypothermia and frostbite. To survive they ended up eating those in their party that had perished.
These three extreme athletes plan to start their journey from the Donner Memorial State Park's museum exactly 174 years to the day of the Forlorn Hope journey (December 16, 1846). Their approximately 100-mile route will take them up and over the eastern Sierra at Donner Pass (7,057'), across the high chaparral, into and across the daunting North Fork American River canyon and down the foothills to the northern Sacramento Valley.
Event: Forlorn Hope Reprise
Date: December 16, 2020
Time: 6:45 a.m. (for the 7:00 a.m. sendoff)
Location: Donner Memorial State Park Museum, 12593 Donner Pass Rd, Truckee, CA
For more information on this incredible reprise visit our website at http://forlornhope.org/
If you want more background on the Donner Party, the Donner Summit, and the Forlorn Hope, read the “Donner Party and Donner Summit: Heroism, Pathos, and the Human Spirit.” (http://www.donnersummithistoricalsociety.org/PDFs/stories/DonnerParty&DonnerSummit-Heroism....pdf).
To track their progress and follow their trip please join our Facebook group, via Instagram or on Garmin:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/371977447411728
https://www.instagram.com/forlornhopeparty/
https://share.garmin.com/MTN200S
Photos by Greg Zirbel; photos from Day 1
HCS 1/4/2021
