Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party

More Donner Party lore. Author George Stewart doesn’t think much of Charles McGlashan and History of the Donner Party, stating McGlashan was not much of a historian and got most of his information from interviews and letters with survivors rather than written sources (he concedes that McGlashan became sort of a “confessor” for many of the Donner survivors, with his files full of chatty letters that have nothing to do with the events of 1846-47). Nevertheless, there’s not much to gain from Stewart's Ordeal by Hunger. Stewart claims he corrected numerous errors of place and time in McGlashan’s account, although none of these seem to make much difference in the story. Stewart does less whitewashing of cannibalism; according to show more Stewart, a lot more Donner party children were involved in cannibalism – both ways. McGlashan’s book has better maps – especially of the Donner camps in the mountains – but these may be an artifact of the book format (plus, Stewart claims McGlashan’s maps are inaccurate). Stewart also makes it clearer how badly off the Donner party was before it even got to the mountains.


Although he doesn’t come right out and say it, Stewart seems to be as puzzled as I am at the collapse of the Donner Party. These were supposed to be the proverbial, rugged pioneers, yet they fell to pieces; a little cooperation would have saved a lot of lives. There didn’t seem to be any natural leaders – George Donner, the titular “captain”, seems to have been chosen for his easy-going nature rather than any leadership ability. James Reed might have filled the role but he was expelled from the group after accidently killing another member (it was a knife versus whip fight; sounds like self-defense from the descriptions but the group was dubious). Reed later rejoined, left again to cross the mountain on foot and obtain supplies, returned with a relief party, and left again with a batch of survivors.

Although he uses the term “routed” a couple of times, Stewart excuses the Donner Party as Illinois farmers unused to deserts, mountains, or snow; perhaps, but you would think a little more information gathering would be prudent before you packed all your worldly possession in a wagon and headed west.

A point I noticed in both McGlashan and Stewart is the paucity of firearms. They were fairly well provided crossing the desert – enough to do desultory sniping at Indians (to be fair, arrows came the other way first) – but they seem to have had only one rifle and practically no ammunition at the mountain camps.

Better than the McGlashan book, but perhaps still not the definitive Donner Party story. show less

True life horror story of the Donner Party emigrants that end up stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1846. Originally written in 1936 and revised in 1961, it pulls no punches while still maintaining an objectivity that avoids lurid sensationalism. A bit dated in style and ethnic sensitivity. It's a little like a Tolstoy novel because of the number of characters involved and the back and forth of the various parties and rescue missions.

You will never forget the vision of the rescuers finding some of the enfeebled, dead, and starving survivors at the bottom of a 25 foot snow and ice crater surrounded by the half eaten corpses of their neighbors and family, their entrails still in the stew pot over the fire.

At once a testament to show more both the heroism and desperation that humanity is capable of. Murder, greed, and selfishness are just the beginning.

It's a classic of survival literature that never fails to fascinate and hold us in suspense even as our stomachs churn.

Contains the Reed and Breen diaries as appendices as well as the 12 year old Virginia Reed's account of the harrowing journey. show less

A history of the Donner Party, originally written in the 1930s and reissued in the 1960s with some new material, including the text of some of the original letters and diaries of the survivors. I read The Indifferent Stars Above, a much more recent history, a few years ago, and I was surprised at how favorably this compares. Stewart doesn't try to make excuses for anyone or to pretty things up; the biggest difference in tone is that he's unambiguously celebrating the heroism of the survivors and rescue parties in a way that's out of fashion today (but not, I think, unwarranted by the facts). I enjoyed this, and I still want to do a road trip along the Donner route one day.

This was a tough book to get through. It was interesting, but a lot of the same: they were starving, freezing, destitute. The author did a remarkable job with the material he had to work with. He does not take artistic license by padding the stories with fictional dialogue or drama; he pieces together the story splinter by splinter from the diaries and letters of the party members and the other historical resources available from the time.

Interesting to see that, contrary to what one might assume, the party did not band together as one, but maintained a "dog eat dog" (cough) mentality to the very end. One has to wonder if this contributed to their demise, or was the very salvation of the survivors.

Because of the age of the story show more (1846) and the book (published originally in 1936, updated in 1960), some of the language caused me confusion. For example, there is reference to "the Californians", who differ from "the Americans", but I'm not sure who is what. In addition, the same book written today would have probably included clear maps, or maybe even photos, of the area. The pen and ink map drawings were adequate for the times when the book was published, but they do little to indicate the location now, particularly since some location names or references have changed. I was anxious to see where they traveled in relation to developed areas today.

All in all, a fascinating but challenging read. show less

I was familiar with the basics of the story of the Donner Party, but didn't appreciate the depth and breadth of the ordeal. The book was well researched, and really gives you a feeling of what the people went through. For a similar story, see Nando Parrado's "Miracle in the Andes". Both are telling stories of survival, and make you wonder about the limits of our own endurance.

Fascinating book about Donner party emigrants caught in early winter in Sierra Nevadas on the way to California. Found out later this account has some myths that are not quite right.

1493 Ordeal by Hunger, by George R. Stewart (read 27 July 1978) This was read while on a trip to Salt Lake City. It is the gripping story of the Donner party, and it aroused my interest because I early learned a member of the Donner party was Lewis Keseberg, who came from Westphalia, Germany. My great-great-grandmother was Maria Elisabeth Keseberg, who lived in Hanenische, Westphalia, and so we might be related to this Lewis Keseberg. He was a prominent member of the party, though not one whom some might want to claim relationship with. It is a gripping story, and very apropos, since they went about the same way we did as far as Salt Lake.