One hundred and sixty-three years ago this week, some trapped and distressed Donner Party members may have wondered what happened to James Reed.

He was a strong-willed man and leader who had been banished from the group in October 1846 after he killed a man in a fight. The wagons had been traveling along the Humboldt River in Nevada.

James Reed
After being banished, Reed and a teamster named Walter Herron made it over Donner Pass before the heavy, early-season snowstorms closed the route. Reed's wife and four young children were still with the Donner Party with no supplies. James Reed was not the type of man to leave his family stranded and starving to death.

War with Mexico
Despite heroic efforts, Reed had no luck trying to organize a rescue effort at Sutter's Fort. California was in an upheaval due to the Mexican-American War, which started late in 1846. There were neither able-bodied men nor supplies to stage a relief operation. Reed became a captain in the California Battalion.

The war proved beneficial for James Reed. In December 1846 Reed filed for land claims near Mission San Jose. In January 1847 he was appointed the military officer in charge of the mission. Before he left the area to lead a rescue effort back into the mountains, Reed spent time planting grape cuttings, barley, and pear and apple trees for the purpose of raising a vineyard and orchard. His efforts satisfied the homestead provisions for improving the land. This effort gave Reed an early and important foothold in the San Jose region. With war hostilities basically over in Northern California, Reed and other men, as well as supplies, became available.

The emigrants snowbound in the two high-mountain camps hadn't, of course, seen green grass or flowers for months. Heavy snow developed on the evening of January 10 and over the next few days, about three feet of new accumulation was added to the snow pack at Donner Lake. On January 13, Patrick Breen wrote in his journal: "Snowing fast. Wind N.W. Snow higher than the shanty. Must be 13 feet deep. Don't know how to get wood this morning. It is dreadful to look at." The next day, the snowfall diminished and the sun came out, which lifted Breen's spirits: "Very pleasant today. Sun shining brilliantly [which] renovates our spirits. Praise be to God, Amen."

Mid-January 1847
A weeklong period of fair weather followed the intense snowstorm. A dry cold front blasted through the region on January 16; it ushered in sunshine but much lower temperatures. Down in Sonoma, California, a Dr. Duvall noted: "A cold night. Next morning [Jan. 19] was clear and delightful, the ground hard and covered with a white frost reminding me of home.”

At Donner Lake, Breen had a feeling there might be a possible rescue attempt soon. He had no reason to suspect help was on the way from either Reed or the snow-shoers (see weeks #27 and #28), but he wrote: "Expecting some person across the Mountain this week."

Breen's optimism, however, was not supported by reality. The pioneers would have to wait another month before help began to arrive. In the meantime, they continued to have to find a way to survive their ordeal. One by one they were slipping into delirium and/or to death. Mrs. Levinah Murphy was snow blind, while 16-year-old Landrum Murphy had gone "crazy" with hunger. Almost everyone became restless and emotionally withdrawn--physiological symptoms of mental illness.

On January 21, Milt Elliot arrived at the Donner Camp from the Alder Creek camp, five miles away northeast of present-day Truckee. Elliot carried news that "the two Donner families at Adler were all well." This meant that the people at Adler were still alive but in a similarly weak condition.

Editor's Note: This installment is #29 in an exclusive series tracing the actual experiences of the Donner Party as it worked its way into American history. Mark McLaughlin, a weather historian and photographer, who lives on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, wrote the series for Tahoetopia. Copies of all the installments can be found by clicking on Donner Party.