WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.280 align:middle line:90% 00:00:02.280 --> 00:00:04.740 align:middle line:84% They reached the East slope of the Sierras 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:07.380 align:middle line:84% about a month and a half later than they were supposed to, 00:00:07.380 --> 00:00:11.700 align:middle line:84% because of the route running into so many difficulties 00:00:11.700 --> 00:00:13.890 align:middle line:84% that they had not anticipated, because 00:00:13.890 --> 00:00:16.680 align:middle line:84% of the treachery of the guide who had written the book, 00:00:16.680 --> 00:00:20.080 align:middle line:84% and the quarrels within the party itself, 00:00:20.080 --> 00:00:21.780 align:middle line:90% which slowed them down. 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:23.430 align:middle line:84% It begins to snow before they can 00:00:23.430 --> 00:00:25.830 align:middle line:84% get through the first pass in the Sierras. 00:00:25.830 --> 00:00:30.570 align:middle line:84% And they take alder bushes and bend them down and put stones 00:00:30.570 --> 00:00:31.410 align:middle line:90% on the tips of them. 00:00:31.410 --> 00:00:34.080 align:middle line:84% And take blankets out of their wagons, in some cases, 00:00:34.080 --> 00:00:36.090 align:middle line:84% cut the covers off of the wagons and put them 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:39.150 align:middle line:84% over the tops of the bushes, to make little tents out of them. 00:00:39.150 --> 00:00:42.570 align:middle line:84% And they let the snow fall on the roofs of those. 00:00:42.570 --> 00:00:45.120 align:middle line:84% Now these are all prairie farmers and small town 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:49.260 align:middle line:84% merchants from that Midwestern and Northern border state area, 00:00:49.260 --> 00:00:51.780 align:middle line:84% where a snowfall in the last week of October 00:00:51.780 --> 00:00:54.590 align:middle line:84% would melt in a day or two or three. 00:00:54.590 --> 00:00:57.090 align:middle line:84% There's nobody in the group who has any experience of living 00:00:57.090 --> 00:00:58.708 align:middle line:90% at 6,000 feet. 00:00:58.708 --> 00:01:00.750 align:middle line:84% And they don't know that that snow that's falling 00:01:00.750 --> 00:01:02.333 align:middle line:84% will continue to fall, and it'll still 00:01:02.333 --> 00:01:05.250 align:middle line:90% be on the ground in March. 00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:06.780 align:middle line:90% It does snow for three days. 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:09.390 align:middle line:84% When that gets up, there's a sleet storm for three days, 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:12.480 align:middle line:84% and that's followed by another snow for another three days. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:14.790 align:middle line:84% On the 10th day, the first person is able to come out. 00:01:14.790 --> 00:01:17.610 align:middle line:84% And he finds that the snow then is already 00:01:17.610 --> 00:01:20.880 align:middle line:84% about three feet deep around the side of the creek 00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:22.890 align:middle line:84% and around the lake nearby, that is eventually 00:01:22.890 --> 00:01:24.000 align:middle line:90% to be called Donner Lake. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.830 align:middle line:90% 00:01:26.830 --> 00:01:29.220 align:middle line:84% They go up and measure the depth of snow in the pass 00:01:29.220 --> 00:01:31.650 align:middle line:84% that they're supposed to be bringing their wagons through, 00:01:31.650 --> 00:01:34.635 align:middle line:84% and the snow is five feet deep in the first of the passes. 00:01:34.635 --> 00:01:38.240 align:middle line:90% 00:01:38.240 --> 00:01:42.080 align:middle line:84% In this episode, Donner and his wife 00:01:42.080 --> 00:01:47.140 align:middle line:84% are living in one of these huts with their three daughters. 00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:48.890 align:middle line:90% Donner's wife's name is Tamsen. 00:01:48.890 --> 00:01:52.400 align:middle line:84% His children are Eliza and Frances and Georgia. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:57.230 align:middle line:84% And they have Wolfinger's widow living with them also. 00:01:57.230 --> 00:01:59.450 align:middle line:84% They have now been living in this situation 00:01:59.450 --> 00:02:00.590 align:middle line:90% for about five weeks. 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:03.470 align:middle line:90% 00:02:03.470 --> 00:02:05.580 align:middle line:90% When the children were asleep-- 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:08.030 align:middle line:90% Oh, I'm sorry, I should mention. 00:02:08.030 --> 00:02:11.570 align:middle line:84% Donner, who speaks the poem in the first person, 00:02:11.570 --> 00:02:14.090 align:middle line:84% has a severe gash on his hand that he 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:17.210 align:middle line:84% suffered when he was trying to repair a broken axle. 00:02:17.210 --> 00:02:22.100 align:middle line:84% And gangrene is setting in, and he 00:02:22.100 --> 00:02:24.320 align:middle line:84% has moments when he becomes delirious and the pain 00:02:24.320 --> 00:02:27.410 align:middle line:90% is moving up his arm. 00:02:27.410 --> 00:02:29.870 align:middle line:84% When the children were asleep, Tamsen took my hand 00:02:29.870 --> 00:02:32.300 align:middle line:84% and dressed the wound with a clean cloth 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:35.150 align:middle line:90% while I held my breath. 00:02:35.150 --> 00:02:37.520 align:middle line:84% The pain was swelling far up my arm. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:40.040 align:middle line:90% She opened her blouse. 00:02:40.040 --> 00:02:41.810 align:middle line:90% "Look at this," she whispered. 00:02:41.810 --> 00:02:43.910 align:middle line:90% "You can count my ribs. 00:02:43.910 --> 00:02:46.550 align:middle line:84% Feel here and press your fingers in." 00:02:46.550 --> 00:02:48.530 align:middle line:84% She unpinned her hair and shook it out, 00:02:48.530 --> 00:02:51.200 align:middle line:84% so the auburn braids dropped down her spine 00:02:51.200 --> 00:02:54.710 align:middle line:84% and seemed to steam against her skin. 00:02:54.710 --> 00:02:58.970 align:middle line:84% When she turned, her breasts were as pale and cool as wax. 00:02:58.970 --> 00:03:03.080 align:middle line:84% She whispered, "look how my hips hardly hold a skirt in place 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:05.240 align:middle line:90% anymore." 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:07.640 align:middle line:84% As I joined her in the blanket on the pine floor, 00:03:07.640 --> 00:03:09.770 align:middle line:84% she made a remark about the slack skin 00:03:09.770 --> 00:03:11.270 align:middle line:90% that flapped on my legs. 00:03:11.270 --> 00:03:13.040 align:middle line:84% She liked to see the way they shook. 00:03:13.040 --> 00:03:15.620 align:middle line:84% But I told her, "if it's a matter of their shape, 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:17.180 align:middle line:90% surely yours look better." 00:03:17.180 --> 00:03:19.880 align:middle line:84% She laughed, lying in my arms with my hand 00:03:19.880 --> 00:03:22.720 align:middle line:90% at rest on her small waist.