WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.050 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.050 --> 00:00:03.990 align:middle line:84% I don't know how much of the details 00:00:03.990 --> 00:00:08.550 align:middle line:84% came through of what happened to Wolfinger, the fellow who 00:00:08.550 --> 00:00:12.660 align:middle line:84% didn't show up at the campsite back there in Nevada 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:13.680 align:middle line:90% on the Humboldt River. 00:00:13.680 --> 00:00:15.852 align:middle line:84% He shows up now, while the whole camp is stuck 00:00:15.852 --> 00:00:16.935 align:middle line:90% in the snow in the Sierra. 00:00:16.935 --> 00:00:20.070 align:middle line:90% 00:00:20.070 --> 00:00:21.420 align:middle line:90% The Donners are in their hut. 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:24.670 align:middle line:84% At this point, everyone has been indoors for about seven weeks. 00:00:24.670 --> 00:00:27.900 align:middle line:84% There has been no new food brought into the camp. 00:00:27.900 --> 00:00:31.560 align:middle line:84% And when the snow first fell, though they were reduced 00:00:31.560 --> 00:00:34.403 align:middle line:84% to about a third of their oxen, since they expected the storm 00:00:34.403 --> 00:00:36.570 align:middle line:84% to stop immediately, they didn't take any precaution 00:00:36.570 --> 00:00:38.190 align:middle line:90% to pen up those oxen. 00:00:38.190 --> 00:00:43.440 align:middle line:84% And they all either froze in the storm or ran away. 00:00:43.440 --> 00:00:47.580 align:middle line:84% So they've been without food for a month and a half. 00:00:47.580 --> 00:00:50.010 align:middle line:90% "A Death-Bed Confession." 00:00:50.010 --> 00:00:53.280 align:middle line:84% "Sleet hit the hut and the bare bows chattering overhead 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.760 align:middle line:84% and almost tore loose the roof of canvas and hide. 00:00:56.760 --> 00:00:59.850 align:middle line:84% I gathered green branches and built a bed for my family 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:02.490 align:middle line:84% and Wolfinger's widow, who lived with us. 00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:05.760 align:middle line:84% To keep out water after this, we chinked the holes in the roof 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:07.050 align:middle line:90% with rags. 00:01:07.050 --> 00:01:10.110 align:middle line:84% Tamsen took my knife to cut up a quilt if we needed more. 00:01:10.110 --> 00:01:12.940 align:middle line:84% But by now, the roof seemed secure. 00:01:12.940 --> 00:01:15.480 align:middle line:84% However, we worried about the poor health of the Wolfinger 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:18.270 align:middle line:90% woman and set her near the door. 00:01:18.270 --> 00:01:20.790 align:middle line:90% We built a blaze outside. 00:01:20.790 --> 00:01:23.520 align:middle line:84% By the firelight, I discovered the dark tissue, 00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:25.620 align:middle line:84% the discolored skin on her fingers. 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:26.850 align:middle line:90% We removed her shoes. 00:01:26.850 --> 00:01:29.520 align:middle line:84% Her toes, too, had been frostbit. 00:01:29.520 --> 00:01:32.640 align:middle line:84% While we knelt over her in the heat, huddled in the door hole, 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:34.740 align:middle line:84% Batiste crawled past the three of us 00:01:34.740 --> 00:01:37.470 align:middle line:84% and slid into the hut, feet first. 00:01:37.470 --> 00:01:40.560 align:middle line:84% He stood up in the low room, his breath blooming 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:44.760 align:middle line:84% over the small ice balls that caught like burrs in his coat. 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.310 align:middle line:84% He had something to say to me and my wife 00:01:47.310 --> 00:01:50.400 align:middle line:84% and waved us away from the widow. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:53.160 align:middle line:90% We just found Reinhardt. 00:01:53.160 --> 00:01:55.590 align:middle line:90% Noah and I thought he was dead. 00:01:55.590 --> 00:01:57.690 align:middle line:84% He sits in the snow and holds his hands 00:01:57.690 --> 00:02:01.470 align:middle line:84% in his lap, stares straight ahead at the trees. 00:02:01.470 --> 00:02:03.420 align:middle line:90% I think the sleet woke him up. 00:02:03.420 --> 00:02:04.800 align:middle line:90% Imagine that. 00:02:04.800 --> 00:02:05.910 align:middle line:90% He swears he's alone. 00:02:05.910 --> 00:02:07.650 align:middle line:90% He can't feel his hands or feet. 00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:10.470 align:middle line:90% 00:02:10.470 --> 00:02:13.140 align:middle line:84% Before I said to bring him in, I asked Batiste, 00:02:13.140 --> 00:02:15.450 align:middle line:90% did you take his gun? 00:02:15.450 --> 00:02:18.120 align:middle line:90% No, does he have one? 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:21.180 align:middle line:84% I led him by the arm across the room. 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:22.620 align:middle line:90% You'll have to feel him for it. 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:26.460 align:middle line:84% But do it, I said, or he'll kill you. 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:28.020 align:middle line:84% When the widow is awake, he said, 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:30.180 align:middle line:84% I'm afraid she'll remember Reinhardt's face. 00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:32.760 align:middle line:90% 00:02:32.760 --> 00:02:34.470 align:middle line:90% Just bring him here. 00:02:34.470 --> 00:02:35.520 align:middle line:90% Don't worry about her. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:36.720 align:middle line:90% She's sleeping like a bear. 00:02:36.720 --> 00:02:39.090 align:middle line:90% She won't hear anything. 00:02:39.090 --> 00:02:41.130 align:middle line:84% The sleet had quit when I looked out. 00:02:41.130 --> 00:02:43.200 align:middle line:90% Do you need any help? 00:02:43.200 --> 00:02:44.940 align:middle line:90% Batiste shook his head. 00:02:44.940 --> 00:02:48.480 align:middle line:84% He's so skinny he won't be hard to carry. 00:02:48.480 --> 00:02:50.430 align:middle line:84% They brought Reinhardt to our hut. 00:02:50.430 --> 00:02:53.100 align:middle line:84% One went in back and one in front. 00:02:53.100 --> 00:02:56.250 align:middle line:84% They lowered him on the snow and slid him through the door. 00:02:56.250 --> 00:02:58.320 align:middle line:84% When they let go, he flopped around the room, 00:02:58.320 --> 00:03:00.300 align:middle line:90% flinging his legs on the floor. 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:02.520 align:middle line:84% I was afraid he'd kick the widow in the back, 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:04.710 align:middle line:84% but she rolled over in her sleep, 00:03:04.710 --> 00:03:08.460 align:middle line:84% and he saw her face just as we pulled him out through the hole 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:10.380 align:middle line:90% into the firelight. 00:03:10.380 --> 00:03:13.170 align:middle line:84% I sat on his chest, wanting to keep the weight of my knees 00:03:13.170 --> 00:03:14.040 align:middle line:90% on his arms. 00:03:14.040 --> 00:03:17.430 align:middle line:84% But behind my back, his legs quivered like snakes. 00:03:17.430 --> 00:03:19.920 align:middle line:90% He squirmed side to side. 00:03:19.920 --> 00:03:22.200 align:middle line:90% Our fire glistened on his face. 00:03:22.200 --> 00:03:25.650 align:middle line:84% When he moved his mouth, I bowed my head to listen. 00:03:25.650 --> 00:03:31.800 align:middle line:84% He said in a soft voice, I helped to kill her husband. 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:32.910 align:middle line:90% Do you remember? 00:03:32.910 --> 00:03:36.690 align:middle line:84% We dropped behind everyone else on the Humboldt River. 00:03:36.690 --> 00:03:38.970 align:middle line:90% Me and Spitzer worked together. 00:03:38.970 --> 00:03:40.830 align:middle line:90% We took Wolfinger. 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:44.160 align:middle line:84% His wife was riding up with yours. 00:03:44.160 --> 00:03:45.690 align:middle line:90% No one was near us. 00:03:45.690 --> 00:03:51.000 align:middle line:84% I wrapped my belt around his throat and fired one shot. 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.940 align:middle line:84% I cut his money belt, but Spitzer got his watch, 00:03:53.940 --> 00:03:56.490 align:middle line:90% and we split his gold. 00:03:56.490 --> 00:03:59.040 align:middle line:84% We laid his corpse across his horse, 00:03:59.040 --> 00:04:02.100 align:middle line:84% rode off half a mile behind a little hill, 00:04:02.100 --> 00:04:03.150 align:middle line:90% and hid him in the brush. 00:04:03.150 --> 00:04:06.130 align:middle line:90% 00:04:06.130 --> 00:04:08.700 align:middle line:90% At length, Reinhardt grew calm. 00:04:08.700 --> 00:04:10.380 align:middle line:90% A coma left him listless. 00:04:10.380 --> 00:04:12.840 align:middle line:84% When he relaxed, his legs didn't shake. 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:14.850 align:middle line:84% Before the widow woke up, he had died. 00:04:14.850 --> 00:04:16.890 align:middle line:84% We dug a shallow grave near the creek, 00:04:16.890 --> 00:04:21.329 align:middle line:84% not striking solid mud below the snow, soft snow, which 00:04:21.329 --> 00:04:23.370 align:middle line:90% we smacked down with the spade. 00:04:23.370 --> 00:04:26.010 align:middle line:90% Then we crawled back inside. 00:04:26.010 --> 00:04:28.530 align:middle line:84% Later, we had to steal out at night and dig him up 00:04:28.530 --> 00:04:31.080 align:middle line:84% to remove what we could for meat-- 00:04:31.080 --> 00:04:34.410 align:middle line:84% arms and legs at the start, then the heart and all 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:37.050 align:middle line:90% of his liver, as well. 00:04:37.050 --> 00:04:39.960 align:middle line:84% We would not have done this, but it was so long 00:04:39.960 --> 00:04:42.720 align:middle line:90% since anyone had eaten a meal. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.330 align:middle line:84% When we returned to the hut, my wife was weeping. 00:04:45.330 --> 00:04:50.590 align:middle line:84% And I told her, I suppose he lost his life to no purpose. 00:04:50.590 --> 00:04:53.250 align:middle line:84% But in this way, if we share his corpse, 00:04:53.250 --> 00:04:56.310 align:middle line:90% he may save someone else. 00:04:56.310 --> 00:04:58.560 align:middle line:84% Some nights, the air froze our tracks 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:01.530 align:middle line:84% and preserved the prints where our boots sank down 00:05:01.530 --> 00:05:03.930 align:middle line:84% in the drifts going to the graves. 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:06.390 align:middle line:84% But these were buried when the wind arose, 00:05:06.390 --> 00:05:09.660 align:middle line:84% shrouding the creek, blowing oblivion over the low shrubs, 00:05:09.660 --> 00:05:12.150 align:middle line:90% and snapping the aspens. 00:05:12.150 --> 00:05:16.380 align:middle line:84% So we ate and went to bed at night and awoke in the morning. 00:05:16.380 --> 00:05:20.070 align:middle line:84% Seeing the surrounding mountains grow remote and insignificant, 00:05:20.070 --> 00:05:23.670 align:middle line:84% the vague slopes never dissolved but disappearing day 00:05:23.670 --> 00:05:26.310 align:middle line:90% by day in the omnivorous wind. 00:05:26.310 --> 00:05:29.280 align:middle line:84% Even the large pines that stand out like landmarks here 00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:32.850 align:middle line:84% in the meadow were lost in the easy lambence of the snow. 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:35.460 align:middle line:84% The only permanence is in our past, 00:05:35.460 --> 00:05:38.280 align:middle line:84% where the prairie withdraws while winter forms 00:05:38.280 --> 00:05:41.070 align:middle line:84% a wide quiet with so little color 00:05:41.070 --> 00:05:45.020 align:middle line:84% that the covered shapes feel familiar."