The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Donner Party, by C.F. McGlashan

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Title: History of the Donner Party

Author: C.F. McGlashan

Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6077]
Posting Date: April 6, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE DONNER PARTY ***

Produced by David Schwan

HISTORY OF THE DONNER PARTY

A TRAGEDY OF THE SIERRA

By C. F. McGlashan

Truckee, Cal.

To Mrs. Elizabeth A. Keiser,
One of the Pioneer Mothers of California,

This Book is Respectfully Dedicated by the Author.

Preface.

The delirium preceding death by starvation, is full of strange
phantasies. Visions of plenty, of comfort, of elegance, flit ever
before the fast-dimming eyes. The final twilight of death is a brief
semi-consciousness in which the dying one frequently repeats his weird
dreams. Half rising from his snowy couch, pointing upward, one of the
death-stricken at Donner Lake may have said, with tremulous voice:
"Look! there, just above us, is a beautiful house. It is of costliest
walnut, inlaid with laurel and ebony, and is resplendent with burnished
silver. Magnificent in all its apartments, it is furnished like a
palace. It is rich with costly cushions, elegant tapestries, dazzling
mirrors; its floor is covered with Oriental carpets, its ceiling with
artistic frescoings; downy cushions invite the weary to repose. It is
filled with people who are chatting, laughing, and singing, joyous
and care-free. There is an abundance of warmth, and rare viands, and
sparkling wines. Suspended among the storm-clouds, it is flying along
the face of the precipice at a marvelous speed. Flying? no! it has
wheels and is gliding along on a smooth, steel pathway. It is sheltered
from the wind and snow by large beams and huge posts, which are bolted
to the cliffs with heavy, iron rods. The avalanches, with their burden
of earth and rocks and crushed pines, sweep harmlessly above this
beautiful house and its happy inmates. It is drawn by neither oxen nor
horses, but by a fiery, hot-breathed monster, with iron limbs and thews
of, steel. The mountain trembles b