was
best to have something provided for their return, in case the famished
emigrants ate all they carried over the summit. It was indeed true that
all was eaten which they carried over. All the scanty allowances were,
one after another, consumed. When the relief party, and those they were
rescuing, reached the place where the provisions had been cached, they
were in great need of the reserve store which they expected to find.
To their horror and dismay, they found that wild animals had gnawed the
ropes by which the cache had been suspended, and had destroyed every
vestige of these provisions! Death stared them in the face, and the
strongest men trembled at the prospect.

Here comes the sequel to the Reed-Snyder tragedy. Had it not been for
Reed's banishment, there is every reason to believe that these people
would have died for want of food. It will be remembered, however, that
the relief party organized by Reed was only a few days behind Captain
Tucker's. On the twenty-seventh of February, just as the horror and
despair of their dreadful situation began to be realized, Tucker, and
those with him, were relieved by the second relief party.

In order to better understand these events, let us return and follow
the motions of Reed and the members of the second relief party. In the
article quoted in a former chapter from the Rural Press, Reed traced
their progress as far as Johnson's ranch. Patty Reed (Mrs. Frank Lewis)
has in her possession the original diary kept by her father during this
journey. This diary shows that on the very morning Capt. Tucker, and the
company with him, left Donner Lake to return to the valleys, Reed and
the second relief party started from Johnson's ranch to go to Donner
Lake. All that subsequently occurred, is briefly and pointedly narrated
in the diary.

"February 22, 1847. All last night I kept fire under the beef which I
had drying on the scaffolds, and Johnson's Indians were grinding flour
in a small hand-mill. By sunrise this morning I had about two hundred
pounds of beef dried and placed in bags. We packed our horses and
started with our supplies. Including the meat Greenwood had dried, we
had seven hundred pounds of flour, and five beeves. Mr. Greenwood had
three men, including himself. Traveled this day about ten miles."

"Feb. 23. Left camp early this morning, and pushed ahead, but camped
early on account of grass. To-morrow we will reach the snow."

"Feb. 24. Encamped at Mule Spri