Auburn residents among team of 4 to cover trail of Donner relief group in 1847

It's a story of heroism, pathos and the human spirit. Four ultra-distance runners, starting Monday, Feb. 14, will retrace the 100-mile trail through the deep Sierra snow taken by the rescuers of the entrapped Donner Party – exactly 175 years after the dramatic incidents took place. The exact route of the 1847 Donner relief group has been lost to history. Eight years of research by two of the athletes – Tim Twietmeyer of Auburn and Bob Crowley of Fair Oaks, who last year retraced the path of a Donner Party escape group known as the Forlorn Hope – has pinpointed the probable trail through the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada. The group aims to craft a historically accurate map of the initial Donner Relief Party and explore the multi-dimensional personas of each relief member, including their histories, characters and motivations. The route takes them from Johnson Ranch near Wheatland on Feb. 14 and ends at Donner Memorial State Park at the Pioneer Monument on Friday, Feb. 18. The Doomed Pioneers, 1846-47 The Donner Party was a group of families who left their homes in a wagon train in 1846, bound for an American settlement in California, which was then Mexican territory. The pioneers thought they were facing a four-month, 2,000-mile walk across the continent to a better life in the Promised Land. Instead, a detour on an unproven "shortcut" on the California Trail and early snowstorms in the Sierra Nevada stranded 81 men, women and children at what is now Donner Lake with some left near Alder Creek. The families were entrapped for four months in the ever-deepening snow and about half died. Many of those left at the lake resorted to cannibalism, eating the human flesh of their companions who died at the lake, in order to survive. The Forlorn Hope party resorted to the same thing since neither group had food. The story has become a tragic icon of the nation's westward expansion but is more importantly a testament to the heroism of the will to survive and of the men who risked their lives to rescue strangers. Frank Mullen Jr., author of "Donner Party Chronicles: A Day-by-Day Account of a Doomed Wagon Train," said the athletes' research and retracing of the rescuers' trail is a significant contribution to the history of California. Sensationalism, myths and legends have grown around the story for 175 years, he noted. "Even this long after those horrific events, we are still learning things that give new insight into the story," Mullen said. "Researchers locate long-lost documents and archaeologists unearth artifacts. The members of the Donner Relief Expedition 2022 are serving as foot soldiers for historians – they are traveling the paths of the people who made history and seeking the truth on the ground where the long-ago events occurred." Details of the route The modern relief group includes Tim Twietmeyer and Elke Reimer of Auburn, and Bob Crowley and Jennifer Hemmen of Fair Oaks. Their Donner Relief Expedition will travel atop deep snow, slog over muddy drainages and cross raging rivers. They will have to deal with similar conditions the 1847 rescuers faced, but they will have the advantage of modern outdoor gear. Bill Oudegeest, a Donner Summit Historical Society board member who has worked with the team since their first expedition, says the story "is about heroism, tenacity and self-sacrifice – not just for family but also for strangers. It's about the very best of the human spirit and so the story is an inspiring counterpoint for our cynical time." The team will leave Johnson Ranch on Feb. 14 at 7 a.m. After 30 miles, the trekkers will arrive at the Emigrant Overland Trail in Auburn/Grass Valley. Day 2 has its own challenges, as the athletes will hike 25 miles and have to go down Steep Hollow, across a river and up the other side. That's the spot where the horses of the 1847 relief party were sucked under logs as they crossed the river, nearly drowning some rescuers. On Day 3, the team will travel 22 miles in snowshoes to arrive at Rainbow Lodge. Day 4 is another 18 miles to Donner Ski Ranch, just before Donner Pass. The Donner Relief team members will arrive at Donner Memorial State Park at noon Feb. 18, exactly 175 years after the first seven rescuers arrived at the high camps. "The project is about the will to survive and bring back those left behind," Crowley said. "Our team will honor the grit, determination and selflessness of the seven rescue members. It is about people risking their lives to save others." Events open to the public Thursday, Feb. 17, at Donner Ski Ranch: The athletes, taking on the personas of four of the rescuers and in period costume, will be part of a panel examining the tragedy at the high camps and the story of the relief efforts. The athletes will portray William Eddy, Reason "Dan" Tucker, John Pierce Rhodes and John Stark. Historians and other luminaries will play related characters. Friday, Feb. 18, at the Pioneer Monument and Museum at Donner Memorial State Park in Truckee: The four athletes, after having traveled on snowshoes, will arrive at the Pioneer Monument at noon on the same date the original group reached the entrapped pioneers in 1847. A presentation/panel discussion with the athletes and historians is scheduled from 2-3:30 p.m. and is sold out.