Wagon Train (21)
Chris Pyam & Ken Punshon (2009)

In the 1840s, some families moving west, created a wagon train
They banded together for mutual assistance, rolling across the plains
George Donner and James Reed, their wagons numbered nine, set off from Illinois
Little did they know that the hardships ahead, their wagon train would destroy

They stayed at Independence for two days in May then met with a larger troop.
For two months they followed the California Trail, travelling with this group
At Little Sandy River, now in Wyoming, they met up with several more
They decided to take the "Hastings Cutoff"; that was a fatal flaw

Now eighty seven strong they headed to Fort Bridger, where the new route commenced
Not knowing that the problems laying in their path would be immense
Hardships in the Mountains, and across the Great Salt Desert, over which they prevailed
At the end of September, near modern Elko, they rejoined the major trail

The shortcut had taken them over three weeks more than if they hadn't strayed
They met further setbacks along the Humboldt River, adding to the delays
At the end of October, in the Sierra Nevada, they found their path blocked by snow
Demoralized, they were forced to camp, but supplies were running low

Remaining oxen slaughtered, but still there wasn't meat, for so many mouths to feed
In a last ditch attempt, fifteen set off through the snow, in response to the need
{slight break}
Through the raging blizzard, running out of food, this party continued to tread
Caught without shelter, when seven of them died, the rest started eating the dead

After a month all the women and two men had reached the mountains' western side
The Californians rallied to save the camp; four rescue parties would be tried
The first relief found fourteen were dead, but they managed to rescue twenty one
When the second relief arrived the following week, cannibalism had begun

They took seventeen away with them, leaving just fourteen behind
The following month when the third team arrived only nine could they find
Saving four children meant five adults left, waiting for relief number four
One man alive when they arrived; Louis Keseberg but none more.

The ill fated route that the Donner party blazed was used again the very next year
And for twenty more to get to Salt Lake City, by the Mormon pioneers
Of eighty seven people nearly half of them had died from that disastrous train

Today in memory, many parts of the trail still carry the Donner name