That Don't Taste Like Chicken

It's on this day (February 19th) in 1847 that rescuers reached the stranded Donner party. Now I think everyone has heard of the Donner's, but do you know their story? I admit, I did not know the story. So if you've heard this one, don't blow it for everyone else.

The Donner's were a group of California bound emigrants that became stranded by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Apparently they chose poorly and didn't take the normal and well established trail to the west. They instead took a new trail recently blazed by California promoter Lansford Hastings, the so called "Hastings Cutoff". It was supposed to be a "short cut".

Apparently it wasn't anything of the sort and put the Donner's back three weeks and cost them precious supplies. Despite the lateness of the season, they pressed on and camped at Truckee Lake. That night an early winter storm came through the area and blocked the mountain pass, trapping the Donner Party.

Most of the group stayed by the lake, now known as Donner Lake (it's never good when they rename a place after you), while others took camp about six miles away at Alder Creek. This is where it starts to get dicey. They build shelters out of their wagons and killed their oxen for food. I'm here to tell you, once you come to a point that you have to convert your means of transportation into shelter in food... That is BAD.

Fifteen of the emigrants, later known as the Forlorn Hope, set out on snowshoes for Sutter's Fort to get help. Three weeks later after continuous brutal weather and lack of proper supplies, several of the expedition died. The others.... resorted to cannibalism to survive. Only seven reached a Native American village.

Finally news of the stranded party reached Sutter's fort and a rescue party was sent out on January 31st. Twenty days later, they arrived to find the survivors. Of the original 89 members of the party, only 45 made it out alive.

Now you know....


-Red
www.jeffjake.com
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Contact Jeff at author@jeffjake.com


Be sure to check out Jeff's sci-fi adventure, Assassin's Retribution. Available for Nook or Kindle.

Assassin's Retribution:

In the future, technology is the new currency. Assassins are used by companies to stop or steal the latest cybernetic designs. Natasha is one of the best in the business. However, a nemesis from her past has found her, and now she must hunt him down or be killed.

Snow Days

Here in Southern Illinois, we had a very significant snow fall for our area. In my town, they are saying we received around ten inches of the white stuff. On one part it's a bit of a pain. It took me thirty minutes to uncover my car yesterday. Not to mention the forty minutes I had to spend shoveling snow off the steps, drive, back porch, etc. Our roads were not to bad to drive on, which was a surprise. Still they weren't just a cake walk.

I really don't know how you folks that get FEET of snow deal with it. I mean I've talked with some people that get lake effect snow. They tell me that there are times they have to remove the snow from their roof to keep it from caving in. That is just not right.

While snow can be a pain, it also has the ability to bring along with it some really fun times. We stopped by a good friend of ours house yesterday. The kids had made a snow man and were in the process of taking a square container, packing it with snow, and making snow bricks. They had constructed a twelve foot long, four foot tall wall! It was the coolest thing! I was literally thrown back thirty years in time to when I used to make snow forts.

So, when you were a kid (or if you're still one now), what was your favorite thing to do in the snow?

I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment below.


-Red
PS: I did have a really fun snowball fight with my wife when we got home last night. I won by rushing her and pulling her down into the snow. (smiles in a maniacal grin)

Jeff's new short story, Martyr, is now available. Pick up your copy today for only $0.99!
Martyr

You can follow Jeff at:
www.jeffjake.com
www.facebook.com/jeffreyrjake
www.myspace.com/jeffreyrjake
Twitter @MortisG187

Or you can email him at author@jeffjake.com


Thanks for reading!

SNOW!!!

Wow, when I looked at the radar last night, I thought, this is gonna be a bust.  Everyone was saying the storm was going to start at 9:00 pm. When I went to bed at 11:30 pm... Nothing. So when I woke up this morning I was a bit surprised to see the accumulation of snow, with it still coming down.

I saw a post from a friend dubbing this "Stormageddon", however, she wasn't impressed. Apparently at her house she could still see grass. That is not the case at my house. I would say it's at least six inches deep, if not more. Put it this way. I have a miniature dachshund and he couldn't get out of the garage door because it was to deep. It was taller than him. I had to cut a path so he could get out and do his business. I'm hear to tell you that was a funny sight watching him try to plow through the snow. Finally after multiple failed attempts he just looked up at me as if to say "A little help here..." LOL.

Now our bigger dog, Missy, she had no problem getting out into the yard and running around like crazy. She would run and bite at the snow on the ground. It was really cool to watch her plow into the snow. It was almost like she was leaving a wake of snow around her at times. Fortunately, she is real good about letting us dry her off when she comes in. She was soaked along with my son who went out to play with her.

It will be interesting to see how it goes with so much snow. We haven't seen this much in a long time. Half this much will cause schools here to be shut down for several days. (Lot's of rural kids can't get in because they don't blade the roads) As it stands, the towns main manufacture company is closed today. That is a FIRST! So, It looks like I'm going to pile down and do some writing, watch some TV or maybe a movie, and just relax.

-Red

You can follow Jeff at:
www.jeffjake.com
www.facebook.com/jeffreyrjake
www.myspace.com/jeffreyrjake
Twitter @ MortisG187

Email Jeff at: author@jeffjake.com

Snowed in today? Need something to read? Check these out:
Assassin's Retribution
http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Retribution-Series-ebook/dp/B009V32BI6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1356534692&sr=1-1&keywords=assassin%27s+retribution

A Dead Run (FREE)
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/258230