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PROFESSOR SEES THROUGH
BY
MARTIN GRIFFITH Reno,
Nev – On the 100th anniversary of its tragic
journey west, the Donner Party has gained a new fan. Former
Marine Corps survival instructor and Antelope Valley College
photography instructor Lee Bergthold is praising the group’s
grit after completing a 32-day, 300-mile trek through Nevada
desert and mountains from the Utah border to Battle Mountain,
about 220 miles east of Reno. It
was the third and final leg of a multiyear project designed to
give insight into the Donner Party and whether it could have
fared better by taking alternate routes on the western end of
its trip. Like
the earlier travelers, Bergthold had to contend with heat,
dust and a lack of water before wrapping up the hike June 6. “I
have the greatest respect in the world for the Donners and all
the other pioneers who came west,” said Bergthold. “I’m
glad we still commemorate these pioneers and their spirit.
After all, that’s what we came from,” he said. Bergthold’s
latest adventure was preceded by a 35-day, 350-mile trek from
Battle Mountain to Death Valley in the winter of 1996-97 and
by a similar walk from Death Valley to the Salton Sea in the
winter of 1999-2000.
In
the latest hike, he started out on the Hastings Cutoff, the
infamous “shortcut” that helped doom the group of
California-bound pioneers who became stranded by heavy snow in
the Sierra in the winter of 1946-47. About
half of the 89 Donner Party members died and some survivors
ate the flesh of their dead companions near the mountain pass
that now bears the party’s name. Bergthold,
71, left the Hastings cutoff near Overland Pass south of Elko
to follow a more direct, unspoiled cross-county route to
Battle Mountain. “It
could have possibly saved the Donner Party some time if they
took it,” he said, acknowledging the party would have had no
way to know about the route. Berghtold
was joined on the hike by Christine Bowers, Al Caler and
Connie Simpkins. Simpkins
was knocked off it for more than a week near Elko after she
became dehydrated and her legs gave out. “The
difficulties just make you appreciate all the little things
like the beautiful sunsets and absolute silence at night,”
Bergthold said. “The
landscape is enthralling even on the dirty desert.”
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