Finding Treasure at a Donner Party Site | Expedition Unknown

hey guys guys what do you got whoa Josh we got something up here check this out oh huge piece look at this wow that’s the edge of a plate I’m with a team of researchers looking for the Lost ruins of Johnson Ranch a Pioneer era Homestead reached by the survivors of the doomed Donner Party here [Music] wow look at that that’s incredible Flathead nail and then this very cool piece of pottery we can see the edge of a pattern there too we dig around the pottery and quickly find more fragments and more pottery look at this oh there’s more see that’s actually more look at that wow there it’s just Pottery everywhere you look here that’s the edge of a plate right there sure looks like it yeah so this Adobe was in use between what years primarily 1844 1854. just just that 10-year period yeah if this is something that was used here in the Adobe we’re bright in that time period the lidar scan research and physical artifacts in this field are all but conclusive we are in the middle of History here this is Johnson Ranch every single one of the forlorn hope survivors all seven they slept here slept where we’re standing they were all reunited after being saved this is the place they were reunited this is one of those parts of the story that is kind of lost the time it really is until now until now it’s humbling enough to stand in the footsteps of the Donner party but then I remember this is where their Rescuers stood as well let’s talk about the relief parties when most people think of the Donner Party they think of the doomed Expedition the people trapped up at the lake there’s a whole other chapter to the Donner Party story people have never heard that’s right it’s a story of survival the human instinct to survive it’s remarkable when those first survivors limped into Johnson Ranch it became Nationwide news but most of the Donner Party were still trapped back at Truckee Lake and that meant people were going to have to go and get them and these are people that volunteered they didn’t get lost they didn’t get stuck in snow they found out people were stuck in snow they’re fellow immigrants and they volunteered how many people went up to try to save them like total close to 40.
and there were several men that volunteered to not go just once but several times The Rescuers who set out to save the stranded emigrants were the kind of Heroes that history rarely remembers in this case literally the actual route that they took to reach the Donner Party at Truckee lake is totally unknown Bob and Tim are aiming to do something about that something big your hat says Donna relief Expedition 2022 what are you guys doing what are you planning we’re gonna retrace the steps of the first relief from right here in Johnson Ranch to Donner Lake and we are going to arrive at Donner Lake 175 years after the first relief to arrived to the day to the day using years of research Diaries from the survivors and their considerable outdoor skills they have charted the most likely course that the original relief Expedition took to rescue the Donner Party the distance you’re going to cover is about 100 miles on foot back up into those mountains I don’t know if you know this or not it’s not warm up there it’s harder this way this is going to take you how long it’s going to take us five days their effort is the culmination of years of planning and will be tracked by satellites as they go I’d love to join them but my camera team and I stand a zero percent chance of keeping their Pace still I’m not getting out of it that easy well why don’t you meet us somewhere along the way okay we can intersect with your group at the finish line with hot chocolates I could just be lounging there yeah I don’t think so it’s a little too easy it’s a little too easy yeah all right how about Donner Pass you have snowshoes yeah I can get them bring them with you I’ll be there [Music] [Music] all right I’m chasing down Bob and his expedition team as they attempt to retrace the Donner Party relief route now we’ve been tracking them on GPS and in the last three and a half days they have covered unbelievably more than 80 miles on foot these guys are animals so I got some serious catching up to do I hop off the bike at the closest point I can get to the team and head out to meet them on foot hey lucky for me they agree to stop for a moment how are you man along with Tim and Bob our team members and experienced endurance athletes Jennifer Hammond and Elke Reimer oh I’m so impressed I’m amazed to see all of you I mean last time I saw you was nearly a hundred miles ago that’s right back in Johnson Ranch we’re 93 miles into the 100 mile Trek now your animals all you mind if I tag along with you it’d be great be great yeah where are we headed towards the Donner party that way I’m right behind you let’s go just me and four of the most well-trained athletes in the world now I know how Ringo Starr felt [Music] okay how about a break [Music] you’re doing great thanks the weather is on our side but trekking in these conditions is slow going we’re following a trail that hasn’t existed in nearly two centuries fortunately it’s late in the day which means we do get to rest [Music] what do you guys think for Camp yeah it’s a nice little divot all right we got we got flak around let’s take it we make camp for the night thankfully we’ve got much better equipment than the donners that is if we can figure out how to set it up nope what’s this like crazy knot going into this like sheered section it’s an open letter to tent manufacturers stop innovating just crossed poles nobody asked for this nobody asked for this oh what do you think guys we’re gonna make sunrise or [Music] Camp it’s time to get warm so we gather around a fire just as The Rescuers did near this very spot it’s hard not to imagine sitting here by this fire what it must have been like 175 years ago for that relief party so what did they find when they arrived at Donner Lake nothing nothing they arrived at the cabins and everybody’s inside hunkered down I think everyone there had given up hope they probably watched the past for weeks when are they going to come get us by the time the first Rescuers arrived at the lake the Donner Party had been trapped there for over 12 weeks in fact by this time the shelters of the lake were all but invisible one of the women comes up out of the ground because they were all underground buried in snow their shelters looks up and says are you men from California or were you sent here from heaven right like they didn’t even really have a grip living or did we just die and this relief party is also in a terrible position here because they can’t bring everybody out right they say we don’t have food and they say why have you come to save us only to kill us 13 people have already died and the remaining 54 are starving and desperate still there are only enough supplies to bring 23 of them back to civilization the rest will have to stay behind a second relief party organized immediately after the first arrives 10 days later and discovers a horrific scene called by one an Unholy feast four human bodies are in the process of being consumed the remaining survivors have made the same Unthinkable decision as those of the forlorn hope Jacob Donner himself has died and is consumed by his family to extend their own lives the second rescue party will bring 17 more survivors mostly children back to Johnson Ranch in all four rescue parties would make it to Truckee Lake to say I can sense that all of you feel a real connection to the members of this relief party at this point what we didn’t anticipate is becoming fixated on the characters which are so interesting so one of the ways that helps us remind ourselves who they are as people is we make up little tribute cards with their picture on the front this is a card for instance of John Stark and we’ll lay John Stark and 47 other cards like this at the Donna Memorial state park tomorrow at the Pioneer Monument wow can I see one wow this is something so this is John Stark was part of the third relief party on their way out Stark and the other Rescuers came across a group of 11 stranded in the snow clinging to life The Rescuers took a vote and initially decided they could only save two John Stark pulled nine children out of that hole and he’d put them on his back he’d carry them a hundred yards he’d go back and get the next three children carry them 100 yards and set them in the snow and then do it over and over again he did that for three days without any help at all and he said I would have put all nine of them on my back if I had room and when asked why did he do it he said because it’s the right thing to do [Music] yeah there’s just something almost superhuman about the commitment that these people had to this cause to heroism to heroism terrorism [Music] Cheers Cheers [Music] all right should we get to it let’s do it here we go come on we awaken the next morning February 18 2022 175 years to the day that the first relief party reached Donner Summit to honor the survivors and The Rescuers and to bring history to life the Expedition team opts to dress in Period clothing for the final leg of the journey through Donner Pass we have only six miles to cover today at the end of the trail is history [Music] look at that view wow [Music]