When Nicholas Clark awoke on the morning of the third day, the tent was
literally buried in freshly fallen snow. He was in what is known as
Jacob Donner's tent. Its only occupants besides himself were Mrs.
Elizabeth Donner, her son Lewis, and the Spanish boy, John Baptiste.
George Donner and wife were in their own tent, and with them was Mrs.
Elizabeth Donner's youngest child, Samuel. Mr. Clark says he can not
remember how long the storm lasted, but it seems as if it must have been
at least a week. The snow was so deep that it was impossible to procure
wood, and during all those terrible days and nights there was no fire in
either of the tents. The food gave out the first day, and the dreadful
cold was rendered more intense by the pangs of hunger. Sometimes the
wind would blow like a hurricane, and they could plainly hear the great
pines crashing on the mountain side above them, as the wind uprooted
them and hurled them to the ground. Sometimes the weather would seem to
moderate, and the snow would melt and trickle in under the sides of the
tent, wetting their clothes and bedding, and increasing the misery of
their situation.
When the storm cleared away, Clark found himself starving like the rest.
He had really become one of the Donner Party, and was as certain to
perish as were the unfortunates about him.
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