His face generally wears a
determined, almost fierce expression, but one is impressed with the
thought that this appearance is caused by his habitually standing on the
defensive as against his fellow-men. Since he has never before had an
opportunity of speaking in his own defense, it is perhaps fitting that
his statement should be given in his own language:
"My name is Lewis Keseberg. I was born in the city of Berleburg,
Province of Westphalia, in the Kingdom of Prussia, on the twenty-second
of May, 1814. I am therefore almost sixty-three years of age. I was
married June 22, 1842, came to the United States May 22, 1844, and
emigrated to California in 1846 with the Donner Party. I never have made
a statement concerning my connection with that Party to any one
connected with the press. It is with the utmost horror that I revert to
the scenes of suffering and unutterable misery endured during that
journey. I have always endeavored to put away from me all thoughts or
recollections of those terrible events. Time is the best physician, and
would, I trusted, heal the wounds produced by those days of torture; yet
my mind to-day recoils with undiminished horror as I endeavor to speak
of this dreadful subject. Heretofore I have never attempted to refute
the villainous slanders which have been circulated and published about
me.
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