GOLD SEEKERS O N T H E HASTINGS CUTOFF BY CHARLES KELLY*
I
N THE BOOK Salt Desert Trails, published in 1930, I attempted to list all travelers who were known to have used the Hastings Cutoff, a detour on the California Trail so difficult and hazardous that it was one of the principal factors in the Donner tragedy. Through this book I first became acquainted with J. Roderic Korns, whose analytical mind was not satisfied with the sketchy character of some of my information. Together we began reviewing available facts and searching for additional data. T o the end of his life he never lost interest in this project and through his unceasing inquiry many of the mysteries connected with this historic trail have finally been solved. Since 1930 much new information has been discovered, filling gaps in our previous knowledge of activities on the Hastings Cutoff. W i t h the publication of West From Fort Bridger by J. Roderic Korns in Volume XIX of the Utah Historical Quarterly, the various original journals of 1846 have been printed so that now we have an almost complete picture of travel over this route to the end of 1846. The invitation has been extended to me to round out this story by continuing the record down to the end of 1850, when travel over this ill-fated cutoff was virtually discontinued. News of the Donner disaster reached the States too late in 1847 to have been responsible for the small California immigration of that year; unsettled conditions resulting from the war with Mexico probably kept the movement in check. Those who did go to California met eastbound travelers along the way who described the horrors at Donner Lake, and such reports may have had some part in persuading immigrants to keep to the older, well known roads; there is no record of any wagon companies attempting the Salt Desert route in 1847. There were, however, two eastbound parties of horsemen who this year traversed the Hastings Cutoff from its junction * Charles Kelly, noted authority on Utah and Western history, is well known for his past contributions to the Utah Historical Quarterly, as well as being die author of Outlaw Trail; Old Greenwood; Miles Goodyear; Salt Desert Trails, and Holy Murder. Mr. Kelly is now acting as a Forest Ranger and custodian of Capitol Reef National Monument.
