Wagons leaving Wyoming today

COKEVILLE -Historic Trails wagon train is scheduled to leave Cokeville and Wyoming today after spending 37 days crossing the state enroute to Independence, Ore.

Emigrants 150 years ago used guidebooks, but found most were laced with inaccuracies.

Two of the guides were authored by Mormons. Ira Willis's "Best Guide to the Gold Mines 816 miles" was handwritten. William Clayton authored the other Mormon guide and provided more specific and accurate information with detail about water crossings, landmarks, obstacles and camping sites.

Lansford Hastings wrote the most notorious of the inaccurate guidebooks. His version led to the Donner party tragedy.

Hastings insisted should take his route to California and told George Donner he would personally guide the party from Fort Bridger. But when Donner and his entourage of 26 men, 12 women, and 34 children got to Fort Bridger Hastings didn't show.

Donner may have doubted Hasting's route, but Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez both said there was a pathway over the Sierra range to California so ·Donner pushed on. He joined with the Graves party of 15 more people for a total of 87 members.

Within days of leaving Fort Bridger the party was already in trouble, having been guided by poor information. Three months later Donner was stranded in the high Sierra where the party dug in and slowly starved in spite of resorting to cannibalism. Eventually a rescue party arrived, but only 30 members ofthe original 87 survived.

Guidebook writer Lansford Hastings, his dreams of a California governorship frozen, headed off to the South Sea Islands.