On Feb. 4, 1850, the survivors of the “Jayhawkers of ‘49” emerged from Death Valley into the Rancho San Francisco near Newhall.

In April 1849, a party of 36 people departed from Galesburg, IL, becoming the first White group to cross Death Valley. Troubles set in early for the band of travelers, forcing them to seek a new route.

Even after enduring attacks from Indian tribes in Utah, where their horses were stolen, their pack animals dying, and difficult travel days, the company continued on in their journey. With little motivation left and many people from their company already dying, the likelihood of them surviving the journey to the ranch seemed slim.

“The log book of the sailor tells much of their suffering. ‘Traveled five miles today’ in one entry. ‘Another of our oxen died,’ reads another. ‘Food very scarce, no good water,’ is a third. For three months their suffering endured, 52 days of which they lived on their starving cattle, eating what little meat there was,” SCV History reads

Upon entering Death Valley, the party faced long travel days paired with minimal food and water supplies. After exhausting the food they had brought with them, they then resorted to eating the meat off the cattle they traveled with.

Desperate, the group sent off a scouting party for help on November 4, 1849. Several months later, on Jan. 1, 1850, William Lewis Manly, then 29, and fellow traveler John Rogers, 22, reached Rancho San Francisco, near what is now Magic Mountain, after a grueling trek across the desert.

After being taken in and cared for by the Del Valle family at the Rancho, Manly and Rogers returned to Death Valley with food, supplies, and most importantly, a proven route to safety.

At the beginning of February 1850, upon entering a pass leading to the Santa Clara River, the remaining members of the group met four Mexican vaqueros. Hesitant at first, the Mexicans needed much assurance that the travelers were safe. After confirming this, the vaqueros assisted the group with the rest of their journey, leading them to the ranch and helping them obtain food.

Welcomed into the ranch with open arms, the group finally found safety and food to end their travels. The owner of the ranch met them with food and held a continuing feast for the next two weeks after their arrival.

For decades, the remaining members of the “Jayhawkers of ‘49” met on the anniversary of their deliverance to celebrate the victory of their famous travels and to mourn the members they lost on the way.

Manly’s book, ‘Death Valley in ’49,’ stands as one of the few surviving records of the journey in history.

This journey is well-known across California, and the treacherous travels of these 36 people will long be remembered in the years to come.

To read yesterday’s Today in SCV History, click here.

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