James Frazier Reed (November 14, 1800 – July 24, 1874) was an Irish-American businessman and soldier and a pioneer in the American West, notable for being an organizing member of the ill-fated Donner Party emigration to California in 1846. Early life Born in County Armagh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (now Northern Ireland), Reed claimed to be of noble Polish stock. After the death of his father, he emigrated with his mother to the United States. Once there, his mother sent him to live with a family member in Virginia, where he worked as a clerk in the family store. In about 1825, Reed moved to Illinois, where he took an interest in mining. While living there, Reed ran several businesses and took part in the Black Hawk War of 1832, serving with Abraham Lincoln. In 1835, he married Margret Keyes Backenstoe, a widow with one daughter, Virginia Elizabeth Backenstoe, whom Reed did not adopt but who nonetheless went by the name Virginia Reed. The couple married and had four more children in Springfield: Martha Jane (called Patty); James F., Jr.; Thomas Keyes; and Gershom Francis, who died as an infant. Donner Party In 1845, Reed decided to head west to California and organized a small group, which left the Springfield area in the spring of 1846. The other members were George Donner, his brother Jacob, and their families and hired hands. Each head of household had three wagons. In addition to two supply wagons, Reed had a particularly comfortable one made for his family to ride in, which has since become legendary. The Reeds and Donners left Springfield on April 14 and joined a large wagon train led by William H. Russell on May 19. While camped in Wyoming, the Reeds, Donners, and several other families decided to split off from the main trail and take a new route called the Hastings Cutoff, which had been advertised as a shortcut across the Great Basin. They elected George Donner captain, creating the Donner Party, and separated from the other emigrants on July 20. The new route proved painstakingly slow and arduous. While crossing the desert west of the Great Salt Lake, Reed abandoned two of his wagons after he lost most of his oxen. The exhausted Donner Party finally rejoined the California Trail on September 26 near Elko, Nevada, having taken three weeks longer than the traditional route.