Dunbar Herford

Dunbar Herford (*4.6.1792 +1843) was an American Soldier and Captain of a wagon train of settlers who traveled from Nevada to Sutter's Fort in California.
Biography
Born as the first child of James and Wilma(?) Herford, he joined the
Militia forces of the United States in 1811.
He is said to have joined the War of 1812 and is believed to have been near
Fort Niagara , New York when it was attacked and captured by the Britons in 1813.
He had been caught but was released by the Britons in 1815.
After the war Herford went to West Point a military academy in the state of New York. Graduated in 1819 from West Point , Herford took part in the Indian Wars e.g. in the Black Hawk War in 1832 and in the Creek War of 1836 after which he was promoted to the rank of a Sergeant.
In 1834 Herford's right ear was injured and he hadn't been able to hear with it since this day. Desperately he moved to Texas. There, he firstly gained experience when he was hired as a scout during the Great Raid of 1840.
He was taught by an allied Indian whose name was not passed down.
Now Promoted to the rank of a Lieutenant he fought in the Battle of Plum Creek after which he started a quarrel with a Colonel what caused his exclusion from the army and with it the loss of his rank.
In this year he married his long-time girlfriend Elisabeth Tanner.
Gaining more experience in the following years he was hired to lead a wagon train from Nevada to Sutter's Fort , California in 1843.
He engaged the Native American Spiky Cactus as a scout for the whole journey and made the settler and former gold miner Ned Niles his assistant.
Also his wife Elisabeth joined the Party.
Unfortunately he wasn't able to perform his task due to a Heart Attack which killed him when the party which was joined by another four families by that time had reached Carson Sink. After his death the group split up into the Niles Party led by Ned Niles which followed the original route and the Glenoak Party which was led by Loomis Glenoak taking a seeming shortcut and tragically dieing on the way except from a few people who were able to reach Sutter's Fort.
The destination of the Glenoak Party and the happenings on their journey were discovered when the Diaries of Survivor Catherine Glenoak were found in 2006.
The Glenoak Party's Story is very similar to the tragedy of the Donner Party in 1846.

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