How did they find the Donner party?
The dig is taking place at a picnic area at Alder Creek Camp, where it's believed the George and Jacob Donner families were trapped. A Discovery Channel team found the site last summer by using ground-penetrating radar.
Who saved the Donner Party?
It was several weeks until a second rescue party arrived, led by none other than James Reed, who'd finally raised enough money and men to go rescue his family. This time, 17 people were evacuated — leaving only a few members of the Donner Party behind.
Did any of the Donner party survive?
Only two families made it through the ordeal intact. Of the 81 pioneers who began the Donner Party's horrific winter in the Sierra Nevada, only 45 managed to walk out alive. The ordeal proved particularly costly for the group's 15 solo travelers, all but two of whom died, but it also took a tragic toll on the families.
When did the Donner party start and end?
The Donner Party (1846 to 1847) was a group of emigrants moving west to California who became trapped while crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Who died first in the Donner party?
Breen's account of the winter of 1846–47 would provide the only contemporary written record of the Donner party's ordeal. On December 15 Baylis Williams, an employee of the Reed family, died of malnutrition at the lake camp; his was the first recorded death in the camps, although many others would soon follow.
How many members of the Donner Party were eaten?
When rescue expeditions finally reached the the Donner Party the next spring, they found evidence of murder and cannibalism. Of the nearly 90 members who left Illinois, only around 45 made it to California. As many as 21 members had been eaten.
Who got eaten in the Donner party?
There's also reason to believe one of the hikers, a man named William Foster, shot two Miwok Native American guides named Louis and Salvador for food, which is the only instance anyone in the Donner Party was killed and eaten. The rest of the cannibalized were already dead.
How accurate is the Donner Party Movie?
It is full of inaccuracies. While it is true some of the party resorted to eating human flesh to survive, no one was killed to do so. It left out the struggles of those left behind, waiting to be rescued and what they endured.
Who was to blame for Donner Party misery?
Years later, Franklin Ward Graves, the 57-year-old patriarch of the family, would complain that James Reed was at fault for the delays and hardship they all faced in the Wasatch Mountains. The delays there, in his view, contributed to their becoming trapped by snow east of Donner Pass later in the year (1846).
Where is the Donner Party buried?
Donner Memorial State ParkDonner Memorial State Park is a state park of California, US, preserving the site of the Donner Camp, where members of the ill-fated Donner Party were trapped by weather during the winter of 1846–1847.
How long did it take the Donner Party to eat all their food?
The Donner Party left Illinois for California in April 1846 — but just eight months later, their journey descended into mass cannibalism.
Can you follow the Donner Party Trail?
The original trail is impassable, so they take an alternate route that is rough and covered in brush. The party makes it to Salt Lake Valley, 600 miles from their destination. The Donner Party begins their trek across the 80-mile Great Salt Lake Desert.
Who was to blame for Donner Party tragedy?
The party began to blame James Reed for the decision to go this way, even though they all voted and made their own choice to follow. Fear was also prevalent, as food and other supplies were running out and they had traveled only thirty-six miles in twenty-one days.
Who was to blame for Donner Party misery?
Years later, Franklin Ward Graves, the 57-year-old patriarch of the family, would complain that James Reed was at fault for the delays and hardship they all faced in the Wasatch Mountains. The delays there, in his view, contributed to their becoming trapped by snow east of Donner Pass later in the year (1846).
Who was the leader of the Donner party?
But George Donner, the party's leader, was a full day ahead of the main wagon train with his family. Snyder had been seen to hit James Reed, and some claimed he had also hit Margret Reed, but Snyder had been popular and Reed was not.
How long did it take the Donner Party to eat all their food?
The Donner Party left Illinois for California in April 1846 — but just eight months later, their journey descended into mass cannibalism.
What is the Donner Party?
[ sic] The Donner Party (sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party) was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Who rode back to the Donner Party?
In his letter Hastings had offered to guide the Donner Party around the more difficult areas, but he rode back only part way, indicating the general direction to follow. Charles Tyler Stanton. Stanton and Pike stopped to rest, and Reed returned alone to the group, arriving four days after the party's departure.
How far did the Reeds and Donners travel?
Russell. By June 16, the company had traveled 450 miles (720 km), with 200 miles (320 km) to go before Fort Laramie, Wyoming. They had been delayed by rain and a rising river, but Tamsen Donner wrote to a friend in Springfield, "indeed, if I do not experience something far worse than I have yet done, I shall say the trouble is all in getting started". Young Virginia Reed recalled years later that, during the first part of the trip, she was "perfectly happy".
What happened to Hardkoop in the Donner Party?
To relieve the animals' load, everyone was expected to walk. Keseberg ejected Hardkoop from his wagon, telling the elderly man that he had to walk or die. A few days later, Hardkoop sat next to a stream, his feet so swollen they had split open; he was not seen again. William Eddy pleaded with the others to find him, but they all refused, swearing they would waste no more resources on a man who was almost 70 years old.
Where did the migrants get trapped?
By early November, the migrants had reached the Sierra Nevada but became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall near Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) high in the mountains . Their food supplies ran dangerously low, and in mid-December some of the group set out on foot to obtain help.
What did Stanton bring to Sutter's Fort?
Stanton, one of the two men who had left a month earlier to seek assistance in California, found the company; and he brought mules, food, and two Miwok Native Americans named Luis and Salvador. He also brought news that Reed and Herron, although haggard and starving, had succeeded in reaching Sutter's Fort in California. By this point, according to Rarick, "To the bedraggled, half-starved members of the Donner Party, it must have seemed that the worst of their problems had passed. They had already endured more than many emigrants ever did."
How many wagons were there in the spring of 1846?
Families. In the spring of 1846, almost 500 wagons headed west from Independence. At the rear of the train, a group of nine wagons containing 32 members of the Reed and Donner families and their employees left on May 12.
How many people were in the Donner Party?
The party elected George Donner to serve as its leader, and at its peak the Donner party would number some 87 people—29 men, 15 women, and 43 children— in a column of 23 ox-drawn wagons. Map of the Oregon and California trails.
Where was the Donner party trapped?
The party was trapped by exceptionally heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada, and, when food ran out, some members of the group reportedly resorted to cannibalism of those already dead. It was the worst disaster of the overland migration to California. Donner Lake and Donner Pass, California, are named for the party. Donner party.
What did the migrants do to the Sierra foothills?
The migrants began the ascent of the Sierra foothills low on food , and Paiute warriors killed several of the remaining oxen. By this point, the members of the company had cached, or buried, virtually all their personal possessions—except for food, clothing, and the barest essentials necessary for survival—in an effort to minimize the load on their exhausted animals. On October 31 the weary migrants approached what is now Donner Pass across the Sierra Nevada and found their progress blocked by deepening snow.
How many children were taken back to the settlements?
They then took 23 of the starving emigrants, including 17 children, back to the settlements; several deaths occurred on the way. Other relief parties followed, but, because of illness and injuries, it was impossible to remove everyone. Donner Pass. Donner Pass, with Donner Lake in the distance, near Truckee, Calif.
When did the westward migration begin?
The journey west. The fertile farmlands of central California drew a steady stream of settlers in the 1840s, and in the spring of 1846 several families from Springfield, Illinois, joined the westward migration. The families of brothers George and Jacob Donner and local businessman James Reed left Springfield on April 14, 1846.
Where is Donner Lake?
Donner Lake and Donner Pass, California, are named for the party. On the Way to the Summit, illustration depicting members of the Donner party struggling in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–47.
Who led the migrants along the cutoff?
During their first week in the Cutoff, the Donner party made good progress. Hastings, who had promised to lead migrants along the trail, left Fort Bridger with a different company of wagons, and it fell to Reed to act as the company’s guide.
Where did the Donner Party arrive?
News of the stranded Donner Party traveled fast to Sutter’s Fort, and a rescue party set out on January 31. Arriving at Donner Lake 20 days later, they found the camp completely snowbound and the surviving emigrants delirious with relief at their arrival. Rescuers fed the starving group as well as they could and then began evacuating them.
When was the Donner Party rescued?
Donner Party rescued from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. On February 19, 1847, the first rescuers reach surviving members of the Donner Party, a group of California-bound emigrants stranded by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
How many members of the Donner Party were there in California?
Of the 89 original members of the Donner Party, only 45 reached California.
Where did the Donner family camp?
Most of the group stayed near the lake–now known as Donner Lake–while the Donner family and others made camp six miles away at Alder Creek. Building makeshift tents out of their wagons and killing their oxen for food, they hoped for a thaw that never came.
When did the Sierra Nevada Mountains reach the Great Salt Lake Desert?
After suffering great hardships in the Wasatch Mountains, the Great Salt Lake Desert and along the Humboldt River, they finally reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains in early October.
Where was the Donner Party site?
Donner Party Site Found? July 15, 2004 / 2:37 PM / AP. Archaeologists have unearthed a cooking hearth in the Sierra Nevada where they believe the Donner Party gathered for meager meals in the months before starvation led to the country's most famous tale of cannibalism. Government and university researchers said Wednesday ...
What was the first physical evidence to back up survivors' accounts that some members of the Donner Party resorted to?
If some of the bones are human, they would be the first physical evidence to back up survivors' accounts that some members of the Donner Party resorted to cannibalism to survive being trapped in snow during the winter of 1846-47.
Where is the Donner dig?
But others could prove to be human through nuclear DNA testing. The dig is taking place at a picnic area at Alder Creek Camp , where it's believed the George and Jacob Donner families were trapped. A Discovery Channel team found the site last summer by using ground-penetrating radar.
Did the pioneers eat their dogs?
About half the pioneers died and some survivors ate the flesh of their dead companions to stay alive. By then they had eaten their dogs and even boiled leather to eat the resulting glue to fend off starvation.
What was the Donner Party?
Like many Americans living in the 1840s and 1850s, the Donner Party--a group of men, women, and children--wanted to start a new life out West. The trails that had been forged before them were doable, but conditions were rough, with unpredictable weather, food shortages, disease, and death.
When did the Donner Party get fame?
In 1846 a group of pioneers left Illinois looking for a shorter route west. Unfortunately, the Donner Party, as they became known, found fame from their tragic story and deaths.
What happened in 1846?
While trying to fix the axle George Donner badly cuts his hand, which sets the 22 in their party even further behind the others. November 1846: Donner Lake.
How far did the Donner party trek?
September 3-26, 1846: Salt Lake Desert. The Donner Party begins their trek across the 80-mile Great Salt Lake Desert. Hastings has told them the desert is only 40 miles wide, and they run out of water on their third day.
How many people were rescued in the Donner Lake rescue?
The first rescue group arrives at Donner Lake in early February. They bring little food with them and are able to take only 23 people out with them. The remaining party members wait for the second relief party to arrive. The second rescue effort arrives on March 1 and finds evidence of cannibalism. Seventeen party members are rescued and brought to Fort Sutter in this second rescue attempt. Both Jacob and George Donner die before being rescued. Two more rescue parties reach the camps and the last survivor is brought to Sutter's Fort on April 29, 1847. Of the more than 80 members of the party, almost half of them die along the way.
What happened to the Donner Party when they left Illinois?
When the Donner Party left Illinois, they had high hopes of finding a better life out West. When they heard of Lansing Hastings, they became even more excited at the prospect of making better time with his shortcut. Little did they know that they would have to endure a loss of food, cannibalism, a freezing winter, and a huge loss of life before being rescued.
Where did the Donner Party meet in 1846?
July 19, 1846: Little Sandy Rock, Wyoming. The group reaches Little Sandy Rock, Wyoming. Here, those who have decided to take the Hastings cutoff leave the rest of the group. They form a new group led by George and Jacob Donner and known as the Donner Party. July 27, 1846: Fort Bridger, Wyoming.
When did the Donner Party rescue?
In the spring of 1847, the last rescue party finally reached the desperate remains of the Donner Party. Starving and driven to cannibalism after snows trapped their caravan in a snowy Sierra Nevada mountain pass, the survivors relayed to their rescuers the horrific stories of their ordeal. According to one rescuer, there were human skeletons “in ...
What happened to the Donner Party in 1846?
Lawrence & Houseworth/Library of Congress Stumps cut by members of the Donner Party show how deep the snow had gotten. In the next few months, half of the party died. Fifteen members of the party tried to cross the pass in December of 1846 to get help, but 12 days later, they turned to cannibalism to survive.
Why did the Donner Party rescuers leave Keseberg?
The rescuers were reportedly forced to leave Keseberg and four other survivors of the Donner Party at the lake as they were unable to transport everyone to safety. But when they returned on April 17, Keseberg was alone, having eaten his remaining companions.
What happened to the survivors of the Donner Party?
Survivors went on to carry the scars of their experience for the rest of their lives, constantly reminded of their tragedy by the media, and their own nightmares. This is what happened to the remaining survivors of the Donner Party.
How old was Eliza Donner when her mother sent her away?
That author arranged for two survivors of the Donner Party to reconnect. It was Eliza Donner, who was four years old when her mother Tamsen sent her away with a rescue party, and Keseberg, the man accused of murdering her mother.
How many members of the Donner Party left Illinois?
When rescue expeditions finally reached the the Donner Party the next spring, they found evidence of murder and cannibalism. Of the nearly 90 members who left Illinois, only around 45 made it to California. As many as 21 members had been eaten.
When did Gold Hill Daily News reprint the Donner Party?
Twenty years after the tragedy, Gold Hill Daily News reprinted the account of another one of the Donner Party survivors as she told it in 1847. “We shall never forget the manuscript of that letter,” the editor recalled.
Where did the Donner Party arrive in 1846?
5. Fort Bridger, Wyoming. July 24 - July 31, 1846. Expecting to be greeted by Lansford Hastings who would lead them through Hastings Cutoff, the Donner Party arrives at Fort Bridger only to find instructions left by Hastings who had left a week earlier with another team of emigrants heading for California.
How many members were in the Donner party?
The starting point for the Donner Party including the Reed family and the Donner family. The party was comprised of 32 members including the Reed's 2 servants and 7 teamsters who drove the wagons. 2.
Where did the wagons go on July 18th 1846?
As the bulk of the Springfield, Illinois entourage turned right toward the familiar route, twenty wagons, including the ones belonging to the Donners and the Reeds, turned left toward Fort Bridger and the entrance to Hastings Cutoff. 5. Fort Bridger, Wyoming.
When did the covered wagons go to Missouri?
May 10 - May 12, 1846. In May 1846, the nine covered wagons made the slow journey from Springfield, Illinois to Independence, Missouri. The Donner Party would purchase provisions here for their long, arduous journey to California. 3.
Overview
The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Some of the migrants resorted to cannibalism to survive, eating the bodies of those who had succumbed to st…
Background
During the 1840s, the United States saw a dramatic increase in settlers who left their homes in the east to resettle in the Oregon Territory or California, which at the time were accessible only by a very long sea voyage or a daunting overland journey across the American frontier. Some, such as Patrick Breen, saw California as a place where they would be free to live in a fully Catholic culture…
Families
In the spring of 1846, almost 500 wagons headed west from Independence. At the rear of the train, a group of nine wagons containing 32 members of the Reed and Donner families and their employees left on May 12. George Donner, born in North Carolina, had gradually moved west to Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, with a one-year sojourn in Texas. In early 1846, he was about 60 years old and livin…
Hastings Cutoff
To promote his new route (the "Hastings Cutoff"), Lansford Hastings sent riders to deliver letters to traveling migrants. On July 12, the Reeds and Donners were given one of them. Hastings warned the migrants they could expect opposition from the Mexican authorities in California and advised them to band together in large groups. He also claimed to have "worked out a new and better road to Ca…
Rejoining the trail
Along the Humboldt, the group met Paiute Native Americans, who joined them for a couple of days but stole or shot several oxen and horses. By now, it was well into October, and the Donner families split off to make better time. Two wagons in the remaining group became tangled, and John Snyder angrily beat the ox of Reed's hired teamster Milt Elliott. When Reed intervened, Snyder proc…
Snowbound
Faced with one last push over mountains that were described as much worse than the Wasatch, the ragtag company had to decide whether to forge ahead or rest their cattle. It was October 20 and they had been told the pass would not be snowed in until the middle of November. William Pike was killed when a gun being loaded by William Foster was discharged negligently, an event that see…
Rescue
James F. Reed made it out of the Sierra Nevada to Rancho Johnson in late October. He was safe and recovering at Sutter's Fort, but each day he became more concerned for the fate of his family and friends. He pleaded with Colonel John C. Frémont to gather a team of men to cross the pass and help the company. In return, Reed promised to join Frémont's forces and fight in the Me…
Legacy
The Donner Party episode has served as the basis for numerous works of history, fiction, drama, poetry, and film. The attention directed at the Donner Party is made possible by reliable accounts of what occurred, according to Stewart, and the fact that "the cannibalism, although it might almost be called a minor episode, has become in the popular mind the chief fact to be remember…