The Donner Party: A Doomed Journey (Milestones in American History)

On April 16, 1846, a group of 33 pioneers, with their goods and animals, began to move west by wagon train from Springfield, Illinois, to California. After stopping in St. Louis, the Donner Party followed the California Trail until it reached Little Sandy River, in what is now Wyoming. There, the party joined other groups of travelers. When the settlers took a shortcut called Hastings Cut-off, they found themselves stranded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as a snow-storm blocked the trail through what is now called Donner Pass. What started out as an adventurous trek to a new land turned into a nightmare as days turned into months, food and supplies dwindled, and members of the party died. The survivors resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Of the 87 travelers, 39 died and 48 survived. The Donner Party tells the story of the most famous of all the hundreds of wagon trains to start for the Far West-a tale of hardships, horror, heroism, selflessness, and sacrifice. Contents......Page 6 1: The Stevens Party......Page 8 2: A Vision Looking West......Page 17 3: Wagons to California......Page 27 4: The First "Donner Party"......Page 39 5: Progress on the Trail......Page 52 6: A Badly Advised Road......Page 63 7: Tragedy at Every Turn......Page 75 8: The Taboo......Page 86 9: "Do You Come from Heaven?"......Page 100 10: Nightmare's End......Page 113 11: Lives of the Survivors......Page 127 Chronology......Page 137 Notes......Page 142 Bibliography......Page 145 Further Reading......Page 147 Photo Credits......Page 148 Index......Page 149 About the Author......Page 153 Recounts the journey of the Donner Party which, in 1846, sought to travel from Independence, Missouri, to California but took an untried shortcut that trapped them in the Sierra Nevada mountains during a terrible winter Examines the experiences of the Donner Party, a group of eighty-seven individuals that headed West from Illinois in 1846, became trapped in a snowstorm, and was forced to take desperate measures to stay alive On April 16, 1846, a group of 33 settlers, their goods, and animals began moving west by wagon train from Springfield, Illinois, to California