On February 2, 1847, the first woman of a group of pioneers commonly known as the Donner Party dies during the group’s journey through a Sierra Nevada mountain pass. The disastrous trip west ended up killing 42 people and turned many of the survivors into cannibals.
A total of 87 people joined up in South Pass, Wyoming, in October 1846 to make a trip through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to California. Most of the pioneers were farmers who had little experience with wilderness travel. Two large families, the Donners and the Reeds, were at the heart of the traveling group, with 7 adults and 16 children. George Donner was the group’s unofficial leader.
The pioneers left Wyoming on October 27, and were soon faced with the early onset of a harsh winter. They had only a book as a guide and this led them through a mountain pass south of modern-day Salt Lake City. Without any path to follow, it took the group 16 days to go only 36 miles. Eventually, they were forced to leave their wagons–loaded with hundreds of pounds of flour and bacon–and their cattle behind. Trapped by snow, they were forced to make camp for the winter near a small lake (now known as Donner Lake) northwest of Lake Tahoe.
With starvation setting in, a group of 15 adults (known as the Forlorn Hope) attempted to get to Sutter’s Fort near San Francisco–100 miles away–for help. About half of the group died in the harsh conditions and the others were forced to eat their fallen companions’ remains to survive. Finally, the seven remaining members of the expedition were able to reach a Native American village. News of their arrival spread quickly, and a rescue party was sent from Sutter’s Fort to reach the rest of the Donner Party, still stuck in the mountains. By the time the rescue was complete, nearly half of the Donner Party, including George Donner, was dead.
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Unfortunate, that people have little knowledge of what the early settlers had to deal with while exploring this land.
Living in the West I see it often, tiny mine shafts where miners extracted ore for its contents risking their life daily.
Winter camps where they left behind anything not really needed for the continuation of their journey. Survival became the only necessity.
I worked in an area of the Oregon Trail, they buried their dead in the wagon ruts to insure that the they wouldn’t be disturbed..
People especially young people glued to their I-phone , know nothing and I mean nothing about what it took to develop this country..and we wonder? why we have such a garbage can society…
Today most live in a bubble never having known hardship, fear, hunger or loss…it’s all about to change and there will be casualties.
“To serve Man” – Twilight Zone
A banquet was held in their honor that same day.
“What’s for dinner?”
“Meatloaf!”
For any Rocky Horror fans.
I chose to assume their guide was a Democrat who made the decision to push into the mountains in winter…fast forward 175 years and their retarded descendants are about to lead NATO into Russia…in the winter. Something about reality not being real…
Their bigger problem was listening to advice on a “shortcut” that got them bogged down in a semi-dry lakebed, thus taking them so long that they entered the pass WAY later than they should have. Not sure if that clown was a democrat, but clearly someone handing out advice on the “easy way” to go, while facing NONE of the consequences for failure (so truly any sort of politician would work).