What factors contributed to the misery of the Donner party? 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.
What challenges do you expect the Donner Party to face as they travel west?
They were steep, there was little to hunt and the weather could be bad. The main problems were
getting stuck, falling ill or running out of supplies
. 20,000 people died from accidents such as being crushed under wagon wheels. Migrants needed enough food to survive the journey.
Why did the Donner Party get stranded?
They took the survivors to Sutter’s Fort, California by the route that is now known as Donner Pass. Stranded in the early snows of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, nearly half the travelers died of
starvation and illness
. Even today Interstate 80 has to be closed occasionally due to heavy snows and blizzards.
How did members of the Donner party know they were in trouble?
How did members of the Donner Party know they were in trouble?
They passed Independence Rock on July 12
. Which of these would be the most probable way for slaves to resist their master? Which of these is not true about the reaction to The Liberator?
Did the Donner Party eat humans?
Thanks to letters and journals kept by members of the Donner Party and their rescuers,
it has long been accepted that cannibalism occurred at the party’s main camp at Truckee Lake
(later renamed Donner Lake) and among a smaller group that tried to escape the mountains to get help.
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.
Shortly before, the Donner family had suffered
a broken axle on one of their wagons and fallen behind
. Also trapped by the snow, they set up camp at Alder Creek six miles from the main group. Each camp erected make-shift cabins and horded their limited supply of food.
The journey west usually took between four and six months, but
the Donner Party was slowed after electing to follow a new route called the Hastings Cutoff
, which bypassed established trails and instead crossed the Rocky Mountains’ Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake Desert in present-day Utah.
What happened to the Donner party that would slow down emigration through the Nevada area to California?
They were trapped by poor winter weather and cannibalized fallen members
.
Thirty-six
people died. Forty-five survived. Only two people over 40 survived. Almost all of those under 5 died.
Donner Party member William Foster shot them both in the head, after which they were chopped up, cooked, and consumed by the others. Their deaths mark the only time that the Donner Party killed someone to eat. Other Donner Party cannibalism stories emphasize the fact that
they only ate people who were already dead.
It may seem gruesome, but
many animals have been recorded feeding on their own species
. Here are 10 cannibalistic animals, including some that might surprise you. Cannibalism – the act of eating an individual of the same species as food – is often not a good idea, and not just because of our own human morals.
1.
Jeffrey Dahmer
. Undoubtedly the most notorious cannibalistic serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 young men between 1978 and 1991.
On
Dec. 26, 1846
, some members of the ill-fated Donner Party are believed to have turned to cannibalism in order to survive during a Sierra Nevada snowstorm.
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.
Donner 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.
They Survived
Without Eating People
Only two nuclear families in the entire party—the Reeds and the Breens—made it through the horrible winter without a single death. According to a letter by Patty Reed, her family was the only one that refused to eat human flesh despite facing starvation.
There was no way for the wagons to pass through the mountains
, and they were therefore forced to spend the winter in the frigid mountain climate.
What traits did members of the Donner and Reed families possess? Support your answer with examples from the film. They possessed
courage
, for they did not turn back when hope was seemingly lost. They were also brave, for despite warnings and starvation, they pressed on.
