Guess whos coming to dinner? The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Some of the immigrants resorted to cannibalism to survive, eating those who had succumbed to starvation and sickness. The journey west usually took between five and six months, but the Donner Party was slowed by following a new route called Hastings Cutoff, which crossed Utahs Great Salt Lake Desert and passed just north of Ely, Nevada. The rugged terrain, and difficulties encountered while traveling along the Humboldt River resulted in the loss of many cattle and wagons, and caused splits within the group. By the beginning of November 1846 the emigrants had reached the Sierra Nevada, where they became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall near Truckee (now Donner) Lake, high in the mountains. Their food supplies ran extremely low, and in mid-December some of the group set out on foot to obtain help. Rescuers from California attempted to reach the emigrants, but the first relief party did not arrive until the middle of February 1847, almost four months after the wagon train became trapped. Of the 87 members of the party, 48 survived to reach California. Historians have described the episode as one of the most spectacular tragedies in the record of western migration. Video courtesy of KNPB, Reno, Nevada. Learn more: utahcrossroads.org/DonnerParty/ NSS 75th Anniversary Convention July, 2016 ~ Ely, Nevada nss2016.caves.org #nss75th
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000
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