Why did the Donner Party get stuck in the mountains?
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. 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.
Where did the Donner Party go wrong?
The Big Blue River runs through parts of Nebraska and Kansas. It was in the Kansas area that the Donner Party found themselves stuck on the wrong side of the river on May 26, 1846. Recent heavy rains had raised the level of the Big Blue by 20 feet, making it extremely treacherous to cross.
What caused the Donner party?
Taking an unproven shortcut and encountering early storms in the Sierra Nevada were the main causes of the disaster, but there were many factors that added up to this great tragedy. The party members elected the patriarchal George Donner as their leader rather than the more able James Reed.
When did the Donner party start their journey?
A
Did anyone from the Donner party survive?
In the end, 41 people died and 46 survived. Five perished before reaching the Sierras, 35 died at the camps or attempting to cross the mountains, and one died just after reaching the valley at the foot of the western slope.
Did the Donner Party really eat people?
Not all of the settlers were strong enough to escape, however, and those left behind were forced to cannibalize the frozen corpses of their comrades while waiting for further help. All told, roughly half of the Donner Party’s survivors eventually resorted to eating human flesh.
How many rescue parties did they send in for the Donner party?
Three more rescue parties arrived to help, but the return to Sutter’s Fort proved equally harrowing, and the last survivors didn’t reach safety until late April. Of the 89 original members of the Donner Party, only 45 reached California.
What happened to Lansford Hastings?
Hastings visited the region, made arrangements with the Brazilian government, and wrote The Emigrant’s Guide to Brazil (1867) to attract potential colonists. He died at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands in 1870, possibly of yellow fever, while conducting a shipload of settlers to his colony at Santarém.
Where was the Donner Party camp?
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….
| Donner Memorial State Park | |
|---|---|
| Location | Nevada and Placer Counties, California, US |
| Nearest city | Truckee, California |
Can you visit the Donner camp?
Visitors are welcome year-round to visit the famous Pioneer Monument, built to commemorate the California emigrants traveling west during the mid-1800’s.
What families were in the Donner party?
- The Breen Family from Ireland by way of Keokuk, Iowa.
- The Reed Family from Springfield, Illinois.
- The George Donner Family from Sangamon County, Illinois.
- The Jacob Donner Family from Sangamon County, Illinois.
- The Eddy Family from Belleville, Illinois.
- The Graves Family from Marshall County, Illinois.
Was there a lost camp of the Donner party?
Although many descendants of the Donner Party view it as such, some historians claim the actual camp site is now submerged under the nearby Prosser Reservoir, and thus lost to history.
How many died in the Donner party?
42 people
What happened at the Donner Pass?
In early November 1846 the Donner Party found the route blocked by snow and was forced to spend the winter on the east side of the mountains. Of the 81 settlers, only 45 survived to reach California; some of them resorting to cannibalism to survive.
Where did the Hastings Cutoff start?
In July 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young led a vanguard company of emigrants from Winter Quarters, in what is now Omaha, to the future site of Salt Lake City. The company chose to use the Hastings Cutoff passing through modern-day Emigration Canyon.