The Donner Party were a group of at least 87 Americansettlers who tried to cross the Sierra Nevada into California in the winter of 1846–47.[1][2] Most historians count 87 members of the party. Stephen McCurdy in the Western Journal of Medicine includes three others, making the number 90.[3] 39 of them died from starvation, disease and the cold weather. The rest reached California the following year.[4] They became famous in the history of the American West.
Journey
The party left Springfield, Illinois in April 1846. They were led by two brothers, Jacob and George Donner. The settlers followed the California Trail to Fort Bridger in Wyoming. From there, they left the trail to take a different route that was not used much. It was reportedly a shorter way to California. This route was called the Hastings' Cutoff. There was much hardship and suffering on this route. They wasted 18 very important days. Instead of being shorter, it took them much longer to get to the other side of Nevada.
On October 28, heavy snow trapped the settlers in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The group made shelters, but ran out of food to eat. Some of them resorted to cannibalism in order to not die of starvation.[1][2][5]
On December 16, seventeen people tried to go west again. Of these, two went back to the camp. Of the fifteen that kept going, seven stayed alive and reached a settlement on the western side of the mountains after 32 days.[1] After this, a rescue party went back, and in about two weeks made it to one of the camps set up in the mountains. After this, three more groups tried to rescue those trapped in the mountains. The last person was rescued on April 7,1847.[1] 45 people from the original Donner Party died, and there were 36 who survived.[1] All the alive members went to California, but they disagreed about what happened during the journey and who made it bad.[2]
