Donner party What happened to the Donner party?
The Donner Party was a group of 87 American pioneers who in 1846 set off from Illinois
in a wagon train headed west for California, only to find themselves trapped by snow in the
Sierra Nevada. The subsequent casualties resulting from starvation, exposure, disease, and
trauma were extremely high, and many of the survivors resorted to cannibalism. The
wagons left in May 1846. Encouraged to try a new, faster route across
Utah and Nevada, they opted to take the Hastings Cutoff proposed by Lansford Hastings,
who had never taken the journey with wagons. The Cutoff required the wagons to
traverse Utah's Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake Desert, and slowed the party considerably, leading to the loss of wagons, horses, and cattle. It also forced them to engage in heavy labor by clearing the path ahead of them, and created deep divisions between members of the party. They had planned to be in California by September, but found themselves trapped in the Sierra Nevada by early November.
The Donner Party was a group of 87 American pioneers who in 1846 set off from Illinois
in a wagon train headed west for California, only to find themselves trapped by snow in the
Sierra Nevada. The subsequent casualties resulting from starvation, exposure, disease, and
trauma were extremely high, and many of the survivors resorted to cannibalism. The
wagons left in May 1846. Encouraged to try a new, faster route across
Utah and Nevada, they opted to take the Hastings Cutoff proposed by Lansford Hastings,
who had never taken the journey with wagons. The Cutoff required the wagons to
traverse Utah's Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake Desert, and slowed the party considerably, leading to the loss of wagons, horses, and cattle. It also forced them to engage in heavy labor by clearing the path ahead of them, and created deep divisions between members of the party. They had planned to be in California by September, but found themselves trapped in the Sierra Nevada by early November.