The Donner Party

• In May 1846 a group of 300 migrants in 60 wagons, led by the Donner brothers, started on the Oregon Trail. They were well-equipped but had more women, children and elderly people than usual.
• July 1846

  At Fort Bridger in the Rocky Mountains, the group split. Around 80 of the migrants decided to try a shortcut described in a guidebook by Lansford Hastings. They didn’t know that Hastings never actually tried the route.
• July-Nov 1846


  The “shortcut” was a mistake: there was no established route through and the ground was rocky and steep. There were no tested river crossings, no forts where they could restock, and often no grass for the animals. They argued about whether to go back.
• Nov 1846


  Snowstorms trapped the group in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The livestock died, food ran out and the migrants began to starve to death.
• Feb 1847


  Rescuers from California reached the Donner Party. Only half of the group was alive and many had been forced to eat those who had died.