Donner Party Research Paper

In 1846 some people, led by George Donner, and James F. Reed moved west to California for a better life. On the way, they took a shorter way across the Great Salt Lake Desert called the “Hasting’s Cutoff”. This being a terrible idea, they were slowed down, and had to spend winter in the Mountains. Once they made it out of the desert, the group began crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains. A huge storm hit and the group decided to split into two camps, one at Donner Lake, and one at Alder Creek Valley. Another big mistake. Food began to run out, and they had already eaten most of their animals. 15 of the emigrants started over the mountains to bring help. They were called the “Forlorn Hope” group. Seven made it to California alive. Along the

The Donners made a lot of poor decisions each one affected their outcome. For example, some of the biggest mistakes made in their journey was choosing poor guides, delaying their trip to stop and rest,and they did not pack enough supplies for their long journey. The Donner Party was a wagon party traveling westward. The Donner Party was a on a journey heading west in the spring of 1846 from Springfield, Illinois. The Party was led by Jacob and George Donner. The brothers decided to take the so called shortcut Hastings passage. The Party was forced to resort to cannibalism while they were trapped in the mountains snow all around them. They were forced to eat the dead bodies of their friends and family. The poor decisions made throughout the journey westward substantially contributed problems that occurred and what eventually led to the failure of the journey to the

The Isonomy party are a left leaning party and align ourselves with the ideologies and policies of both the democratic and green party’s. We firmly believe in the government taking on more of an involved role in the lives of the people and providing equal opportunities and rights to all people.

Lansford Hastings’s shortcut sounded enticing and the Donner brothers planned to use it to save time traveling to California; however, the short cut was nonexistent and the advice cost the Donner’s both time and human lives. In April of 1846, the Donners packed up and headed west joining other pioneers on the westward trek to California. At first, the trail was smooth for the great wagon train. People gathered around the campfire at night to sing and tell stories, open-air church services were held, women formed sewing circles, and children had numerous new friends with whom to entertain themselves; however, times became treacherous as food became scarce. Well into their journey, the Donners met a scraggly looking man by the name of James

on April 16,1846 nine covered wagons left Springfield, Illinois on the journey to California.the originator of the donner party was a man named James Frasier reed,an Illinois businessman eager to build a fortune in the rich land of California.reed also hoped that his wife, Margaret,who suffered from headaches,might improve by the coastal climate.reed had read the book the emigrants guide to Oregon and California, by landsford w. Hastings found a new shortcut across the great bastin.the route enticed travelers by advertising that it would save them 350-450 miles.

On the other hand, they also had to hurry because they still had to walk through three mountain passes, the Sierra Nevada to California, and had only time from Spring to Fall. One of the travelers had 'The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon and California' with them. Since different people meet and had to live with different characters, Tamsen Donner wrote: “We have of the best people in our company and some, too, that are not so good.” Since it was Spring, rain and storm were pretty common and stopped the group on the Big Blue River. For a few people it was already too much of what they can withstand and the first death was by Reeds grandma, the loss of her was tragically written down by Virginia Reed: “..We made a neat coffin, and buried her under a tree... We miss her very much.” So far, there were no other major difficulties for the travelers, it was a pretty smooth trip. Arriving to Fort Bridger about just a week behind schedule, there James Reed meets James Clyman, an old friend who thought that the Hastings shortcut is unpractical, the old way would be more safer, but Reed did not take the advice, he wanted to take the shortcut, probably by the thought that a shortcut in our life also gets us to our target faster.

Trapped in the mountains, starved, stranded, and left for dead, the Donner party banded together in a fight against time, nature, and temptation up until the very last minute. Though they suffered a great deal and went through many losses, the Donner party portrays the true American dream of sacrifice and will for a better life. While many choose to focus on what the party did to survive, the underlying, unwavering hope for a better life is often left in the dark. It is time we bring to light what the Donner party really is all about. A story of compassion, sacrifice, perseverance, hope, and a true representation of what it means to work

The foragers soon helped themselves to whatever they pleased, sometimes leaving civilians without enough food to survive the winter. They set ablaze many homes, outbuildings and fields when they were done ransacking them. The local residents hid anything of value in the woods and

From the beginning of their journey, the Donner party made mistakes. First of all, at the time of the party’s departure there was an outbreak of cholera and malaria. Germs and disease are not good to carry along a journey half way across the country. Even the slightest germs were deadly to them. After they passed Independence, Missouri, they were in unfamiliar land.

The Worst Hard Times by Timothy Egan conveys the story of farmers who decided to prosper on the plains during the 1800s, in places such as Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. They decided to make living, and some stayed during the worst droughts in the United States in 1930s. High temperatures and dust storms destroyed the area, killing animals and humans. This competently book reveals the prosperity for many, later revealing the time of the skinny cows. The story is based on the testimonies of the survivors or through their diaries/journals and on historical research. The author describes the struggles of the nesters, in which Egan clearly blames these catastrophic events on the settler’s hubris.

America following Reconstruction was completely different from America during FDR's New Deal. In 1876, the government was based on the ideas of Laissez-faire which meant that government stayed out of the citizens' lives. Society in 1876 was dominated by white men who ran the country while there were no rights for women, blacks, and immigrants. In 1876, Americans lived on farms in rural America. By the 1930's, America was a welfare state with government just starting to control different aspects such as economy and corporations. In the 1930's women, blacks, and immigrants all had the right to vote, and the majority of Americans were living in cities. Blacks had the right to vote; however, they were usually disenfranchised by whites.

Social classes created issues in both political and social ways during the first half of the nineteenth century. Majority of people who moved west were seeking new opportunities or a new chance to make a name for themselves. Those who decided to venture to the land of opportunities often packed all their belongings into a wagon and spent months living in a cramped area with all their family members (Document G). This lifestyle was hard, and if they did not stay on schedule, some got caught in the mountains for the winter and ended up like the Donner party. Once they made it through the mountains and to the land in the west, they were often characterized as happy by historians. Enos Christman stated in his journal entries that “Happy valley seems to derive its name from the merry character of its citizens who all live in tents, doing their own cooking and washing, and sleeping on the ground” (Document I). On the downside of the westward movement, the venture was often deadly and miserable. Many believed a

The Cherokee marched through, biting cold, rains, and snow. Many people died during this trip from starvation, diseases, exposure,

It was a harsh travel. We had to fix everything by ourselves wand with the stuff we had. There were no mechanics to come and help us fix our wagon. When someone got sick we had to leave them there or they could still go on the move till they got sick enough and fell over and died. There were no doctors! We traveled ten to fifteen

the wagons were long gone. Some men went to try to get help but they got