The Pioneer Wagon Train of 87 People Trapped by Snow in the Sierra Nevada in 1846-1847 of Whom 48 Survived and Some Ate Each Other
The Donner Party of 87 westbound American emigrants was trapped by early snow in the Sierra Nevada in late October 1846, two days short of the pass that would have brought them safely down into California. They spent four and a half months at Donner Lake and Alder Creek camps. Forty-eight survived. The survival depended in part on the consumption of those who had died.
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