A quiz question · medium
Of approximately 87 members of the Donner Party trapped in the Sierra Nevada in 1846-47, how many survived?
48 survived; 39 died. The party had taken the unwise Hastings Cutoff and arrived at the pass three weeks late — just before the heaviest Sierra winter of the 19th century. Survivors had eaten the dead. Archaeology has confirmed the cannibalism.
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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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