The Donner Party

At the start of spring in the year 1846 an appealing advertisement appeared in the Springfield, Illinois, Gazette. “Westward ho,” it declared. “Who wants to go to California without costing them anything? As many as eight young men of good character who can drive an ox team will be accommodated. Come, boys, you can have as much land as you want without costing you anything.” The notice was signed G. Donner, George Donner, leader of what was to become the most famous of all the hundreds of wagon trains to start for the far west, the tragic, now nearly mythic Donner Party.

If ever there was a moment when America seemed in the grip of some great, out-of-the-ordinary pull, it was in 1846. The whole mood was for movement, expansion, and the whole direction was westward. It was in 1846 that the Mormons set out on their trek to the Great Salt Lake. It was in 1846 that the Mexican War began and effectively all of Texas, Mexico and California were added to the United States.

And it wasn’t just young men who answered the call. Whole families and people of all stations in life joined the caravan, which is part of the fascination of this haunting story. One is struck, for example, by how many women there were in the Donner party and how many of them survived the horrific ordeal. Imagine packing up an entire household, saying good-bye to all you’ve known and setting off to walk essentially to California, a continent away, little knowing what was in store.

Read the story of the Donner Party from the link below then answer the following questions.

READING QUESTIONS:

  1. Who was the author of “The Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California,” that convinced the Donner Party that there was a better shortcut over the Mountains in California?___
  2. Name 8 of the families among the Donner Party?___
  3. Why did James Reed believe his family would not suffer along the journey? ___
  4. What warning did James Clyman give James Reed?___
  5. Why was James Reed banished from the Donner Party? ___
  6. How were many of the Donner’s Party oxen killed on Oct 12th? ___
  7. How many feet of snow did the party try to get over at Donner Lake? ___
  8. What were the 1st 4 people to be cannibalized? ___
  9. What percentage of the men and women survived the tragedy? ___
  10. By late 1849 how many people had come to California? ___

For the following questions pay close attention to the video, “The Donner Party.” Answer the questions as the answers are reviewed.

Video Questions

  1. How many days rations did the Forlorn Hope party leave with? ___
  2. How many days did it take to get to the summit? ___
  3. Why did the 2 Indians leave the group? ___
  4. What did William Foster do when he went insane? ___
  5. How many people was the first relief party able to take with them? ___
  6. What did Patty Reed tell her mother when she stayed behind with her 3 year old brother? ___
  7. How many immigrants were still alive by the time the 3rd relief party made it to the lake? ___
  8. What family suffered the most during the ordeal? ___
  9. What happened in January of 1848 that caused an increase in the amounts of people to come to California? ___