USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Detailed explanation-2: -Donner party, also called Donner-Reed party, group of American pioneers-named for the expedition’s captain, George Donner-who became stranded en route to California in late 1846.

Detailed explanation-3: -Jedediah Smith. American frontiersman and trapper, Jedediah Smith was the first American to explore what is now known as California, and the first explorer to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Detailed explanation-4: -Only two families made it through the ordeal intact. Pioneer William Eddy, meanwhile, lost his wife and his two kids. Nearly a dozen families had made up Donner wagon train, but only two-the Reeds and the Breens-managed to arrive in California without suffering a single death.

Detailed explanation-5: -On April 15, 1846, the families of James Reed and George and Jacob Donner departed from Springfield, Illinois to start a new life in California. About 100 miles from Independence, Missouri the group of 31 joined a large wagon train.