USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The late October storm in 1846 was cold enough to cover the lower elevations with an inch or two of snow, which slowed the progress of the rear guard of settlers that included the two Donner families.

Detailed explanation-2: -The party was trapped by exceptionally heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada, and, when food ran out, some members of the group reportedly resorted to cannibalism of those already dead. It was the worst disaster of the overland migration to California. Donner Lake and Donner Pass, California, are named for the party.

Detailed explanation-3: -For five months, the Donner Party was stranded with no food, and no chance for escape or rescue. The families took shelter in cabins on Truckee Lake. They butchered the cattle they had, but many of the cows had wandered off or died in the snow. Soon they turned to boiling leather shoestrings and hides for food.

Detailed explanation-4: -Because it’s the Weather Channel the temperature and rainfall are also given and that helps illustrate the story. It was probably 75° when they left Independence and so it was comfortable. Then it was maybe 100° in the desert and averaged 45° at Donner Lake.

Detailed explanation-5: -For more than 160 years, historians and schoolteachers have told the classic story of how the 81 emigrants in the Donner party became trapped east of the Sierra Nevada in 1846 by an early season snowstorm.