USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -The Donner Party was a group of 87 people who journeyed west for land and new lives in California. They made the tragic mistake of taking the untested Hastings Cutoff, which put them weeks behind schedule. They reached the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains too late, and were snowed in near Truckee Lake.

Detailed explanation-3: -If I could blame one man for the deaths of 41 people in the Donner Party it would be Lansford Hastings, the creator, founder, director of the Hastings Cutoff disaster, circa 1846.

Detailed explanation-4: -Economic difficulties and dreams of Manifest Destiny were contributing factors for most of these travelers in deciding to set out on what would become a challenging voyage. The promise of free land and a better climate drew the James Reed and George and Jacob Donner families to travel the California Trail.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.