After crossing the Great Salt Lake Desert in Utah, the Donner party stopped at Truckee’s Meadows, present day Reno, Nevada, to rest, but soon continued on. During a snowstorm they stopped and set up camp at the east end of Truckee Lake, now named Donner Lake, California, 13 miles northwest of Lake Tahoe.

Reed banished Along the Humboldt, the group met Paiute Native Americans, who joined them for a couple of days but stole or shot several oxen and horses. By now, it was well into October, and the Donner families split off to make better time.

Travel on the California Trail followed a tight schedule. Emigrants needed to head west late enough in the spring for there to be grass available for their pack animals, but also early enough so they could cross the treacherous western mountain passes before winter.

In the end, 41 people died and 46 survived. Five perished before reaching the Sierras, 35 died at the camps or attempting to cross the mountains, and one died just after reaching the valley at the foot of the western slope.

Lansford Warren Hastings

The recent arrest of three people in Brazil suspected of making empanadas out of human flesh (and then selling them) reminds us that though human cannibalism is rare in the modern world, it still persists.

On February 2, 1847, the first woman of a group of pioneers commonly known as the Donner Party dies during the group’s journey through a Sierra Nevada mountain pass. The disastrous trip west ended up killing 42 people and turned many of the survivors into cannibals.

Baylis Williams (25), an employee of the Reeds, the first to die at the lake camp on December 14, 1846, D. Charles “Dutch Charlie” Burger (30), a German teamster for the George Donner family, died in camp around Decemeber 29, 1847, D.

Keseberg swore that he was innocent, and Houghton chose to believe Keseberg. Keseberg eventually would outlive all of his daughters save for one. He became penniless and homeless, and died in the Sacramento County Hospital, a hospital for the poor, in 1895. His grave was never found.

In the spring of 1846, a group of nearly 90 emigrants left Springfield, Illinois, and headed west. Led by brothers Jacob and George Donner, the group attempted to take a new and supposedly shorter route to California.

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.

Sierra Nevada, California, USA Seismic tomography reveals garnet-rich crust and mantle lithosphere descend- ing into the upper mantle beneath the southeastern Sierra Nevada. The de- scending lithosphere consists of two layers: an iron-rich eclogite above a magnesium-rich garnet peridotite.

In May 1846, the nine covered wagons made the slow journey from Springfield, Illinois to Independence, Missouri. The Donner Party would purchase provisions here for their long, arduous journey to California.

Although small in stature, Mrs. Donner remained in good health and able to care for her family. There was no trace of Tamsen Donner’s body. She is presumed to have died between 26 March and 17 April 1847, approximately one year after leaving her home in Illinois.

Donner Party timeline provides an almost day-to-day basic description of events directly associated with the 1840s Donner Party pioneers, covering the journey from Illinois to California—2,500 miles (4,023 kilometers), over the Great Plains, two mountain ranges, and the deserts of the Great Basin.

India Pale Ales Today, Sierra Nevada IPAs represent a constant hop exploration, and the lineup includes double IPAs, imperial IPAs, and more.

snowy mountains

Mount Whitney