Qualla: The Donner Party: The Shortcut That Led to Cannibalism

The Donner Party: The Shortcut That Led to Cannibalism: Introduction

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Centpacrr (Digital image), CC BY-SA 3.0. In the spring of 1846, 87 men, women, and children set out from Illinois for California, seeking a better life in the West. They would become the most infamous wagon train in American history. Delayed by a supposed shortcut that added weeks to their journey, the Donner Party reached the Sierra Nevada just as the first winter storms struck. They were trapped at 6,000 feet elevation, in snow that would reach 22 feet deep. By the time rescue parties arrived the following spring, 41 of the 87 were dead. And some of the survivors had stayed alive by eating the flesh of those who hadn't.

Read more: The Donner Party on Qualla

Image: Centpacrr (Digital image) | CC BY-SA 3.0

The Donner Party: The Shortcut That Led to Cannibalism: The Shortcut

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0. The decision that doomed the Donner Party was made at a fork in the trail in present-day Wyoming. The main route to California went north, around the Great Salt Lake. But a new guidebook by Lansford Hastings promised a faster route - the Hastings Cutoff - that went south of the l...

Read more: The Donner Party on Qualla

Image: Diliff | CC BY-SA 3.0

The Donner Party: The Shortcut That Led to Cannibalism: The Delay

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Hastings Cutoff was a disaster. The party had to hack their way through the Wasatch Mountains, clearing trees and moving boulders to create a road. They crossed 80 miles of salt desert with no water, losing oxen and abandoning wagons. Tensions frayed. Violence broke out. By ...

Read more: The Donner Party on Qualla

Image: Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California | CC BY-SA 2.0

The Donner Party: The Shortcut That Led to Cannibalism: The Trap

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ariel E Barry, CC BY-SA 3.0. The first snow fell on October 28, 1846, as the Donner Party camped near Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) at the eastern base of the Sierra pass. They tried to cross the next day but found the pass blocked by five feet of snow. They retreated to the lake and built cabins to wait ou...

Read more: The Donner Party on Qualla

Image: Ariel E Barry | CC BY-SA 3.0

The Donner Party: The Shortcut That Led to Cannibalism: The Hunger

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California, CC BY-SA 2.0. By mid-December, the party was starving. A group of 17 - later called the Forlorn Hope - set out on snowshoes to cross the mountains and bring back help. Only seven survived. When their food ran out, they ate the bodies of those who had died. It was the only way to live. Back at...

Read more: The Donner Party on Qualla

Image: Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California | CC BY-SA 2.0

The Donner Party: The Shortcut That Led to Cannibalism: The Legacy

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Clay Gilliland, CC BY-SA 2.0. Of the 87 members of the Donner Party, 41 died - nearly half. Women survived at much higher rates than men. Children survived at higher rates than adults. The survivors carried the stigma of cannibalism for the rest of their lives, though most refused to speak of what they had do...

Read more: The Donner Party on Qualla

Image: Clay Gilliland | CC BY-SA 2.0