Survival Lessons From The Pioneers: The Donner Party

[hawgrider]

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The Donner family story is one that has long been considered one of the strangest and most tragic crossings in the pioneering history of the United States.

Even though in the U.S. today life is very different from the days of the pioneers, there are many people who prepare for bad times and try to ensure they have the proper equipment, tools, and skills to survive in any setting.

The situation that befell the Donner Party and the struggle they went through is a lesson for anyone who is preparing to survive any post-collapse conditions, including living in the bush for an extended period of time and/or migrating from one geographical area to another.

The reality is, if a disaster of a significant size were to occur, many people would not survive.

http://www.survivopedia.com/survival-lessons-from-the-donner-party/

[DerBiermeister]

quite a story

[Sasquatch]

I remember learning about this in school. Have also been to Donner's Pass a couple of times. Very high elevation and can get mighty cold.

If I remember correctly some members in the party didn't want to take the pass and split off from the group. They made it with no problem. The others that took the pass paid for the mistake.

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[hawgrider]

I remember learning about this in school. Have also been to Donner's Pass a couple of times. Very high elevation and can get mighty cold.

If I remember correctly some members in the party didn't want to take the pass and split off from the group. They made it with no problem. The others that took the pass paid for the mistake.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk



The Fatal Decision

On July 19, the party had reached Little Sandy River. They had previously received a letter from Lansford Hastings letting them know that he would personally meet them in Fort Bridger and guide them along the Hastings Cut-off.

At Little Sandy River the larger portion of the original party continued on the established route west and a smaller group, what would become known as the Donner Party, carried on along the Hastings Cut-off.

On the advice of Hastings, the Donner Party crossed the Great Salt Lake Desert, a journey that would be in large part responsible for the future suffering of the group. They had already been slowed down forging a new path through the Wasatch Mountains. http://www.survivopedia.com/survival-lessons-from-the-donner-party/

[TJC44]

It sounds like a case of a bad situation getting steadily worse as the trip went on.



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