Donner Party Research Paper

On April 15, 1846, 87 people known as the Donner Party set off on a journey west to California. On this journey, they made plenty of mistakes, one being the Hastings Cutoff, a route that led them down through Utah instead of up through Idaho. This led to heaps of problems including getting trapped in the mountains, running out of food, and resorting to cannibalism. The Donner Party set off on their journey, but they packed poorly. They packed things like liquor and fancy clothes that took up room for the more important things like food and water. They also thought of taking a supposed shortcut called Hastings Cutoff, which only caused them further trouble; it set them weeks off schedule and caused them to become snowbound in the mountains. …show more content…
This led to one of the party members deciding to kill two people in the group to use as food. Although the Donner Party did do a great deal of foolish things, they also did a few things right. They set off on their journey on April 15, 1846, which was the appropriate time to leave. They also had built-in beds on the wagon so it was easier for them to sleep, they did not have to pull all of their bedding out and then put it all back up. Another thing is they brought a stove with them which is extremely useful, you can heat your food and even use it as a source of heat. However, I would have done things differently, although I do agree with one thing they did, which was the time they left. For instance, I would have packed less liquor and clothes and more food and water because you never know what might go wrong. I also would have prepared better, I would have mapped out a plan on what trail to take and I would have stuck to it, with no sketchy shortcuts like the Hastings Cutoff. All in all, the Donner Party made plenty of mistakes on their journey, leading to bigger problems, like getting trapped in the

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