Pioneering West Interactive Journal

______’s Pioneering West Interactive Journal

Parent Signature: ______Date: ______

Comments: ______

______Chapter 11-13 Sequence Organizer

Chapter 11-13 Essential Questions:

1. How does geography influence the way people live? 2. Why does conflict develop? 3. What are the consequences when cultures interact?

Scholars will know: Scholars will be able to: Chapter 1. How technological improvements 1. Identify and evaluate modes of transportation 11 contributed to the Industrial during the Industrial Revolution Revolution and changed the ways 2. Analyze the impact of the Erie Canal on transportation and industry people lived and worked. 3. Analyze life in western settlements 2. How improved transportation 4. Analyze and evaluate the consequences of facilitated westward movement landmark Supreme Court decisions 5. Summarize the Missouri Compromise Chapter 1. The causes and consequences of the 1. Identify and explain the Native Americans’ 12 removal of eastern Native point of view about their removal to Indian Americans Territory 2. Assess the impact of the policy of removal of the Native Americans to Indian Territory 3. Describe the Seminoles’ response to removal and how it differed from the responses of other Native American peoples of the time. Chapter 1. The ideas and concepts of Manifest 1. Analyze why Americans wanted the land in 13 Destiny. the Oregon Country 2. How California became a state 2. Evaluate the concept of and justifications for Manifest Destiny

3. How the Gold Rush affected 3. Analyze the importance and impact of the California Santa Fe Trail 4. Identify points of view in the development of California’s culture 5. Understand cause and effect relationships that followed the discovery of gold in California

Common Core Standards: Key Ideas and Details

RH.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources. RH.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

Craft and Structure

RH.6-8.6 Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts). Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. RH.6-8.8 Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text. RH.6-8.9 Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

RH.6-8.10 By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Text Types and Purposes

WHST.6-8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes. WHST.6-8.2a Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. WHST.6-8.2c Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts. WHST.6-8.2f Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

Production and Distribution of Writing

WHST.6-8.5 With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. WHST.6-8.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

WHST.6-8.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis reflection, and research.

Range of Writing

WHST.6-8.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

National Council on Social Studies Standards: 2. Time, Continuity, and Change

2.3. That learning about the past requires the interpretation of sources, and that using varied sources provides the potential for a more balanced interpretive record of the past; 2.4. That historical interpretations of the same event may differ on the basis of such factors as conflicting evidence from varied sources, national or cultural perspective, and the point of view of the researcher;

3. People, Places, and Environments

3.1. The theme of people, places, and environments involves the study of the relationships between human populations in different locations and geographic, phenomena such as climate, vegetation, and natural resources. 3.2. Concepts such as location, region, place, and migration, as well as human and physical systems; 3.4. The roles of different kinds of population centers in a region or nation; 3.5. The concept of regions identifies links between people in different locations according to specific criteria (e.g., physical, economic, social, cultural, or religious) 3.6. Patterns of demographic and political change and cultural diffusion in the past and present (e.g., changing national boundaries, migration, and settlement, and the diffusion of and changes in customs and ideas); 3.7. Human modifications of the environment; 3.8. Factors that contribute to cooperation and conflict among peoples of the nation and world, including language, religion, and political beliefs; 3.9. The use of a variety of maps, globes, graphic representations, and geospatial technologies to help investigate the relationship among people places and environments.

5. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

5.8. That when two or more groups with differing norms and beliefs interact, accommodation or conflict may result;

Dates may change due to schedule changes.

Date In Class Assignment H.W. Checklist Date Assigned Due 5/8/14 Vocabulary for Pioneering West Vocabulary for 5/9/14 Interactive Journal Pioneering West Interactive Journal 5/9/14 Close Reading Activity- Donner Party Read/Listen to Chapter 11 5/12/14 Lesson 2 Complete Cornell Notes- pay attention to where your notes are supposed to go in your Interactive Journal 5/12/14 Discussion of Chapter 11 Lesson 2 Read/Listen to Chapter 11 5/13/14 Processing Activity Lesson 3- Section 1 Quick Write “National Unity” Exit Ticket Complete Cornell Notes- pay attention to where your notes are supposed to go in your Interactive Journal

5/13/14 Discussion of Chapter 11 Lesson 3 Read/Listen to Chapter 12 5/14/14 Section 1 Lesson 2 Processing Activity Complete Cornell Notes- Quick Write pay attention to where Exit Ticket your notes are supposed to go in your Interactive Journal 5/14/14 Discussion of Chapter 12 Lesson 2 Read/Listen to Chapter 13 5/15/14 Processing Activity Lesson 1 Quick Write Complete Cornell Notes- Exit Ticket pay attention to where your notes are supposed to go in your Interactive Journal 5/15/14 Discussion of Chapter 13 Lesson 1 Read/Listen to Chapter 13 5/16/14 Processing Activity Lesson 4- California Gold Quick Write Rush Exit Ticket Complete Cornell Notes- pay attention to where your notes are supposed to go in your Interactive Journal 5/16/14 Discussion of Chapter 13 Lesson 4 Diseases of the 1800s 5/19/14 Processing Activity Quick Write Exit Ticket 5/19/14 Discussion of Diseases of the 1800s Oregon Trail Webquest 5/20/14 5/20/14 Oregon Trail Webquest Oregon Trail Webquest 5/21/14 5/21/14 Oregon Trail Webquest Oregon Trail Webquest 5/22/14 5/22/14 8th Grade at Six Flags Catch up night 5/23/14 5/23/14 OREGON TRAIL GAME Web Journal 5/27/14 5/27/14 OREGON TRAIL GAME Web Journal 5/28/14 5/28/14 OREGON TRAIL GAME Web Journal 5/29/14 5/29/14 OREGON TRAIL GAME Web Journal 5/30/14 5/30/14 FINISH WEB JOURNAL

Cornell Notes Checklist Description: Yes No Notes on Right- Are the notes chunked and organized? (1,2,3) Are the key words circled? Are main ideas underlined/ highlighted? Are possible test information/questions *? Are there ? where there is a point of confusion or a need for clarification? Are definitions in notes beside the vocabulary word on left? Is all unimportant information deleted? Any information that was inserted with . Questions on left- Does each chunk have a level 2 or higher question? Are vocabulary words written on left so definition can be on right? Summary- Does the summary include the important information of the lesson that was put in the notes? Does the summary answer the Essential Question? Does the summary include all scholarly and key words that are circled in the notes?

Interactive Journal Table of Contents

Unit: ______

Name: ______Date Submitted______Left-side Items Page Right-side Item page Interactive Journal Grade Rubric 1

Journal Feedback:

Frequent Issues

Weak reflections/no signature Content processing does not support Cornell Notes Incomplete content learning Missing Assignments Interactive Journal-Grade Rubric A • Contents are complete, dated, pages numbered correctly and labeled • Left sides/right sides show mastery pattern of organization • Notes are Cornell style with excellent questioning and goes beyond basic requirements • Notebook integrates other sources of information • Demonstrates extensive left-side processing of information • Uses color in a meaningful way throughout notebook • Includes effective diagrams and pictures that are neat and clearly legible • Shows excellent, in-depth reflection about the work • Includes adult signature and comments B • Contents are mostly complete (~2–3 missing/incomplete pieces) • Pages are numbered, dated, and labeled and table of contents current • Left sides/right sides show basic pattern of organization • Notes are Cornell style with questions • Demonstrates some left-side processing of information • Uses color, includes diagrams and pictures • Shows reflection about the work • Includes adult signature C • Contents are somewhat complete (~4–5 missing/incomplete pieces) • Pages are numbered, dated, labeled, and legible • Notes are Cornell style with some questions • Left sides/right sides show developing pattern of organization • Left sides include some processing of information • Uses color, includes diagrams and pictures • Contains reflection D • Contents are partially complete • Pages are numbered, dated, labeled, and legible • Notes are Cornell style • Left sides/right sides show random pattern • Few left sides include processing of information • Has minimal reflection F • Contents are too incomplete to evaluate • Some attempt at maintaining entries is made • Left sides/right sides show little pattern • Minimal left-side processing of information/No reflection

Vocabulary

Directions: Complete the Vocabulary Table by writing the sentence the word was in and the definition. Words are from Chapter 11: Lesson 2, Lesson 3 and America’s Literature: “Life on the Mississippi; Chapter 12: Lesson 2; and Chapter 13: Lesson 1, What Do You Think: Was Manifest Destiny Justified?, and Lesson 4

Word Write the entire sentence the Definition definition was in. Census

Turnpike

Canal

Lock

Reveal

Region

Intense

Internal

Sectionalism

Monopoly

Interstate commerce

Sovereign

Tedious

Stoicism

Elephantine

Profane

Prodigal

Prodigious

Magnanimous

heyday

Relocate

Federal

Survive

Plus

Access

Joint occupation

Mountain man

Emigrants

Prairie schooner

Manifest Destiny

Subjugate

Usurpation

Immutable

Proffered

Forty-niners

Boomtown

Vigilantes

Constitution

Maps of Canals

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 11 with the heading “Headed West” Lesson 2 Date: ______Hour: ______

Essential Question: How does geography influence the way people live? Guiding Question: What helped increase the movement of people and goods? Progress Check: Why were canals built? Questions: Notes: ______Summary: ______

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 11 with the heading “The Move West Lesson 2 Continues” Date: ______Hour: ______

Essential Question: How does geography influence the way people live? Guiding Question: Why did American’s settle near rivers? Progress Check: What was life like for families on the western frontier? Questions: Notes: ______Summary: ______

Key

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 11 with the heading “National Unity” Lesson 3 Date: ______Hour: ______

Essential Question: Why does conflict develop? Guiding Question: How did the country change after the war of 1812? Progress Check: Describe how the Supreme Court’s decisions affected the power of the federal government Questions: Notes: ______Continue notes onto the next section… Persuasive Writing: Members of Congress agreed to the Missouri Compromise in an attempt to prevent serious conflict. Write a letter to a member of Congress arguing for or against this compromise. Use your text to provide evidence for your argument.

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 11 with the heading “National Unity” Lesson 3 Date: ______Hour: ______

Analyzing Visuals Use the map to fill in the chart of the Native American groups that were forced to migrate.

Group Original home Cherokee

Chickasaw

Choctaw

Creek

Seminole

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 12 with the heading “Removing Native Lesson 2 Americans” Date: ______Hour: ______

Essential Question: What are the consequences when cultures interact? Guiding Question: Why were Native Americans forced to abandon their land and move west? Progress Check: What was the purpose of the Indian Removal Act? Questions: Notes: ______Summary: ______

Personal Narrative: Write a diary/journal entry as a Cherokee traveling to Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears. You can add drawings if you would like.

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 12 with the heading “Resistance and Lesson 2 Removal” Date: ______Hour: ______

Essential Question: What are the consequences when cultures interact? Guiding Question: Why did some Native Americans resist resettlement? Progress Check: What effect did the Native Americans’ use of surprise attacks have on the Seminole Wars? Questions: Notes: ______Summary: ______Persuasive Writing: You are a scout in the 1830s who makes a living by guiding settlers to Oregon. Write a two paragraph advertisement telling people why they should move to Oregon and why they should choose you to guide them. You can add drawings to your advertisement.

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 13 with the heading “Rivalry in the Lesson 1 Northwest” Date: ______Hour: ______

Essential Question: How does geography influence the way people live? Guiding Question: Why did Americans want to control the Oregon Country? Progress Check: What did America gain from the Adams-Onis Treaty? Questions: Notes: ______Summary: ______

Primary Source Activity

Here are some passages from the writings of Catherine Sager Pringle.

Reading #1 The Beginning of the Journey

Reading #2 Along the Trail

Reading #3 The End of the Journey

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 13 with the heading “Oregon and Lesson 1 Manifest Destiny” Date: ______Hour: ______

Essential Question: How does geography influence the way people live? Guiding Question: What is Manifest Destiny? Progress Check: How did Polk’s views differ from Clay’s in the 1844 election? Questions: Notes: ______Summary: ______

Determining Cause and Effect

Write the correct cause or effect.

California Gold Rush Cause Effect

California’s population increased

Cause Effect

Finding gold dust or nuggets

Cause Effect

Mining towns had no police of prisons.

Cause Effect

The need for better government

Expository Writing

Consider the challenges and opportunities facing a forty-niner. What kinds of qualities do you think this kind of person would have to possess?

______

Cornell Special Directions: The notes on this Notes page go with the first guiding question Name:______Badge # ______Chapter 13 with the heading “California Gold Lesson 4 Rush” Date: ______Hour: ______

Essential Question: How do new ideas change the way people live? Guiding Question: How did the discovery of gold help California? Progress Check: How did the California Gold Rus lead to the expansion of cities? Questions: Notes: ______Summary: ______

Where Are They Now? Diseases That Killed You in Oregon Trail Laura Turner Garrison

Image credit:

You have died of dysentery.

These are five words familiar to anyone who has attempted to caulk a wagon and ford rivers en route to the Willamette Valley. Oregon Trail not only taught generations of kids about Western migration in 19th-century America, it also familiarized them with various strange-sounding diseases. Let’s catch up with some of those diseases and find out if they're just as nasty today.

Everyone Has Cholera

Then: The number one killer of the actual Oregon Trail, cholera is an infection of the intestines caused by ingesting the bacteria Vibrio cholerae. Spread through contaminated food or water, cholera released an enterotoxin that effectively flooded the intestines with excess water. This led to continual watery diarrhea, causing severe dehydration and often death. The worst outbreaks occurred on the Oregon Trail in 1849, 1850 and 1852. The only available treatment in the game was a medicine known as laudanum—understood today to be pure opium.

Now: According to the Centers for Disease Control, cholera remains a global pandemic. Though there is still no vaccine for the disease (in the U.S.), it can be treated with a regiment of fluids and electrolytes, as well as antibiotics. The best defense remains stringent sanitation regulations, a luury afforded primarily to industrialized countries. The World Health Organization has recorded recent outbreaks in Democratic Republic of Congo (July 2011), Haiti (November 2010, October 2010), Pakistan (October 2010) and a severe outbreak in Zimbabwe (June 2009, March 2009, February 2009, January 2009, December 2008).

Joseph Has Diphtheria

Then: Caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, diphtheria is an airborne bacterial disease. It usually showed up first in the nose and throat, but could also surface as skin lesions. A gray, fibrous material would grow over airways, causing difficulty breathing and sometimes uncontrollable drooling, as well as a deep cough and chills. Diphtheria was most common on the trail during the winter months.

Now: Routine childhood immunizations have nearly erased diphtheria in the US. According to the US National Library of Medicine, there are less than five cases here a year. Though it is still a problem in crowded nations with poor hygiene, diphtheria is now rarely fatal.

You Have Dysentery

Then: Dysentery, aka shigellosis, was not as widespread on the trails as its peer cholera. During the 19th century, dysentery was a bigger problem on the Civil War battlefields. Like cholera, dysentery spread via contaminated water and food, thriving in hot and humid weather. Unlike cholera, dysentery lived in the colon and caused bloody, loose excrement. The rise of dysentery in the 1800s was partially due to infected warm cow’s milk, an ideal incubator for shigellosis.

Now: Dysentery is still a major threat to the developing world. Not only is there no effective vaccine, recent strains are increasingly resistant to antibiotics—the only proven line of defense in tandem with fluids. It is estimated by the WHO that 80 million people contract dysentery annually. An outbreak was detected in Japan this past August.

Sally Has Measles

Then: Evolved from the rinderpest virus, the highly contagious measles ravaged the United States in the 19th century. It was not measles, but complications like bronchitis and pneumonia that made it life threatening. Measles was spread through contaminated droplets—coughing, sneezing, wiping one’s nose and then touching anything. It caused nasty rashes, fever and conjunctivitis. Now: A vaccine was discovered in the mid-20th century, virtually eradicating measles from the developed world. It is now part of the trifecta inoculation MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) most American children receive in infancy and again at age 6. Though relatively contained, measles is still endemic. In 2009, there was an outbreak in Johannesburg and other parts of South Africa. New Zealand saw a small spike in August 2011, with nearly 100 cases popping up in Auckland.

Mary Has Died of Typhoid Fever

Then: Unfamiliar with the virtues of boiling water first, Oregon Trail pioneers contracted typhoid like many other diseases—from contaminated water. Caused by Salmonella Typhi, Typhoid was spread when an infected person “shed” the bacteria. Sparing you the grisly details, let’s just say the bacteria lived in a person’s blood and intestines. The major symptom was high fever, followed by weakness and loss of appetite. In the warmer months, typhoid was a real killer.

Now: Still a killer, though not in the Western world. The CDC says it’s preventable with good sanitation and antibiotics, but even Westerners are not immune when traveling in developing countries. The CDC strongly recommends anyone planning travel to a ‘non-industrialized’ nation get vaccinated—and avoid any tap water or food cooked in unclean water.

October 11, 2011 - 9:03am http://mentalfloss.com/article/28968/where-are-they-now-diseases-killed-you-oregon-trail

Go to the following website and fill out the table. http://www.oregontrailcenter.org/HistoricalTrails/TheTrekWest.htm

Trail Basics

Topic Notes The Trek West

The Starting Point

The Wagon

Mules, Horses and Oxen

Supplies

A Day on the Trail

Dangers

Indians

Donner Party

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. They soon encountered rough terrain and numerous delays, and they eventually became trapped by heavy snowfall high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Purportedly reduced to cannibalism to survive through the winter, only half of the original group reached California the following year. Their story quickly spread, and before long the term “Donner Party” became synonymous with one of humanity’s most ingrained taboos.

The Donner party left Springfield, Illinois, in April 1846. Led by two wealthy brothers, Jacob and George Donner, the emigrants initially followed the regular California Trail westward to Fort Bridger, Wyoming. From there, however, the emigrants decided to leave the established trail and take a new and supposedly shorter route to California laid out by an unscrupulous trail guide named Lansford Hastings. Hastings was not at Fort Bridger at the time–he was leading an earlier wagon train along his new route. He left word for the Donner party to follow, promising that he would mark the trail for them.

Did You Know?

Donner Pass, in the Sierra Nevada of northern California, is named for the Donner party. The pass now represents the most important transmontane route (rail and highway) connecting San Francisco with Reno. It lies within Tahoe National Forest, and Donner Memorial State Park is nearby.

Reassured, the group of 89 emigrants left Fort Bridger with their 20 wagons and headed for Weber Canyon, where Hastings claimed there was an easy passage through the rugged Wasatch Mountains.When they reached the head of the canyon,they founda note from Hastings attached to a forked stick. Hastings warned the Donner party that the route ahead was more difficult than he had thought. He asked the emigrants to make camp there and wait until he could return to show them a better way.

Hastings’ note troubled the emigrants. To return to Fort Bridger to pick up the established route would have meant wasting several days. They decided to wait for Hastings. After eight days, when Hastings had still not arrived, the emigrants sent a messenger up the canyon to find the guide. The messenger returned several days later with instructions from Hastings to follow another trail, and the emigrants complied. The alternate route, however, turned out to be even worse than the Weber Canyon road, and the emigrants had to carve a fresh road through thick trees and boulder-strewn ground.

The Donner party finally made it through the Wasatch Mountains and arrived at the Great Salt Lake. Hastings’ route had cost them 18 valuable days. Unfortunately, their difficulties were only beginning. The “shortcut” to California had cost them many wasted days, and the Donner party crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains late in the season. On October 28, a heavy snowfall blocked the high mountain passes, trapping the emigrants in a frozen wilderness. Eventually reduced to cannibalism to survive–at least according to legend–only 45 of the original 89 emigrants reached California the following year.

Article Details:

Donner Party

Author

History.com Staff

Website Name

History.com

Year Published

2010

Title

Donner Party

URL

http://www.history.com/topics/donner-party

Access Date

May 06, 2014

Publisher

A+E Networks

Donner Party, 1847

In mid April 1846, eight families gathered at Springfield, Il with a common goal – to find a better life beyond the Rockies. Numbering about thirty-two members that ranged in age from infants to the elderly, the expedition pointed their nine brand-new wagons west on a journey that would lead them into history.

The trek had been organized by James Reed, a businessman who hoped to prosper in California. He also sought to find a temperate climate that would alleviate his wife’s physical maladies. George Donner, a sixty-year-old farmer was chosen as the wagon train’s captain and the expedition took his name. They estimated it would take four months to accomplish their objective. As they traveled to the Mississippi River they joined other adventurers with the same goal until their caravan stretched for two miles while under way. Although tedious, their journey was uneventful until reaching the small trading post at Fort Bridger in modern-day Wyoming in mid-July. Here a fateful decision was made.

Before leaving Illinois, James Reed had heard of a newly discovered route through the Sierra Nevada Mountains that promised to cut as many as 300 miles off their journey. It was at Fort Bridger that some eighty-seven members of the wagon train, including the Donner bothers and their families, decided to separate from the main body and travel this new route west. All of those who traveled the old route ended their journey safely. This was not the case with those who took the alternative path.

The culprit was snow. As the Donner Party approached the summit of the Sierra Mountains near what is now Donner Lake (known as Truckee Lake at the time) they found the pass clogged with new-fallen snow up to six feet deep. It was October 28, 1846 and the Sierra snows had started a month earlier than usual. They retreated to the lake twelve miles below where the hapless pioneers were trapped, unable to move forward or back. Shortly before, the Donner family had suffered a broken axle on one of their wagons and fallen behind. Also trapped by the snow, they set up camp at Alder Creek six miles from the main group.

Each camp erected make-shift cabins and horded their limited supply of food. The snow continued to fall, reaching a depth of as much as twenty feet. Hunting and foraging were impossible and soon they slaughtered the oxen that had brought them from the East. When this meat was consumed, they relied on the animals’ tough hides. But it was not enough. Starvation began to take its toll. With no other remedy at hand, the survivors resorted to cannibalism.

In mid-December a group of fifteen donned makeshift snowshoes and trudged through blizzard conditions in an attempt to break through the pass and into California. Seven (five women and two men) survived to alert the community at Sutter’s Fort of the Donner Party’s plight. A series of four rescue parties were launched with the first arriving at the Donner camp in late February. Between them, the rescuers were able to the lead forty-eight of the original eighty-seven members of the party to safety in California.

"We pray the God of mercy to deliver us from our present calamity." Patrick Breen was a member of the Donner Party and kept a diary of their ordeal during the winter of 1846-47. His description was first published as an article in a Nashville, TN newspaper in the spring of 1847 and later in a book published in 1879. We join his story about three weeks after the Donner Party arrived at the blocked pass:

Truckey’s Lake. November 20, 1846 Came to this place on the thirty-first of last month; went into the pass; the snow so deep we were unable to find the road, and when within three miles from the summit, turned back to this shanty on Truckey's Lake; Stanton came up one day after we arrived here; we again took our teams and wagons, and made another unsuccessful attempt to cross incompany with Stanton; we returned to this shanty; it continued to snow all the time. We now have killed most part of our cattle, having to remain here until next spring, and live on lean beef, without bread or salt. It snowed during the space of eight days, with little intermission, after our arrival, though now clear and pleasant, freezing at night; the snow nearly gone from the valleys.

November 21. Fine morning; wind northwest; twenty-two of our company about starting to cross the mountains this day, including Stanton and his Indians.

Nov. 23. Same weather; wind west; the expedition cross the mountains returned after an unsuccessful attempt.

Nov. 25. Cloudy; looks like the eve of a snow-storm; our mountaineers are to make another trial to- morrow, if fair; froze hard last night.

Nov. 27. Still snowing; now about three feet deep; wind west; killed my last oxen to-day; gave another yoke to Foster; wood hard to begot.

Nov. 30. Snowing fast; looks as likely to continue as when it commenced; no living thing without wings can get about.

Dec. 1. Still snowing; wind west; snow about six or seven and a half feet deep; very difficult to get wood, and we are completely housed up; our cattle all killed but two or three, and these, with the horses and Stanton's mules, all supposed to be lost in the snow; no hopes of finding them.

Dec. 5. Beautiful sunshine; thawing a little; looks delightful after the long storm; snow seven or eight feet deep.

Dec. 6. The morning fine and clear; Stanton and Graves manufacturing snow-shoes for another mountain scrabble; no account of mules.

Dec. 8. Fine weather; froze hard last night; wind south-west; hard work to find wood sufficient to keep us warm or cook our beef.

Dec. 9. Commenced snowing about eleven o'clock; wind northwest; took in Spitzer yesterday, so weak that he cannot rise without help; caused by starvation. Some have scanty supply of beef; Stanton trying to get some for himself and Indians; not likely to get much.

Dec. 10. Snowed fast all night, with heavy squalls of wind; continues to snow; now about seven feet in depth.

Dec. 14 Snows faster than any previous day; Stanton and Graves, with several others, making preparations to cross the mountains on snow-shoes; snow eight feet on a level.

Dec. 16. Fair and pleasant; froze hard last night; the company started on snow-shoes to cross the mountains; wind southeast.

Dec. 17. Pleasant; William Murphy returned from the mountain party last evening; Baylis Williams died night before last; Milton and Noah started for Donner's eight days ago; not returned yet; think they are lost in the snow.

Dec. 19. last night; thawing to-day; wind northwest; a little singular for a thaw.

Dec. 20. Clear and pleasant; Mrs. Reed here; no account from Milton yet. Charles Burger started for Donner's; turned back; unable to proceed; tough times but not discouraged. Our hope is in God. Amen.

Dec. 21. Milton got back last night from Donner's camp. Sad news; Jacob Donner, Samuel Shoemaker, Rhinehart, and Smith are dead; the rest of them in a low situation; snowed all night, with a strong southwest wind.

Dec. 23 Clear to-day; Milton took some of his meat away; all well at their camp. Began this day to read the 'Thirty Days' Prayers;' Almighty God, grant the requests of unworthy sinners!

Dec. 24. Rained all night, and still continues; poor prospect for any kind of comfort, spiritual or temporal.

Dec. 25. Began to snow yesterday, snowed all night, and snows yet rapidly; extremely difficult to find wood; uttered our prayers to God this Christmas morning; the prospect is appalling, but we trust in Him.

Dec. 27. Cleared off yesterday, and continues clear; snow nine feet deep; wood growing scarce; a tree, when felled, sinks into the snow and is hard to be got at.

Dec. 31. Last of the year. May we, with the help of God, spend the coming year better than we have the past, which we propose to do if it is the will of the Almighty to deliver us from our present dreadful situation. Amen. Morning fair, but cloudy; wind east by south; looks like another snow¬storm. Snow-storms are dreadful to us. The snow at present is very deep.

Jan 1, 1847. We pray the God of mercy to deliver us from our present calamity, if it be His holy will. Commenced snowing last night, and snows a little yet. Provisions getting very scanty; dug up a hide from under the snow yesterday; have not commenced on it yet."

Jan 3. Fair during the day, freezing at night. Mrs. Reed talks of crossing the mountains with her children.

Jan 4. Fine morning; looks like spring. Mrs. Reed and Virginia, Milton Elliott, and Eliza Williams started a short time ago with the hope of crossing the mountains; left the children here. It was difficult for Mrs. Reed to part with them.

Jan 8. Eliza came back yesterday evening from the mountains, unable to proceed; the others kept ahead.

Jan 15. Mrs. Reed and the others came back; could not find their way on the other side of the mountains. They have nothing but hides to live on."

References: This eyewitness account appears in: McGlashin, C.F., History of the Donner Party (1879, republished 1918): Hough, Emerson, The Passing of the Frontier (1920); Stewart, George R., Ordeal by Hunger, the Story of the Donner Party (1936).

How To Cite This Article: "The Tragic Fate of the Donner Party, 1847" EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2009).

How the Donner Party Worked by Tim Faulkner

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The Donner Party set up camp on the shores of this lake in California, now known as Donner Lake.

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Introduction to How the Donner Party Worked

The story of the Donner Party looms large in American folklore. On April 14, 1846, this group of immigrants embarked on a 2,500-mile journey from Springfield, Ill., to San Francisco -- but, because of bad timing, terrible advice and even worse weather, only a fraction of them reached their final destination. The Donner Party has become legendary because of the extremity of the situation and also because of what the group did to survive a hellish winter in the Sierra Nevada mountains. As food became more and more scarce, and as members of the group began dying from starvation and illness, the rest of the party resorted to cannibalism as a means of survival.

This aspect of the Donner Party's story has been a grotesquely fascinating part of the American consciousness since it happened during the height of westward expansion. History buffs are still intrigued because of our forebearers' will to survive and the risks they took. Today, it's easy to forget the hardships that American trailblazers had to endure -- we don't necessarily think about the possibility of having to devour our fellow travelers when we step on the train for our morning commute or take our seat on a cross-country flight.

But the story of the Donner Party is a frightening reminder of what could be. Were it not for a few wrong turns, a bit of bad directions and a winter storm the likes of which had never been seen, the Donner Party would have been an unremarkably successful wagon train. But as it happened, it became a lesson of what can happen when everything goes wrong, a cautionary tale of manifest destiny and an unforgettable tragedy in American history. How did the Donner Party wind up isolated, in such desperate circumstances?

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The Journey

The Donner-Reed Party planned on following a well-traveled route to the California Trail. They would travel west to St. Louis, northwest to Wyoming and Idaho, and then southwest through Utah and Nevada, over the Sierra Nevadas and into California. The trip was supposed to take six months -- but it ended up taking two years. The Donners and Reeds decided to split up when the group reached Little Sandy River, Wyo., in July 1846. The Reeds stayed on the familiar trail, but the Donners -- 23 wagons strong -- had heard about a new shortcut, the Hastings Cutoff. They decided to travel on to Fort Bridger, Wyo., and meet up with Lanford Hastings, who had discovered the new route. But they arrived in Fort Bridger a few days late and discovered that Hastings had gone without them.

So the Donner Party (87 people plus two American Indian guides) followed the shallow trail blazed a few days earlier by Hastings' group, covering about 12 miles a day. When the trail reached the Red Fork of the Weber River in Utah, they discovered a note from Hastings warning that the route was very bad. The land was so rugged that the group crossed only 16 miles in 36 days -- and then they hit a stretch of desert 80 miles long. Taking the shortcut ended up costing the group four wagons, three weeks and 125 unnecessary miles. They finally reached the California Trail on Sept. 31, 1846.

On the first of November the party reached the eastern border of the Sierra Nevadas as a heavy snow was falling. Bad weather and dwindling supplies conspired to keep them at camp through one of the longest and coldest winters on record -- and they had only 150 more miles to go. The group set up two different camps: Almost two-thirds settled on the banks of a lake; the rest, including the families of Jacob and George Donner, went six miles away to Adler Creek. Little did they know that the worst was yet to come.

Lansford Hastings

Lansford Hastings made a name for himself as a trailblazer and was particularly fond of one shortcut he envisioned called the Hastings Cutoff. He wrote a book called "The Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California," which describes this shortcut in one brief sentence. His route was supposed to go west from Fort Bridger, Wyo., through the Wasatch mountains, south of the Great Salt Lake and across the Salt Lake Desert, where it would rejoin the familiar California Trail at the base of the Sierra Nevada range.

Hastings wrote a widely circulated open letter to all westward travelers urging them to use this route, even though he hadn't tried it himself. He promised that it would reduce travel by at least 350 miles, cutting three weeks off the journey. He also claimed that the roads were smooth, hard and level, that here was no threat of attack from aggressive local tribes, and that there was plenty of water and grass for animals. This misguidance led directly to the Donner Party's monstrous fate.

The Forlorn Hope expedition set off from Donner Lake in December 1846 to find help.

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The Forlorn Hope

The Donner Party, stranded on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains, hunkered down for the winter of 1846-47, which would turn out to be one of the harshest on record.

As the food supply ran out, the group became more and more desperate. First, they killed and ate their pack animals. When that meat was gone, they hunted deer, rabbits and foxes. Then they ate their dogs, boiled blankets and rawhide into a gluelike soup, and consumed bark and twigs. Families hoarded what little they had, neglecting their starving companions. On Dec. 16, six weeks after they arrived in the foothills, the first person died of starvation.

On that day, a party of the 15 strongest members -- 10 men and five women -- embarked with their Indian guides through the snow and storms, hoping to reach the pass and bring aid to their camps. The group, called the Forlorn Hope, wore homemade snowshoes (and so are sometimes referred to as the Snowshoe Group). They carried almost no food with them as they traveled the 100 miles to Sutter's Fort, Calif., which they reached on Jan. 18, 1847. Ten of them didn't make it.

Six days into the Forlorn Hope's trek, Charles Staton, overwhelmed by starvation and exhaustion, begged the others to leave him there to die. It wasn't until the ninth day of the expedition that the topic of cannibalism was brought up for the first time, and the group discussed the proper circumstances for it. They thought about drawing straws or dueling, but eventually they agreed that they'd just wait for someone to die -- and that no one would consume the flesh of a relative. That night, a traveler named Antoine (or Antonio) died of starvation. The remaining members of the party cut off his flesh and roasted it over a campfire. Others soon followed -- the Forlorn Hope ate three more men, and things started turning violent.

Jay Fosdick, a 23-year-old traveling with his family, died of starvation (see How long can you go without food or water?). A Mrs. Foster, following the (however horrific) rules for the situation, cut up the body and boiled it, and the two Indian guides ate it. Jay Fosdick's father then hunted down the guides and shot them dead. The original group had dwindled to seven people when they limped into the settlement at Sutter's Fort. The harrowing journey lasted for 33 days.

Now we know that the smaller expedition was forced to resort to cannibalism because they brought so little food with them, but were those who stayed at the original encampments forced into the same fate?

The Donner Party in Brief

Successful farmer George Donner and his brother Jacob, along with their families, agreed to travel west with the family of James Reed, an Irish-born businessman. When they departed, they were known as the Donner-Reed Party, and George Donner was the official leader.

The party that left Springfield, Ill., had 33 members, but more joined up along the way. When the group decided to split up at Little Sandy River, Wyo., 89 people -- including two American Indian guides -- took an ill-fated shortcut and ended up stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Only 48 of them survived.

Westward expansion slowed briefly after news of the Donner Party's plight, but it soon picked up again. Bruce Dale/National Geographic/Getty Images

The Donner Party Legend

Although the Forlorn Hope was successful in reaching the outside world for help, that help came too late. The first of four rescue parties was sent out on Jan. 31, 1847, but, because of bad weather and a lack of supplies, the rescuers were continually delayed. By the time they arrived at the settlements at Donner Lake and Adler Creek on Feb. 22, many more had died. And people continued to die as the succession of rescuers arrived.

The first rescue mission was able to bring 21 survivors to safety. The second rescued 17, the third saved four, and the final party brought back one last survivor. Of the 87 people who took the Hastings Cutoff, 39 died. Everyone older than 50 perished, and most of the young children did, too.

And so, the tragedy came to an end. The hideousness of the ordeal quickly passed from truth to legend. Myths abounded and inflated, newspaper accounts exaggerated the truth, and much of it went unchecked for years. The California Star, a San Francisco newspaper, was the first to print the Donner Party's story, on Feb. 13, 1847. By today's standards, the piece reads like a tabloid article, full of shocking and grisly details.

The survivors went their separate ways and didn't communicate much for the rest of their lives. Some published their diaries, some wrote memoirs, and some made official statements to the press and courts. Many, understandably, wanted to forget the whole thing and refused to talk about it. Nevertheless, the story was quickly cemented into the imagination of a country caught in the grips of a rush for gold and land. It was a cautionary tale that could slow down even the most gung-ho pioneer.

Teams of archaeologists have examined the two campsites for evidence of what really happened. Some claim that there's no physical evidence to prove that cannibalism took place -- they've found hearths filled with the bones of deer, oxen and rabbits, but no human remains were left behind. It's been argued that the survivors and rescue teams did what they could to give the deceased a proper burial, and that's why there is no forensic evidence of cannibalism. But the written word and testimonies of the survivors that attest to the brutal lengths that survivors went to.

After word got out about the Donner Party, emigration to California dropped severely. Hastings' Cutoff was deserted, and Lansford Hastings' reputation as a trailblazer was lost forever. The flow of westward immigrants all but stopped until early 1848, when gold was discovered in California. By 1849, more than 100,000 people had decided to put the Donner tragedy in the back of their minds and move west.

To learn more about the Donner Party, take a gander at the links on the next page.

The Case of Lewis Keseberg

A number of families accused party member Lewis Keseberg of murdering in order to cannibalize. When the third rescue party left the campsite, four people were alive. By the time the fourth rescue team arrived on April 17, 1847, Keseberg was the only person left. Many reports at the time said that the rescuers had found Keseberg surrounded by disfigured corpses, a kettle of cooking human flesh, buckets of human blood, and a large frying pan filled with fresh human livers and lungs. On the ground were three uneaten ox legs. Keseberg allegedly said his fellow pioneers had died natural deaths and that he ignored the ox meat because it was too tough and lacked a good flavor.

Keseberg insisted until his death that he had not murdered anyone and only reluctantly ate human flesh. "It makes my blood curdle to think of it!" he told Charles McGlashan, a local newspaper publisher who wrote a book about the Donner Party. "It has been told that I boasted of my shame -- said that I enjoyed this horrid food … It is a horrible, revolting falsehood" [source: McGlashan].

The Donner Party by Daniel Lewis

Forensics of the Donner Party

Cannibalism among the Donner Party has been highly exaggerated, but it is something that did occur. However, assumptions have become a part of general knowledge.

The Donner Party possibly did not resort to cannibalism at least until February or early March, except the Forlorn Hope, but apparently everyone was thinking of the subject at least before the Forlorn Hope had left Truckee Lake. This is based on the first mention of cannibalism ever written, in Patrick Breen's Diary from February 26th, 1846: "...Mrs.Murphy said here yesterday that [she] thought she would commence on Milt and eat him. I don't think she has done so yet, [but] it is distressing. The Donno[r]s told the California folks that they [would] commence to eat the dead people 4 days ago, if they did not succeed in finding their cattle then under ten or twelve feet of snow & did not know the spot or near it, I suppose they have [cannibalized] ...ere this time."

However one account involves cannibalism just after the Forlorn Hope left the lake, stating the Donners partook of the remains of Sam. Shoemaker. However, some consider the accounts of Alder Creek shady, as many of the informants were very young children at the time, and few adults who stayed at Alder Creek survived.

We know the the Forlorn Hope, the Breens, Graves and Donners at Starved Camp, and those who were at the lake after the first relief, esp. the Murphys and Lewis Keseberg survived by cannibalism. It is possible those at the lake and perhaps Alder Creek who left with the First Relief never ate the dead. When William Eddy discovered that the bodies of his family had been mutilated by Keseberg, he threatened to kill Keseberg if they ever met again. The bodies were mutilated but identifiable, not bad considering people had survived on them for long over a month. Furthermore, most were careful to avoid eating the bodies of their family. Not nearly as morbid as many people believed the story of the Donner party to be.

To know who cannibalized is hard, as few were brave enough to admit the grotesque act, and our knowledge of cannibalism mostly comes of the accounts of others who "didn't" cannibalize and the discovery of terribly mutilated corpses by the rescuers. Some supposedly found it too hard to eat of the others, though this could be an exaggeration.

The only characters that have been known to have avoided cannibalism are those who died in or before December, as well as James Reed and William McCutchen. The two Indians, Luis and Salvadore, are also said to have avoided eating the bodies of the dead with the Forlorn Hope. A fair estimate said that at least half the Donner Party survived by cannibalism; however most of the survivors were in this half. (Only about half of the Donner Party survived.)

Mortality: There were 91 in the Donner Party, including those who died before the winter, e.g. Sarah Keyes; and those who joined the party later, e.g., Luis & Salvadore. Of the 91, 44 died, and 47 survived. Ages taken from July 31, 1846.

(D)=Died (S)=Survived

Age Mortality: Infants: Isabella Breen (S), Margaret Eddy (D), George Foster (D), Elizabeth Graves ([D] after reaching Sutter's Fort), Harriet McCutchen (D), Louis Keseberg, Jr. (D) Survival: 1/6 (-5)

Seniors (over 55) George Donner, age 60/62 (D) Jacob Donner, 56 (D) Franklin Ward Graves, 57 (D) Hardkoop, 60? (D) Sarah Keyes, 70 (D) Survival: 0/5

Gender Mortality: Total: 55 men/36 women, 91 persons. Number of men who died, 33. Number of women who died, 11. Number of men who survived, 18/55. Number of women who survived, 25/36.

With lack of food, the men became exhausted with the burden of physical labour. As they became skinnier and weaker, it became harder to fight the coldness of winter. http://raiboy.tripod.com/Donner/id14.html