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The Donner Party
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Maps: Route to Hell

The Donner Party Route
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Independence, Missouri: In May 1846 nine covered wagons made the slow journey from Springfield, Illinois, to Independence, Missouri, headed to the mythical West. Among the travelers were those individuals who would come to comprise the Donner Party. Beyond Independence lay the vast unknown. Fort Laramie: During a conversation at Fort Laramie in late June with mountain man James Clyman, James Reed is urged 'to go the old route.' Reed disregards Clyman's advice and makes the fateful decision to take Hastings Cutoff. Little Sandy River: The parting of ways. As the bulk of the Springfield, Illinois entourage turned right toward the familiar route, twenty wagons, including the ones belonging to the Donners and the Reeds, turned left toward Fort Bridger and the entrance to the Hastings Cutoff. Great Salt Lake Desert: Around August 30, the 87 members of the Donner party began their treacherous trek across Great Salt Lake Desert. There they encountered conditions they'd never imagined: by day, searing heat that turned the sand into a bubbling stew that swallowed their wagons, and at night frigid winds that blew sand, suffocating their oxen. Five days and eighty miles later, they stumbled out of the Salt Desert filled with anguish and dismay. Sutter's Fort: By September, all the emigrants of 1846 had safely arrived at Sutter's Fort in California. All except the Donner party, that is. In late October, the newly arrived emigrants were shocked to see James Reed emerge from the wilderness to tell the unfortunate tale of his fellow travelers. John Sutter gave Reed horses and supplies to bring back to his starving family and others. Relentlessly bad weather forced Reed to abandon his hopes of making a rescue for four long months.  
 

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