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The Donner Party The Donner party was a group of 87 emigrants who were quite famous. They tried to find a short cut across the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This was never tried before by wagons. With George Donner as their leader they trudged to the mountains, losing most of their oxen and horses. They lost weeks of time and had to leave their possessions aside and travel on foot through the blizzards. They sent people to find help. These people were usually never heard from again. Many had to resort to eating the corpses of those who had died. Out of the 87 that started the voyage, only 35 survived. Out of the 30 children that went, 17 survived. It is surprising that most of the survivors were women. One reason why this could be is that the women in the family had more body fat and could survive longer without food. It could also be that the men tried so hard to prove their valiance that they risked their lives more often, while the women were more resourceful and tried to protect themselves and their children. |
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| Homestead Act | Packing | |