The Untold Truth Of The Donner Party

The Donner Party is one of the most famous events in American history. The grisly story of a group of west-seeking settlers who, through a combination of poor planning, bad luck, and stubborn leaders, ultimately resorted to cannibalism while trapped in a vicious winter storm. You might think you already know the broad strokes of the story, but it's the specific details that really paint the picture of what happened to these poor souls. Was it hubris? Was it naivete? Was it a plan so wild, it just might work - except it didn't? This is the untold truth of the Donner Party.
#DonnerParty #History #AmericanHistory
The U.S. expands westward | 0:00
A shortcut to the west | 0:57
James Frazier Reed | 2:25
The journey begins | 3:26
Reed receives a warning | 4:14
The worst mistake | 5:00
Early foreshadowing | 5:51
The trouble with lost time | 6:50
In the Sierra Nevada Mountains | 7:44
A memorial marks the site | 9:05
Word spreads | 10:28
Read Full Article:www.grunge.com/202407/the-unt...

[@GrungeHQ]

What are your thoughts on the story of the Donner Party?

[@thinkersanonymous9106]

I grew up in Reno about 35 minutes east of Donner Lake and in fifth grade we had to study and do projects on the Donner Party, this was pretty graphic for little kids- the messed up thing is I remember the teacher saying throughout our studies on the Donner Party, almost everyday, how this was her favorite part of all the 5th grade curriculum and that she loved Mr. Eddy, who eventually made it back to camp with rescuers only to find out they had eaten his wide and young son...She was a little off...

[@mslaura488]

“We ber Canyon”. Not Webber. l am from northern Utah. Weber Canyon was my playground.

[@anjalidevi7168]

In my personal opinion, Murphy's Law. Everything that can go wrong, went wrong.

[@KublaVeruca]

I think you need to reacquaintance yourself with the definition of "Untold". You offered no new information on the subject... You're just click baiting... Honestly, I learned more on the subject in school. And I'm not even gonna mention Ken Burns...

[@carbunkle9902]

@@KublaVeruca Demand a refund.

[@bryanmcmillan7661]

Also note: "In her book, “Life among the Paiutes,” Sarah Winnemucca (Chief Truckee’s granddaughter) remarked that members of this group were the least organized and not very resourceful. According to Winnemucca, members of the Donner Party located the place where her people had stored their supplies for the long winter ahead. She writes, “They set everything we had left on fire. It was a fearful sight. It was all we had for the winter, and it was all burned during that night. They surely knew it was our food.” By the end of October, the advance wagons reached Donner Lake while another group, which included the two Donner families, got no further than the junction of Prosser and Alder Creeks. As heavy snow began to fall, the pioneers made several attempts to cross the pass, but were driven back to their camps at the lake. They ended up being trapped for the winter with little food and no game to hunt." Karma happened, and as usual, the innocent paid the price for the adult criminals.

[@debbieharris1628]

I am so strangely fascinated by the story of the Donner and Reed party....

[@HMMELD]

DH - So am I. Apparently, I like hearing about people eating other people.

[@aisle_of_view]

You'd love the book "Alive" by Piers Paul Reid

[@virgilrose1273]

makes me hungry

[@singlecatt]

I have been to the original Donner pass area. Beautiful place. But I can imagine the hardship these people went through. The mental and spiritual anguish they went through in order to survive. I am sure it effected all the survivors in some way.

[@randomoverpopulatedworldid3286]

Been there dozens of times. When I was young in the 80s, the snow got up to 10'. I can't imagine how deep it was back in the day.

[@HMMELD]

I've seen entire houses buried in snow.

[@animeyukiomalayalam6882]

Yeah poor people didn't have wi fi there

[@m.peterson6149]

The diary’s of the Donner party is one of the saddest things I have ever read.

[@Coogi622]

I've hiked parts of the Donner Trail over the years. In 2018, in Utah, I found a rusty hand-made metal object. I took it to the museum in Orangeville, UT, who confirmed it was authentic. It was a clip that attached the oxen to a bow. They let me keep it because the museum has some in better condition. Since then, I got a few books detailing the journey of which I hold a special piece of. Lots of respect for those brave folks!

[@rob7755]

That's pretty cool you should take it to Rick Harrison

[@kennybeck5519]

Donner passl is in California.... sooooo,

[@Coogi622]

@@kennybeck5519 The journey crosses several states. Happy hiking!

[@kennybeck5519]

@@Coogi622 The "Donner pass" is in California.

[@Coogi622]

@@kennybeck5519 You're right, the Pass is in CA. The Trail begins in MO and ends in CA.

[@Geoffrey___]

The Donners were stupid. A lot of people died on their desperate move west. I feel more for the people that were forcibly removed from their land

[@SarahsPets2004]

I agree. These horrible people did not belong on land already claimed

[@badkelly]

Thank you for this! I’ve always been fascinated by this story

[@terrygrossmann2295]

I can’t even imagine how those people felt or how they made it through each day.

[@albertangeloro5832]

they got through the day by nervous snacking.

[@Geoffrey___]

I'm trying NOT to laugh at the first person to get eaten. After that, how do you con the next guy into believing he's NOT next...

[@albertangeloro5832]

@@Geoffrey___ tell him you're a vegetarian

[@william_mac]

@@albertangeloro5832 maybe one guy took off his neighbor's ear and ate it? Check out the Portland headlines now a guy at a bus terminal ate another guy's ear and started nawing on his scalp. I've already told Portland to start feeding their homeless, they're hungry! One thing I wouldn't do if I was in the Donner party is start eating people. I would run for my life and live off parts of bark on the trees.

[@evildoctortaco]

I find it very grim that this was all going on during the same period of time the Franklin Expedition in the Arctic is starting to fall apart too

[@SStupendous]

All during the Hungry Forties. There's something about that decade..

[@albertdehn8381]

Thanks for sharing 👍😀

[@michellecrocker2485]

No doubt had they not taken the shortcut on blind faith, none of this would have happened

[@HMMELD]

They got started late - that helped.

[@lijo4518]

taking a short cut never works 🙃

[@thecook8964]

Read the book, Sallie Fox- The Story of a Pioneer Girl. Don't take shortcuts

[@kevintoohig9589]

You never no what you can handle until you have to

[@williamaiello5623]

How times change. Back then people were eager to get to California. Today, more people are leaving California.

[@schizoidboy]

I'm piecing a few things together when I think of what I heard of the Donner Party. When it comes to the cannibalism I remember one show did an archeological dig around the site and found mostly animal bones, not human ones. Then I watched a video about the site and it seems the human remains were buried in a spot that now has a monument to the incident. Recalling the incident where the soccer team was trapped in the mountains after their plane crashed which was also infamous for the resort to cannibalism, but comparing the situations these were not free-for-all massacres for food. The soccer team didn't murder anyone, they just ate the dead from the crash, but they treated it with religious ceremony as to honor those who they ate to survive. Likewise they made vows to each other that if they died their friends should eat them. In fact in some cultures where cannibalism is practiced it is not uncommon for tribes to eat their own relations after they die and this is considered an honor to their dead. I assume, but only assume due to fact I don't know more details, that they might have done the same with their own dead.

[@RatnipTX]

A movie was made about that soccer team in 1973. The three survivors were interviewed by Hugh Downs on The Today.

[@cabinvibeetsystore9094]

New sub! Liked 🙏😀🙂😛❤️

[@Ironink]

If someone has the last name of Donner and invite’s you to a dinner party, you may want to decline the invite. That dude Hastings really messed up a trip that was going pretty good. If they hadn’t taken the Mormon route through Salt Lake City, they probably wouldn’t made it into central California. Instead they wound up on a trail to Northern California which can be hard going even in the summer. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. It was a metaphorical coin toss. By the time they knew they were hooped, it was too late to turnaround because they were surrounded by blizzards. Don’t do a mental coin toss, listen to your gut instinct. It’s almost correct every time..

[@jamesburns2232]

The Donner Party Diner. Serving People since 1846!

[@Ironink]

@@jamesburns2232 Lmao!😂

[@HMMELD]

@@jamesburns2232 It's not funny - well - it is funny - but in that area there are all kinds of things named Donner - park, lake, pass - no doubt in honor of the occasion.

[@jeromestracks108]

Donner State Park has a Donner memorial picnic area Weird, but true

[@tubularfrog]

The picture shown at 8:58 shows the depth of the snow at the time, with the trees cut at that level by the Donner party. In a survival situation consuming the bodies of the already dead should be a completely acceptable alternative to starvation.

[@satanofficial3902]

Cannibalism is absolutely forbidden. It is an abomination.

[@tubularfrog]

@@satanofficial3902 If you mean murdering people to have meat to eat, yeah I agree 100%. If you are starving to death and there are dead frozen bodies around you, then eating of them to survive is totally acceptable. It's a horrible situation, but acceptable such as in the Andes flight disaster of 1972.

[@sirderp4925]

@@satanofficial3902 uuuh Satan? Cannibalism isn't illegal, killing people is though

[@sirderp4925]

How would they have cut the trees that high and why would they

[@Dee0336]

@@sirderp4925 The top of the trees where it’s cut is where they were standing on the the snow.

[@basedsalty6970]

I've been to the exact spot where these people where at on snowmobile and they were in a gnarly area. Very steep rocky and lots of trees.

[@cmoore421]

Didn’t realize it till recently but i live right where the donner party found their salvation in the truckee river after crossing the 40 mile desert. Ive seen the signs marking it most of my life and only recently put together what the signs are for. I probably drive over their old tracks every time i go out shooting in the desert, I definitely drive over the old railroad bed and their tracks are essentially I-80 through fernley.

[@michellecrocker2485]

Let’s hear about the Oregon trail

[@corinnepmorrison1854]

Such a sad story...

[@waynestewart3232]

I feel like Rose in Titanic, "Thank you for that wonderful forensic report!," but that wasn't the real story.

[@jimellis2118]

Good narration, thanks for not using AI voice .

[@brucewilson1958]

America began with Cannabalism during the first Winter at Jamestown, 1608/09. There had been a bad drought through the summer and fall. Many of the larger wild animals had migrated to find water. Hunting was fruitless. Supplies ran out and as individuals died, those who remained consumed them. Even the regional Native Americans had a very difficult Winter.

[@HMMELD]

So, we have a long honorable tradition of eating each other.

[@TradingTheta89]

Snowstorm in late october...now a days we dont get snow til late january. Waiting to snowboard is ridiculous now

[@questfortruth665]

I lived near Donner Lake at one time. I told my dad that it was really beautiful, but I had a compulsion to have people over for dinner.

[@HMMELD]

- in more ways than one.

[@questfortruth665]

@@HMMELD Yeah, I did a play on words there

[@bobbywhitehead4204]

My favorite game is to go into a restaurant, give them the last name of donner, and wait for the reaction when they announce it overhead. “Donner party of....”. Yeah. I’m a child in the body of a 50 yr old.

[@carbunkle9902]

The restaurant will have to charge you an arm and a leg.

[@dolldoll2914]

👩‍💻The Donner Party came through the Great Salt Lake Valley 1 year before (1846) the Mormon Pioneers came in July of 1847. The Donner party actually cut the road for the pioneers following a year later starting at Big Mountain then down East Canyon and down Emigration Canyon into Salt Lake City. Hastings road through the Great Salt Lake Desert, Salt Flats, going west to east on a horse (Wendover to Salt Lake City.) Much love and peace. 🙋‍♀️🪔🐞🥰🇺🇲

[@HMMELD]

Wendover has some nice casinos.

[@kellyneese5216]

THEY WERE LESS THAN A FOOTBALL FIELD AWAY FROM MAKING IT. JUST DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE TERRAIN.

[@IloveHolyTrinity]

God bless yall

[@carbunkle9902]

Cannibals don't like clowns. They taste funny.

[@jeromestracks108]

Cannibals don't eat rich people They're spoiled

[@carbunkle9902]

The canabal found a sleeping missionary. They love breakfast in bed.

[@crimony3054]

If you're waiting for a table and the hostess says, "Donner, party of 2" and then seats someone ahead of you, don't complain. They were seriously hungry.

[@johneynon7121]

Did Jim Bridger at Bridger fort discourage them from taking the Lower Sandy? Or that they didn't listen to him.

[@yankees29]

Didn’t he encourage them?

[@SStupendous]

​@@yankees29Don't think so

[@superfreakmorris4251]

That's what happens when u depend on greedy MEN.

[@mimimine1324]

Donner means “give” in French which has always seemed poignant to me in context with The Donner Party.

[@zeebest1004]

With a completely different pronunciation!🙄

[@djoglala]

If they didn't leave in the middle of May and would have left at the beginning of April they would have missed the snow storm.

[@robinrainmaker7232]

Nevada is pronounced with a short “a” like the word “at”…. Not “ah” as in odd.

[@leroythegiant_8503]

Idk what it is, but the script for this is really strange. He says "according to history" a lot. Like bruh, just saying "history" isn't a valid source.

[@steveschatz6256]

This is where the food donner kebab comes from because there is a secret piece of human meat in each one.

[@mslaura488]

“We ber Canyon”. Not Webber.

[@Emily_070]

😂 thanks! That was bugging me too.

[@davidspears6500]

Ironic how people pronounce Nevada wrong LOL he must been educated in the east

[@tocm707]

To think Abraham Lincoln was almost party of that wagon train. But his pregnant wife refused to go in her condition. Also the contributions of Jame Read to the settling of the Bay Area specifically San Jose should be told. That one man made lots of marks on history.

[@timlangdon6448]

😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 All Bad,,, A person that did not listen to fair warning. And kept ongoing anyways., He was also a murderer., And Coward man, And it took him 5 months to get back to his family.,😮😮😮😮😮 In Abraham Lincoln cared more about his family, then mr Reed ,does, God bless him Mr president...

[@carbunkle9902]

If all else fails, your co-workers are edible.

[@AKAviation97]

"Shortcut my ass" -the donner party

[@jimmydean1689]

Who are we having for dinner this evening?🙂

[@jamesburns2232]

The children, of course!

[@KB-ke3fi]

They didn't know about beef jerky.

[@zeebest1004]

My only question is, they camped around a lake, WHY DIDN’T THEY FISH?!

[@stephaniegoddard6935]

Lake would be frozen solid.

[@thegreypath1777]

The story has been told - multiple times.

[@JohnExploresEverything]

I thought this was supposed to be untold truths

[@ifyouknow2323]

Why do they cut away to show the narrator? We don’t know or care about who he is

[@JollyPirateAhoy]

Imagine people doing it now lol

[@shaunstrasser1]

Does not know how many times my parents and I went over Donner's Pass when I was a child

[@lindabarling7719]

I lost count after a dozen times. It's like our parents, & grandma always said, "if you can survive this vacation, you can survive anything." But, weren't those wild onions and berries good...and learning ta fish with your hands. And getting my canvas shoes stuck to rocks in the fire pit. Thank God for Duct Tape🤣🤣🤣Those were some real good times. So greatful our parents thought it'd be a good vacation overall. Thanks for reminding me❤️❤️❤️God Bless🥰

[@airpeewee]

thats why u learn to hunt or trap, fish, or simply prepare lol crazy story

[@stephaniegoddard6935]

They would all be knowledgeable about hunting trapping and fishing, but due to the snow being so deep, there was nothing available to hunt. Animals would be moving out of the deepest snow for areas that are much more inhabitable. Fishing would be impossible because the lake would be frozen too deep and ice too thick.

[@honorladone8682]

Survival of the fittest.

[@seanallan4808]

You don't know cold...

[@lulusmith4877]

The first written story of canabilism occuring in the Donner party thru starvation

[@stephaniegoddard6935]

There is documentation and proof of bones recovered from the Jamestown settlement that shows they also resorted to cannibalism. One such skull was of a 14-year-old girl.

[@KC_Eden]

It must be so hard being Mr. Perfect! 😘🥰

[@corinnepmorrison1854]

Who is Mr. perfect?

[@KC_Eden]

@@corinnepmorrison1854 Mr. Grunge. 😅

[@Judykag]

I don’t understand

[@corinnepmorrison1854]

@@KC_Eden Thank you...

[@corinnepmorrison1854]

@@Judykag Me either...

[@antoniokastrocarlisledemel6617]

I'm not judging them now so i doubt id be judging them back then...me and a friend of mines were talking about this about a month ago and I said no way i could eat someone and he told me "u can't say that unless u been in that situation" i remain steadfast that if it happened to me today I'd never resort to cannibalism especially if I had to kill someone first but back in 1846 i don't know I'd say it's like 50/50...I've survived extreme hunger in my 36 yrs but not way back then so odds are i just might be with those that did resort to it but even back then i don't think i could kill someone to eat them..regardless I've never judged them since i first heard this story decades ago

[@wayneasiam65]

It's a misnomer that the Donner Party ran out of food. They had plenty of Flour...But, they got tired of biscuits alone.

[@SStupendous]

Doesn't mean misnomer refer to the name... You mean a misconception.

[@erichall9513]

Proof or be quiet.

[@dangeroustoman]

Nothing new same old story.

[@fumanpoo4725]

Just like chicken...

[@judybest6991]

I can't understand him he's talking to fast.

[@9Ballr]

I used to have neighbors whose last name was Donner. They invited me to a party at their house once. I declined.

[@ronaldschultenover8137]

Natural selection

[@dancollins8296]

All these guys had to do was fish in truckee lake.

[@TwilightedForever1]

I've been wondering why, at the onset of snow and the failed attempts to cross over the summit, they didn't just turn back and head for any area below the snow line, where there would be game they could kill to survive on until rescue came. Why did they not head for lower, warmer, territory? Instead of staying so long in such a terribly cold place through months and months of winter blizzards?

[@stephaniegoddard6935]

The lake was frozen over ice too deep unable to cut through to get the fish

[@Thomao]

Cannibalism was always in them.😎

[@beyourself2444]

Exactly,the dogs…

[@bryan565656]

So what’s the untold truth? Everything you talked about is nothing new.

[@fmgcobe6483]

First

[@KC_Eden]

BRAVO! Congrats! 🥳👍

[@rogertaylor7433]

Correct

[@markdoty1213]

California was Spanish territory.

[@jeremyd1869]

No, in 1846 it belonged to Mexico, which was an independent nation.

[@markdoty1213]

@@jeremyd1869 I stand corrected.

[@williammize8270]

Horrible

[@ruirocha4352]

Ah yes , that's some white privilege right there.

[@carbunkle9902]

Why didn't they just take the train?

[@suziecreamcheese211]

Lmao.

[@IsaPodrasky]

They would have to wait a few years.

[@SOULRELIEF22]

I heard of the Donner party while on an Amtrak trip to California. The man on the intercom told us the story. I was amazed. As one who KNOWS that man does not live by bread alone, it seems to me that they were not at ALL praying people. The LORD provides for His own, and surely they wouldn't have had to resort to cannibalism. THE BLOOD OF JESUS SHALL PREVAIL! 🙏🏼

[@wirenutz7869]

Did the "facts" about the Donner party come out just after the Tom Hanx Hasty Puddin thread started colorizing photoshops ?

[@cherylcarampot3268]

I'm related to Patrick Breen,they didn't eat any human meat and they all came out alive..

[@saebelorn]

Idiotic title

[@carbunkle9902]

Cannibals = Cannanites + their god, Bal

[@michaelbrownlee9497]

Cain and abel.

[@satanofficial3902]

Circumstances caused by smug stupidity are not validations for cannibalism. Cannibalism is cannibalism is cannibalism. It isn't magically something different.

[@satanofficial3902]

And there's the Manifest Destiny thingy going on of stealing the land and homes of others.

[@janeterry2999]

Couldn't listen, narrator just galloping along, no p,easure in listening g to him.

[@kennybeck5519]

3:28 the group didn't set out until mid May. You do poor research. Starting out in mid May was their death sentence

[@alfrede.neuman1257]

It's not "NevOda", it's " NevAda". Guy must be from the east coast...