The Age of Jackson | Manifest Destiny | 6
American History Tellers
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The Donner Party's Guide to the Sierra Nevada Mountains
James Reid was one of the leaders of the infamous Donner party. As they attempted to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains in late October 1846, a storm hit. Trapped by 20-foot high snow drifts, the Donner party slowly ran out of food. They killed and ate their oxen, and their horses, and boiled their hides. When they ran out of dead bodies, the settlers shot and consumed their Native American rescuers. By the time real rescue came the following April, only 47 of the original 89 people had survived.
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