Donner Party Snowbound In The Sierra Nevada

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.)

"We often find documents that detail fascinating stories about Abraham Lincoln's life and times, but it is rare indeed for the document to have such an intriguing history after it was written," said Daniel Stowell, director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln. "That these documents detail part of Lincoln's military service and that they accompanied the Donner Party to California makes them doubly significant."

The Donner Party (sometimes called the Donner-Reed Party) was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Some of the emigrants resorted to cannibalism to survive, eating those who had succumbed to starvation and sickness.

Reed soon found others seeking adventure and fortune in the vast including the Donner family, Graves, Breens, Murphys, Eddys, McCutcheons, Kesebergs, and the Wolfingers, as well as seven teamsters and a number of bachelors. The initial group included 32 men, women and children.

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