With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

New research corrects history of the Donner Party

Eighty-One members of the so-called Donner Party got trapped in the Sierra Nevada during the brutal winter of 1846. Some of them did resort to cannibalism to stay alive, but new research concludes none of the actual members of the two Donner families ate any human flesh. They were among 21 people who were stuck six miles away because of a broken wagon axle.

A report at a California conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology says no cooked human bones were found at the site, leading to the conclusion that the Donners did not resort to cannibalism, or at least didn't cook anybody.
Three years of digging indicates they did get so desperate that they ate the family dog.
Read entire article at KTVN Reno