What if the Donner Party didn’t engage in cannibalism?

In the spring of 1846, a caravan of pioneers left Independence, Missouri, and began the long journey to California. This group consisted mostly of families hoping to start a better life in the West.

Pioneers initially followed the Oregon Trail into Wyoming. Relying on the advice of a guidebook, they took what was promised to be a shortcut. However, the new route was longer than expected, trapping them in the Sierra Nevada mountains for the winter.

“By the time they got back to the established tests, they were a month behind and exhausted,” says biologist and author of the book, Bill Shutt. Cannibalism: Completely natural history.

By February 1847, half of the group had died, and those who survived resorted to eating the dead. Historians have long acknowledged that this group descended into cannibalism. But in recent years, misinformation has sparked controversy, with some historians claiming it is unfounded.

finding a campsite

In 2003, a research team from the University of Montana and Appalachian State University (ASU) discovered the remains of an 1840s campground at Alder Creek. ruins It included a hearth, cooking utensils, and pottery shards. Thousands of bone fragments were also found, which were analyzed and determined to be animal rather than human bones.

In 2010, the researchers prepared to publish their findings, but the ASU public relations office pushed them away. They announced in a press release that the discovery of animal bones meant there was no evidence of cannibalism.

news organization I picked it up right away In this story, the survivors of the Donner Party were exonerated of false charges of cannibalism.

Who is the Donner Party?

It was named after the group’s leader, George Donner, a pioneer of the 87’s. became known As a donor party. Although the pioneers did not necessarily know each other, they worked together to make the long journey west.

The journey west was a slow ordeal. The pioneers had teams of oxen. To ease the burden, most settlers walked along with their wagons, averaging about 1 mile per hour. The journey was typically 2,500 miles long and took seven months.

Westward migration began five years earlier, in 1841, with the Donner Party initially following the Oregon Trail that had led many other parties to Oregon and California. In Wyoming, they had to choose between following the established route or trying the shortcut recommended by Lunsford Hastings. in his book, Immigration guide to Oregon and California.

It turned out that the shortcut was actually 125 miles longer than the established route, taking pioneers through the Wasatch Mountains and across the Great Salt Lake Desert.

Donors of Destiny

The Donner Party’s timing was deadly. They arrived in the Sierra Nevada just as winter arrived.

“If we can’t get over the Sierra Nevada, what about this westbound trail? [range] “Before the first snow fell, things were in trouble,” Schutt said.

Other problems were brewing. “There were a lot of arguments,” Schutt says. “They divided into two groups.”

The group also included an injured donor. They remained in the Alder Creek meadow. The other group continued on to the pass, but stopped for a night’s rest at what is now known as Donner Lake.

“About 5 feet of snow fell that night, hampering our ability to cross the Sierra Nevada,” Schutt said.

read more: Survive the Donner Party

The group at the lake found a cabin and built two more. “It was a mistake. They should have left the mountain,” Schutt said.

Both groups were only about 80 miles from civilization, and there were attempts by members to reach for help. Several relief expeditions were also undertaken to help stranded settlers. But it wasn’t enough, and by February 1847, desperate survivors had resorted to eating the dead.

“They were in extreme starvation mode,” Schutt said.

Survival and cannibalism debate

Half of the doomed Donner party died during the harsh winter. infant Prevalence was highest among children under 6 years of age, as well as single men traveling without family. Mortality rates for men and boys were also higher than for women and girls.

Rescuer’s description Those who survived were emaciated and frightening. They lived among the corpses of their deceased relatives, and signs of cannibalism were evident.

By summer, an American general and his soldiers were passing through an abandoned camp at Alder Creek and were horrified to see the mutilated, yet unburied dead by their starving relatives.

Based on eyewitness testimony, historians have long recognized that the Donner Party fell into cannibalism. As scientists learn more about starvation and how it changes both the body and mind, the understanding of why people turned to cannibalism has become clearer.

But after 20 years, researchers began to suggest that there was no evidence of cannibalism. It made headlines and sparked a debate that puzzled researchers.

read more: Ancient humans may have practiced cannibalism in search of deeper meaning

Fighting misinformation

The discovery of the hearth means members of the Donner Party were recreating animal bones for final sustenance, Schutt said.

However, when cannibalism began in February 1847, human bones were treated differently. “By then, there was no need to cook the bones because there were so many carcasses to eat,” Schutt says.

Cooked bones are better preserved than gnawed bones, which may be why the archaeological team found nothing during excavations. Just because the Donner Party first cooked animal bones doesn’t mean they didn’t resort to cannibalism later on.

Although ASU replaced the sensational press release with an updated and accurate version, Schutt said the damage was done.

Misinformation about the donor group continues to suggest that they were not cannibals, and Schutt said researchers still do not want to address this when publishing or giving interviews. states that it is necessary to do so.

““There is no debate among serious Donner Party researchers about whether cannibalism occurred,” Schutt says.

read more: Cannibalism may have been a last resort for survivors of the lost John Franklin expedition

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Emily Lucchesi writes for some of the nation’s largest newspapers, including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a master’s degree from DePaul University. She also holds a Ph.D. She received her PhD in communications from the University of Illinois at Chicago with an emphasis on media framing, message construction, and stigma communication. Emily is the author of three nonfiction books. The third book, A Light in the Dark: Surviving More Than Ted Bundy, will be released by Chicago Review Press on October 3, 2023 and is co-authored with survivor Kathy Kleiner Rubin. There is.