how did the Donner party originally start?

Question

why did they want to go to CA? who started the donner party?????

Answer 1

There were huge numbers of people coming out to California back then. There was a lot of land available, and many people were looking for the opportunity to set up themselves and their families in a place where they could prosper. Keep in mind that the Gold Rush hadn't happened quite yet, so it really was for setting up farms, as opposed to digging for gold.

Like many others, they got themselves to Missouri (Independence, I believe, but St. Louis was also a gathering point - the Gateway to the West, as they say), where they met up with others who also wanted to come west. Since there is safety in numbers, it was advantageous to everyone involved to go with as big a group as possible. The group they formed was called the Boggs Company, named after a former Governor of MO.

George Donner was not considered the leader of the group, until some of them broke away from the main wagon train. They did this under the assumption that they were taking a "shortcut"...This took them on a more direct route, but unfortunately, they had a very difficult time of it on this "shortcut". There were many times when the men would have to lift the wagons up or down cliffs with ropes...Most of the time, the women and children were walking alongside the wagons, so as to keep the horses as fresh as possible. On top of that, they encountered hostile Indians, and lost oxen, and at least one of their men died during the trip across the desert. The desert was very difficult on them, to the point that they actually ran out of water.

This "shortcut" slowed them down to a point where they were in the Sierra Nevada mountains in October. Then, they were forced to stop, due to a broken wagon wheel. Unfortunately, that particular October was one of the wettest EVER in the known history of California. There were reports of people using boats to get around the Central Valley, as the flooding was so bad. In the mountains, this translated to lots of snow. It got so bad that George Donner's family had built a snow-stairway, to take them downstairs to where their tent had originally been pitched. And the cattle that they didn't kill for food eventually went missing, simply lost in the huge snow drifts.

I highly recommend that you find a history of the Donner Party at your local library...there are a couple of different versions, but each should give yout he basics.

I also recommend reading "River of Red Gold" by Naida West...It's technically a fictional novel, but based on the diary of Elitha Donner, George Donner's daughter.

Answer 2

Good resources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/donner/
http://www.books-about-california.com/Pages/History_of_Donner_Party/Donner_Party_chapter_01.html

From Wikipedia:
The nucleus of the party were the families of George Donner, his brother Jacob, and James F. Reed of Springfield, Illinois, plus their hired hands, about 33 people in all. They set out for California in mid-April, 1846, arrived at Independence, Missouri, on May 10, 1846, and left two days later.

...caught up in the "westering fever" of the 1840s.

Answer 3

go to wikipedia.com and search for The Donner Party. It gives the history behind it all. I think the jest of it was they wanted a better life, and they heard about the gold in California. They got stranded and eventually some died, some ate the ones that had died, and others were rescued. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I don't no