By the time they realized what they’d done, it was too late. Hastings Cutoff turned out to not be much of a cutoff at all. In fact, it was more time consuming and taxing than the regular California Trail. As a result, members of the Donner Party grew hungry. They grew thirsty. Their oxen, horses and dogs suffered. Some died. Some ran away. They ran low on time. People snapped at one another.

The group knew that they’d have to do something desperate to survive. So, they sent a few men ahead. They prayed the men would come back with help – before it was too late.

“The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride,” by Daniel James Brown

“The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny,” by Michael Wallis

The documentary, “The Donner Party”

“How the Donner Party was doomed by a disastrous shortcut,” by Erin Blakemore for History.com

“Lansford Hastings, the Donner Party, and the Civil War,” by Elizabeth Eisenstark for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine

“The deadly temptation of the Oregon Trail shortcut,” by Laura Kiniry for atlasobscura.com

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