The Donner Party
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Goals:
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1. Describe the mistakes the Donner Party made.
2. Describe the bad luck the Donner Party faced.
The Donner party
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When?
Where?
The Donner party
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When? Spring 1846
Where?
The Donner party
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When? Spring 1846
Where? Oregon Trail to the
California Trail
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Mistakes
Mistake #1
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Mistakes
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Mistake #1 Too many elderly people, women and
youngsters.
They were too slow
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Mistakes
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Mistake #1 Too many elderly people, women and
youngsters.
Mistake #2
Mistakes
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Mistake #1 Too many elderly people, women and
youngsters.
Mistake #2 They took Lansford W. Hasting's shortcut in
"An Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California."
Lansford W. Hastings
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Mistakes
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Mistake #1 Too many elderly people, women and
youngsters.
Mistake #2 They took Lansford W. Hasting's shortcut in
"An Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California."
Mistake #3
Mistakes
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Mistake #1 Too many elderly people, women and
youngsters.
Mistake #2 They took Lansford W. Hasting's shortcut in
"An Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California."
Mistake #3 They banished James Reed for killing John
Snyder. Reed was one of their most needed members.
James Reed
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Mistakes
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Mistake #2 They took Lansford W. Hasting's shortcut in
"An Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California."
Mistake #3 They banished James Reed for killing John
Snyder. Reed was one of their most needed members.
Mistake #4
Mistakes
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Mistake #2 They took Lansford W. Hasting's shortcut in
"An Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California."
Mistake #3 They banished James Reed for killing John
Snyder. Reed was one of their most needed members.
Mistake #4 The Donner Party rested four days near
Truckee Meadows in Nevada.
Truckee Meadows
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Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #1
Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #1 Snow hit the Sierras almost a month
early.
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Unlucky Facts

Unlucky Fact #1 Snow hit the Sierras almost a month
early.
Unlucky Fact #2
Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #1 Snow hit the Sierras almost a month
early.
Unlucky Fact #2 The Donner wagon broke down.
Wagons in the Sierras
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Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #1 Snow hit the Sierras almost a month
early.
Unlucky Fact #2 The Donner wagon broke down.
Unlucky Fact #3
Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #1 Snow hit the Sierras almost a month
early.
Unlucky Fact #2 The Donner wagon broke down.
Unlucky Fact #3 They picked one of the windiest
passes in the Sierras.
Donner Lake and Donner Pass
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Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #3 They picked one of the windiest
passes in the Sierras.
Unlucky Fact #4
Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #3 They picked one of the windiest
passes in the Sierras.
Unlucky Fact #4 The snow that winter reached a depth
of twenty-two feet.
Twenty-two feet of snow
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Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #3 They picked one of the windiest
passes in the Sierras.
Unlucky Fact #4 The snow that winter reached a depth
of twenty-two feet.
Unlucky Fact #5
Unlucky Facts
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Unlucky Fact #3 They picked one of the windiest
passes in the Sierras.
Unlucky Fact #4 The snow that winter reached a depth
of twenty-two feet.
Unlucky Fact #5 Only forty-five of the seventy-nine
persons in the original Donner Party survived.
List of the Donner Party
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