The Donner Party, a group of American pioneers led by captain, George Donner traveling from the Midwest to California became stranded around October 31, 1846 in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) by a severe early winter storm and were totally snowbound by early November. They had taken a perilous "shortcut" known now as the Hastings Cutoff.
Reportedly, the extreme conditions led to cannibalism among those who survived when food ran out. It was the worst disaster of the overland migration to California. Donner Lake and Donner Pass in California, are named for the group. Forty of the 87 who began the trek died from starvation-related causes. The survivors were not rescued until the spring of 1847. More
