February 2nd, 1847, the first woman of a group of pioneers known as the Donner Party dies during the group’s journey through a Sierra Nevada mountain pass. The disastrous trip west ended up killing 42 people and turned many of the survivors into cannibals.
A total of 87 people joined up in South Pass, Wyoming, in October 1846 during the heart of the California Gold Rush to make a trip through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to California. Most of the pioneers were farmers who had little experience with wilderness travel. Two large families, the Donners and the Reeds, were at the heart of the traveling group, with 7 adults and 16 children. George Donner was the group’s unofficial leader.
The pioneers left Wyoming on October 27 1846 , and were soon faced with the early onset of a harsh winter which lasted until their rescue in late February 1847.
