The movie "The Donner Party", a 2009 film starring Crispin Glover of Back To the Future fame, is now out on DVD.
The film was written and directed by T.
J.
Martin.
The film is based on the real life event of the Donner Party tragedy, which occurred during the fall/winter of 1846-1847 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The Donner Party was like many American pioneers who set out west in search of fortune in the 1840s.
The group, organized by George and Jacob Donner, left Springfield, Illinois in 1846, and headed west to California.
Their trip, which was planned to take six months, did not got as planned.
After crossing Utah and facing setbacks and a one month delay crossing Nevada, the Donner Party decided to take their wagon train up the Truckee River, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in an area today that is known as Donner Pass.
Donner Pass is at an elevation of 7,085 feet and receives significant snowfall.
Furthermore, the descent from the east over the Sierra Nevada in the Donner Pass area in the 1840s was quite steep.
The Donner Party, which was nearly ninety people in numbers, arrived to the Truckee area in October 1846.
They attempted to take their wagon train up over the Sierra Nevadas but winter storms had already arrived.
The snow as too deep to summit the Sierras and the group had to return to the Truckee area, which at that time had no supplies.
The Party set up and camp wintered in what is today Donner Lake, on the western side of Truckee.
The Donner Party soon ran out of food and starvation set in.
In December 1848, some members of the group headed west to attempt passage over the mountains but many stayed in their camps at Donner Lake.
The situation became extremely bleak.
With no food, starvation set in and many in the Party died, including children.
The remaining members resorted to cannibalism in order to survive the winter.
In total, more than forty members of the group died.
The film was written and directed by T.
J.
Martin.
The film is based on the real life event of the Donner Party tragedy, which occurred during the fall/winter of 1846-1847 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The Donner Party was like many American pioneers who set out west in search of fortune in the 1840s.
The group, organized by George and Jacob Donner, left Springfield, Illinois in 1846, and headed west to California.
Their trip, which was planned to take six months, did not got as planned.
After crossing Utah and facing setbacks and a one month delay crossing Nevada, the Donner Party decided to take their wagon train up the Truckee River, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in an area today that is known as Donner Pass.
Donner Pass is at an elevation of 7,085 feet and receives significant snowfall.
Furthermore, the descent from the east over the Sierra Nevada in the Donner Pass area in the 1840s was quite steep.
The Donner Party, which was nearly ninety people in numbers, arrived to the Truckee area in October 1846.
They attempted to take their wagon train up over the Sierra Nevadas but winter storms had already arrived.
The snow as too deep to summit the Sierras and the group had to return to the Truckee area, which at that time had no supplies.
The Party set up and camp wintered in what is today Donner Lake, on the western side of Truckee.
The Donner Party soon ran out of food and starvation set in.
In December 1848, some members of the group headed west to attempt passage over the mountains but many stayed in their camps at Donner Lake.
The situation became extremely bleak.
With no food, starvation set in and many in the Party died, including children.
The remaining members resorted to cannibalism in order to survive the winter.
In total, more than forty members of the group died.
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