Nonfiction Books What Was the Donner Party?

Which of these facts are true?
A group of pioneers became trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountain range over the winter of 1846–1847
Of the eighty-nine original members of the Donner Party, only forty-eight survived the harsh weather
Rescuers did not arrive for over three long and brutal months

Learn about the treacherous journey across the Sierra Nevada mountain range that isolated and trapped a group of pioneers heading to California for an entire winter in this latest addition to the New York Times Bestselling What Was? series.

In the winter of 1846-47, a group of eighty-seven pioneers heading from the Midwest to California found themselves snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range with no way forward and no food or supplies. While forty-eight of the group members survived, the others perished due to extreme weather, starvation, and illness. To survive, the remaining people resorted to extreme measures…including cannibalism. Learn about the many miscalculations, bad decisions, and extreme weather that led to the demise of nearly half of the Donner Party in this book for young readers about one of California’s first major disasters.

For ages 8 to 12.