The Oregon Trail + Donner Party

Question 1

how long was the Oregon trail

Answer 1

3,200 km
3,800km if going on to California

Question 2

when did migrants need to complete the journey by

Answer 2

Winter - for risk of getting stuck in the mountains

Question 3

when did migrants start the trail and why?

Answer 3

April:
- gave enough grass on the Plains for their animals

Question 4

it was a long journey so what did migrants take with them

Answer 4

salt pork

Question 5

what was crossing the Great Plain dangerous

Answer 5

• sandstorms, quicksand, extreme heat, disease
• stampeding buffalo
• hostile Plains Indians

Question 6

what did early migrants use as navigation

Answer 6

• explorers / Indigenous Americans as guides
• later used guidebooks

Question 7

how many migrants and wagon were in the Dinner Party

Answer 7

300 migrants
60 wagons

Question 8

when did the Donner Party start the Trail

Answer 8

May 1846

Question 9

who led the Donner Party

Answer 9

Jacob + George Donner

Question 10

where did they start

Answer 10

Missouri

Question 11

which types of people made up the group

Answer 11

• had more women, children, elderly people than normal

Question 12

when did they reach Fort Bridger in the Rocky Mountains

Answer 12

July

Question 13

what happened at Fort Bridger

Answer 13

~80 migrants + both the Donner brothers slip and tried taking to ‘short cut’

Question 14

who wrote about this ‘short cut’ and why were they wrong

Answer 14

• trail guid called Lansford Hastings had written about this shortcut - described it with plenty of grass = water
• did not use it himself - he thought it would work

Question 15

what was difficult about this new route

Answer 15

• route had **not been marked out* by previous migrants
• terrain was rocky, rugged, steep slpoed + deep canyons
• had to find safest point to cross rivers - unlike Oregon Trail where paid ferries could take you
• stretches of deserts - no water/grass for livestock

Question 16

when did the Donner Party reach the Sierra Nevada

Answer 16

mid-Oct

Question 17

what trapped the party and when

Answer 17

• start of November - exhausted oxen had dragged wagons high into the mountains
• snow storms trapped

Question 18

when did the 1st migrant die of startvation

Answer 18

15th December

Question 19

what did rescuers find when they reached the Party in February

Answer 19

only half of the original 80 were alive - those that lived survived by eating those that had died