Everything you need to understand or teach The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party by Marian Calabro.
The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party tells the tale of the ill-fated journey of the Donner Party from Illinois to California in 1846. A series of bad choices and unfortunate incidents forced the group of several families and individuals to suffer through a terrible winter, stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
In April 1846, a total of thirty-two people set out from Springfield, Illinois, guided by the promise of free land in California. Chief among these people were the Donner families (headed by George and Jacob) and the Reed family (headed by James).
A trip to Independence, Missouri proceeded without incident, and the train of covered wagons traveled into Wyoming. The group grew as more families joined. In July, despite warnings from a local frontiersman, James Reed and George Donner persuaded the Donner Party to take a shortcut route advocated by a pamphlet called the Emigrants' Guide to... View more of the The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party Summary
The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party Lesson Plans contain 108 pages of teaching material, including:
