Chapter 8 Summary and Analysis

There were two teams of rescuers, Glover's team and Reed's team, with Reed behind Glover. After three weeks of trudging in the snow, Glover's team arrived at Truckee Lake on February 18. The rescuers were shocked at the gaunt, hollowed-out faces of the survivors, thin from hunger.

Glover did not have enough food for the return trip for all forty survivors, so he had to leave with a portion of the survivors and leave the rest to be rescued by Reed's team. The Reeds left - minus toddler Tommy, who literally could not walk in the deep snow. Tamsen Donner refused to leave her husband, George, who was bedridden and dying of infection.

The first mention of cannibalism at Truckee Lake occurs on February 26, when Levinah Murphy dug up Milt Elliot in order to cut up and consume him. The Donners had...