THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

THE DONNER PARTY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1 @ 7:00PM & 10:00PM

At the start of spring in the year 1846 an appealing advertisement appeared in the Springfield, Illinois, Gazette. “Westward ho,” it declared. “Who wants to go to California without costing them anything? As many as eight young men of good character who can drive an ox team will be accommodated. Come, boys, you can have as much land as you want without costing you anything.” The notice was signed G. Donner, George Donner, leader of what was to become the most famous of all the hundreds of wagon trains to start for the far west, the tragic, now nearly mythic Donner Party.

If ever there was a moment when America seemed in the grip of some great, out-of-the-ordinary pull, it was in 1846. The whole mood was for movement, expansion, and the whole direction was westward. It was in 1846 that the Mormons set out on their trek to the Great Salt Lake. It was in 1846 that the Mexican War began and effectively all of Texas, Mexico and California were added to the United States.
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