I was a truck driver for a long time so I’ve been over Donner Pass many times. I always wondered how shocked the Donner party would be to know that there is now a Starbucks, campgrounds, business’ and people living up there.
Not shocked, that was his vision: to OWN the places along that trail, give people a safe road to travel on and provide them with stores/food/shelter along the way.
@Jane Doh They were different times completely. The women and children had systematically less power. Don't be dense. Men aren't meat and muscle for women and women aren't helpless subordinates without the ability to lead or think.
brisaespi99 I’m sure they did take their clothes. Just because the video didn’t specifically say they didn’t doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. They obviously had to undress the people to eat them.
@@bishiebishy4535 you speak with a modern day feminist viewpoint, upon history.... Hindsight is always 20/20. But you should not gage history, on the privileged position and time you possess/are a part of. Plus, what a strange thing to think about. You're getting a bit too abstract, aren't you? Aren't there more important things?
@@DChappelle27 yes, in that culture at that time. Other cultures around the world had people that aged that old pretty frequently but that all has to do with the way they lived.
I’m honestly surprised there’s no historic psychological horror/thriller based on these events. Lol Edit: Woah 1K likes. Thanks. I found the movie everyone was talking about by accident. Thanks guys. 💖
😂 I LOVED Jennifer Coolidge's great joke on TV's '2 Broke Girls' when her character was attending a lousy birthday celebration: 'There was only one party worse than this: the Donner party-and they had better food!'
Elizabeththegreatest except they’re intended to be short. like if I’m about to miss a train I’m not going to take the long way through town when there’s a shortcut that gets you there in half the time in front of me
Elernation Except that short cut was never tried or tested and is known to be dangerous and harsh, even the Hastings guy that made up that shortcut in his book never ever took that route before.. and when you’re responsible for the safety and the lives of your family and many other families then it’s better to take the longer, safer, tried and tested route than to risk everyone’s lives just so you can try to get somewhere quicker.
Tomika Kelly lots of them were fleeing horrible conditions and possibly persecution in the east I think while the west was a free land of opportunity and they were told they could get a large plot of land and build a farm. unlike the east, both women and men could own it so many widows made these types of journeys
Elernation Yeah but no one is arguing them fleeing for better living conditions.. It’s just they were constantly warned about not taking the short cut route which hadn’t even been tried before and about how dangerous it was, yet they stubbornly risked their family and friends lives even though they could have taken the safer route.
it was greed that did them in. he figured that if the new trail worked out, he could charge people and establish settlements in between for supplies. the love of money makes people do crazy thinks
@@thereverseeffect7269 Hastings never told them to take a different route. He gave them a detour, but never told them to take the regular path. It was some other guy at the fort that said to not take that path.
I watched a documentary that stated that when you get hungry enough parts of your brain sort of shut down and things like cannibalism become more acceptable. So, It may not be a matter of "thinking" cannibalism is OK as much as being impaired enough by hunger to resort to it.
When you think about it, this could make for a great psychological horror film or limited series, something similar to like _The Terror_ or _Chernobyl,_ but the best thing is that it doesn't need anything supernatural added into it, it just needs to be exactly like the real events which is horrifying enough on its own.
Someone wrote a book called the Hunger if you’re interested. Basically, it retells this story with a disease spreading that basically turning the infected into wendigos.
i LOVE it when you guys use this music. One of the first videos I've watched from you guys and has inspired me to push to new heights in my career as a motion graphics/animator. Everytime I hear this track now, it pumps me up. I love what you all do! im still hooked on all of your videos
It’s brave to take a road no one has gone, but with a group that big, I’d say it’s better safe than sorry. I think that route should have been tested first at least.
I read a book on this. I remember that they ate the leather from The books they had brought with them. They boiled the leather from the roof of their shelters into a jelly, when they brought supplies in the 7 mules they ate all the food and then ate the mules when they ran out of food. The book described their cries of anguish like wolves howling cause they realized they had to eat their own dead. Knives were drawn and they ended up cutting strips of meat from the bodies and cooking it over fires to stay alive. At one point one of them set fire to a tree cause they couldn't make a fire or find any wood fast enough. One of the Indians was killed cause they blamed him for not helping them find the trail fast enough. The other kept running and presumably died in the snowstorm. When they found water from a pond the horses were so thirsty they drank until their stomachs burst. This is from a book I found in my middle school library.
I can’t imagine the panic that would ensue within yourself after realizing you have basically no food and such a long way to go. I feel like all I would be able to think to myself is how and when I’m going to die.
@@hihai_TV No. I'll still make that statement and I'll still judge. It's NEVER OKAY. No matter your environment, there are always other options, survive off of treebark if you have to. I'm not someone who believes survival is everything.
@@Utonian21 "there are always other options" that's entirely false. Sometimes the only other option is to starve. Just cuz you wanna act like you have the moral high ground doesn't mean "there's always another way".... If I'm going to starve to death unless I eat a person that I was with that died, I'm not going to starve. What's the point of all of us dying while there's perfectly edible protein right there? Wouldn't feel great about it, but it's better than death. As I said, what is the point of dying when you really don't have to? Should I just starve to death cuz morals say I shouldn't eat a dead human? I think not. But for real, there's not always another way. Sometimes all you're left with is literally just snow and bodies, nothing else, not even tree bark. I'm perfectly okay with being eaten after I die if that's the only option, cuz to me survival IS everything. I don't have anything if I'm dead, survival really is all I have and I value it more than anything else.
my old teacher, mr Van Nuys, told us that his family back then went with the donner party but split up in wyoming w the majority of the other families and they went on to found the town Van Nuys
This was like a real-life version of The Oregon Trail from third-grade computer class! ...only Luke died of consumption instead of malaria, and they opted not to talk about Sarah's snake bite. If my memory serves correct, they definitely should've "chucked the wagon" at the Humboldt River Crossing. They would've lost a mere 2 oxen, 4 boxes of bullets, and 7 rations. Those rations could easily be replaced by selecting "Hunt" and simply double-clicking on the bison.
I drove to the location where they died at around 1 in the morning. There’s no gate or anything, you can just go there anytime. Very creepy being the only one there at such a late hour.
i would have just listened to my well meaning and informed friend and stayed n the track. clymen should go down in history as the guy who almost saved the donner party
In response to your question "Do you think cannibalism is ever OK?" I would have to answer by simply saying, "I don't think anyone could possibly know, nor has the right, to answer that question unless they have been in that type of situation." This is a tragic tale filled w horror and brutality on a scale that I hope to God I never to have to experience in my life. Those ppl not only saw their friends and animals die but their own families and children.Then were forced, for survival's sake, to then turn around, after enduring all that heartbreak, and eat those very same ppl that they love. Imagine the sadness and desperation, the feeling of hopelessness and regret. All of this while freezing to death w no shelter, no food, no warmth, on a snow raging mountain w no hope of rescue for months, and all of this is happening while you watch what little family and children you have left waste away before your very eyes, slowly dying day by day. What would you do in order to just ease theirs and your suffering, even for a minute? What lengths would you be willing to go to save those you love? Smh, its ungodly what they went through, unimaginable. So, honestly, I hope I never have to answer that question and give thanks that I have been blessed thus far in life that I've never had to.
By today's standards (or even back then) Hastings would easily be charged with manslaughter and neglect of human lives. He would been bound to be in prison for many, many years.
i do know this i lived in utah my entire life (and still am) and know this story well ..........more like bits and pieces over the years and visited many pioneer sites and during seminary class in highschool we did a pioneer march survival thing my group well want all donner party and died but i left before that happened because i got picked up from school
It turns my stomach to think of eating another person - but I guess when you're starving to death in a situation like that and a family to feed, a person would find a way to deal with it. But having a family in tow., I'd of rather erred on the side of a longer proven safe route than an unproven unknown faster route, to my destination.
Me and my group were stranded in the snowy mountains for weeks. My friend John was separated and attacked by wolves. If I hadn’t saved him he’d of been dead now. We had to hunt to stay alive. Shortly after I contracted consumption
..."We had to hunt to stay alive. Shortly after I contracted consumption...." did the hunting give you consumption Or you didnt start hunting til diagnosed with tuberculosis...?
There is actually a game based on this! It's called, Donner Diner Party! It's very fun and if you found this interesting I think you would love the fun family game! 😁
