The Difficulties: The Donner Party

352 Words2 Pages
On our trip to California, we (the Donner Party) were forced to face many unexpected hardships. At Alcove springs Grandmother Keyes died. Just past Fort Bridger we took the Hastings Cutoff, which we were informed saved 400 miles. The information was wrong. The shortcut added 100 miles to the journey. Hastings had said the Salt Lake Desert was about forty miles across, but it was actually more like eighty. The desert brought more difficulties, and for 5 days we suffered from thirst. The lost ¼ of their oxen and lost speed. Later on, James Reed got in a fight with John Snyder. They argued about whose wagon should go first, and Reed told Snyder to stop lashing at the oxen. Snyder was then killed by Reed, with the use of a knife. Reed was banished