Terrifying & True | Donner Party Cannibalism: Gruesome Story Survival

The true story of the Donner Party—cannibalism and survival in the Sierra Nevada. In winter 1846–1847, nearly 90 pioneers were snowbound at Truckee/Donner Lake after betting on the Hastings Cutoff and losing critical weeks in the Wasatch Mountains and Great Salt Lake Desert. What followed—starvation, the Forlorn Hope snowshoe escape, and cannibalism—became America’s most infamous saga of westward migration.

This documentary-style episode of Terrifying & True traces the route from Springfield, Illinois to the blizzards that sealed the pass by Nov 4, 1846, the collapse of order on the Humboldt, and the desperate rescue missions that fought 30-foot drifts, Starved Camp, and the scandal that haunted Lewis Keseberg for life.
Inside this episode

• The “shortcut” that killed. Lansford Hastings pushes an untested route; weeks are lost in the Wasatch and on the salt flats.
• Pass closed, hope fading. Wagons reach Truckee Lake (Oct 31, 1846); an eight-day storm buries the Sierra Nevada by Nov 4.
• “Hungry times.” Cabins sink under snow; families boil rawhide and tallow as game vanishes and deaths mount.
• The Forlorn Hope. On Dec 16, fifteen leave on crude snowshoes; starvation, whiteout, and an unthinkable choice decide who lives.
• Rescues through hell. Relief parties attack the pass; John Stark drags children from Starved Camp two at a time.
• Aftermath & stigma. Keseberg, rumors, lawsuits—and the lasting warning from Virginia Reed: “Never take no cut-offs and hurry along as fast as you can.”

A clear, date-driven reconstruction of choices, storms, and survival.

We’re telling that story tonight.

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