Sequoia Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Hi all, Growing up in California we learned about the Donnor Party in school, but I was curious how widespread knowledge of the story might be around the world. What do you know of it? Thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSBoxer Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Most guests arrived late, ran short of appetizers. Is that the Donner Party you mean? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeDog Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Sure; I grew up in Vermont and can recall the story Donner party being covered as part of US History class Junior High. We might not have spent as much time on it as would be typical in a California public school where the story is more locally relevant, but it was a page in the history text. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Joch Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 It was not covered in school up here in Canada, but yes, I know of the story. A lot of movies refer to it, including... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC0xRS-ECJo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Didn't get it in school, but got it during school years. I think my first exposure to it might have been watching a dramatization of it in an episode of the CBS show You Are There. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-E Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I think it came to light for me when the news covered the football/soccer team that crashed in the Andes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpark Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 There is an excellent documentary about it by Rick Burns (Ken's brother). It first showed on PBS, but is available on DVD. The last passage from one of the young girls (Virginia Reed) that closes the documentary is haunting. Something about not taking any shortcuts and advice to hurry along on one's way. I recommend viewing it if you are interested in the story, or in the pioneer experience in general. There is also the film "Meek's Cutoff", which is a fictionalization based loosely on elements of the Donner party and another story that took place in the West during the great American migration. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpark Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Found the Burns documentary here in its entirety: http://youtu.be/eF3M73BTWls 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpark Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 There's also this story from Australia: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pearce 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.