What the Donner Party Ate in Final Days

[Mars_ax]

I'd opt for cannibalism first before eating the dogs, after all, a dog is a man's best friend, and can't whinge about why you're not putting food on the table, why we should have gone left at that last white mountain etc etc.

The leaders of the Donner Party couldn't have been too smart to begin with ending up snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Rather than go the normal way, the Party of 81 people, tried a new route, called Hastings Cutoff, and ended up in rugged terrain that left the group snowbound. What a horrible tragedy.

Horrible tragedy or natural selection? Ultimately there are plenty of things the leaders could have done differently not to end up in such a predicament.

For sure, like planning better, knowing exactly where they were going, and/or how to get there. It's one thing to fuck up your own life, but when you're responsible for the lives of others, you need to know what you're doing. When the lives of family members are at stake, there's no room for error.