Don Wildman

And we'll get to this in detail.

On July 20th, 1846, the bulk of the Springfield group turned on to that familiar route towards what's called Ford Hall.

That would be the Oregon Territory.

But not the Donner party.

They have decided not to.

20 wagons of them, including the Donner-Reeds families, turn left to Fort Bridger and the Hastings Cut-Off.

There are 29 men, 15 women, 43 children.

They choose George Donner to lead them.

Why is that?

My understanding, and maybe this is a false opposition thing, but my understanding is that he was a more peaceful disposition than, say, James Reed, who was known to be kind of an authoritarian, right?

So let's take a short break here.

But before we go, hold this thought in mind that a whole lot of people, there were 500 wagons in this train.

Most of those head off to the Oregon Territory.

This group of 20 or so wagons decides on this trickier route.

They believe they're making the right choice.

Little do they know the fateful consequences of that dubious decision.

We're back with author Daniel James Brown talking about the Donner Party.

So the party, this group of 87, has split off from the wider party and are now heading to their supposed shortcut.

But things soon begin to go wrong.

How so?