Donner Party (winter 1846-1847) - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Donner party stigma

tottka33 — 2010-04-19 20:29:46Z

For what it's worth department-noted on the internet today that researchers have found no evidence that the party resorted to cannabalisn. One family did ingest the family dog, presumably after he died of starvation, and others hunted deer and ate cattle and horses after they also died. Apparently the media back then wasn't much different than modern media and fabricated the gruesome story.

Re: Murphy/Murphey Donner Party Connection

Nancy_MN — 2008-09-12 18:01:52Z

I am fascinated by this story. My family, I've been told, also appears to have a connection to this adventure via the MURPHY family. My surname connection is REYNOLDS. I've read a couple of books on this trek. Would love to share information with you. Please e-mail me directly at nancy.munger@comcast.net

Regards,
Nancy

Murphy/Murphey Donner Party Connection

csnfinder — 2006-12-10 02:19:46Z

I am SO glad to see this Board!

One family story that I have been trying to track down for years says that our Murphey/Murphy relatives, from the southern tip of WV, were related to the ones that were in the Donner Party. If I can ever find my great-great-grandmother's parents, then maybe I can prove it.

My Dad remembers seeing a business card from one of them that had gone into Real Estate in Marysville, CA., which is supposed to be named for Mary Murphy, one of the DP survivors.

I have collected several articles about that dreadful winter and will post them when I can, probably won't be before Christmas though...

I grew up in the Foothills of those awesome mountains, and my Dad was sent up to Donner Pass many times to work on the snow plows that kept the Pass open for the SP Railroad. It was a battle, even with modern equipment. I can only imagine what it was like 160 years ago!