The Donner Party Research Paper

“You remember what you want to forget and you forget what you want to remember,” (McCarthy 12). With most aspects of life, the horrendous moments are the times that no one can erase. This applied to The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Towards the end of the novel when the son loses his father proves to be the most indelible moment with the assistance of the feelings experienced during that part. The son encounters a variety of emotions including loneliness, loss and hope. In enduring these complex emotions, this section was the most remarkable part.

Have you ever wondered what it's like being wrongfully accused of a dramatic crime? If you have, hearing Sarah Good's story might enlighten you. On March 1, 1692, three women were arrested on accounts of witchcraft in Salem. Around 200 men, women, and children were accused of witchcraft and killed in this horrific time. Sarah Good had a horrible reputation that lead to, in my opinion, a wrongful accusation of witchcraft.

For twenty years after the Gold Rush, Americans in California felt extremely remote from the rest of the United States. The early Forty-Niners of the California Gold Rush wishing to come to California were faced with limited options. Some options included sailing around South America from the Atlantic which could take up to eight months or travel by land but that came with many dangers as well. The railroads helped establish countless towns and settlements, it paved the way to abundant mineral deposits and fertile tracts of pastures and farmland, and created new markets for eastern goods.

In April of 1846 90 emigrants led by Jacob and George Donner left Springfield Illinois in hopes of using a quicker, shorter route to Oregon. The party took the regular trail up to Ft. Bridger, Wyoming. There they were supposed to meet a trail guide, Lansford Hastings, to take them but he was gone, leading another party along the mountains. There was a note for the Donner’s to follow a trail to Weber Canyon, Hasting claimed it was an easier route to Oregon. So the 89 emigrants and 20 wagons left Ft. Bridger for Weber Canyon.

The Donner Party had a great effect on the way pioneers traveled later on in time. The Miller and Reed families left on April 26, 1846 (Rosen). The Donners’ arrive at Independece, Missouri on May 10, 1846 (Rosen). The emigrants who would later form the Donner Party traveled with the Russell Party from Independece, Missouri to Alcove Springs in the Indian territory, which is now Kansas (Rosen). On Sunday November 1, 1846 the Donner Party decided to stay in Nevada for the winter (Rosen).

In the 1800’s many people were traveling on the trail to Oregon, this journey was not all that it seemed to be for many. People faced many hardships that would effect their lives and their journey. To start, since the trail was so long and people would go with lots of people food ran out quickly for most, this caused people to become sick or even starve to death. If this where to happen people would not have any supplies to properly dispose of the body they would just have to bury them in the ground, which may be hard for some. There was also the possibility you would encounter a unfriendly indian that would either kidnap, kill, or molest you. Despite all of these horrible hardships a girl named Martha and her family was able to peacefully travel and settle through her journey without anything majorly bad occurring to herself and family.

The Donner party, one of the most legendary tales of the American expansion of the West. Eighty-seven people, men, women, and Children risked it all. Their Lives, Fortunes, and Density. Beyond the obvious tragedy of the Donner party, one can find examples of Human Character in the story. Courage, Perseverance, Hopefulness.

A simple journey to the California coast in order to make a better living is what the Donner Party believed lie ahead of them. Ethan Rarick, the lead author of the marvelous and suspenseful book, Desperate Passage: The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West, describes in great detail what these families endured and encountered on their travels west. Heavy snowfall, little food, and lost time are just some of the interesting and intriguing items that Rarick talks about in his work of literature.

Joe Meek discovered Yellowstone Plateau. He was a mountain man. Mountain men were really into getting beaver, to make hats, as they were a popular fashion. There were four times as many french mountain men than american. There was a yearly meet up and they spent most of their money there. If they didn’t show up to the rendezvous, they were considered dead.

It is the year 1832 and you’re on a riding along in a caravan with Nathaniel Wyeth, who leads the new group of settlers along a foreign trail. There have been many hardships; lack of food, deaths during the journey. It is no doubt that there were many obstacles travelers faced while traveling on the Oregon Trail, but this matter does not take away from the good that this trail did for the country of America. Some people have said that the ending results and settlements were not worth the loss of the journey to get there. The Oregon Trail was one of the single trails that helped lead to the west coast from the east. This particular trail led from Missouri to Oregon or more specifically, the Missouri River to the Columbia River. It helped settlers

The Oregon Trail was roughly 2000 miles where, Lewis and Clark, famous explorers, on their expedition paved their way to the Pacific Coast. Throughout the early 1800s, traders and for trapper lead

politician. There is a lot of reasons of why someone may stand for office as an

William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying follows the Bundren family on a journey while it explores the subject of heroism and discusses its subjectivity. The family travels on an expedition to bury Addie, the deceased mother of the protagonist, Darl Bundren, and his siblings. As days continue to pass, however, the journey seemed interminable. During the adventure, the family takes a stop at Gillespie’s barn for the evening. While they rest Darl sets the barn, in which the coffin sits, ablaze. Darl Bundren’s act of arson exhibits heroism because he performed the act for the sake of others. Faulkner uses irony to subvert the preconceived notions of heroism. Although the protagonist was sent to a mental institute at the end of the novel for

The concept of “The Hero’s Journey” plays a major role in nearly every piece of fiction humanity has created since its inception, from epic poems to blockbuster movies. In many ways, works of fiction and some pieces of nonfiction could not exist and would not make sense without the concept of a Hero’s Journey; it allows the reader to comprehend and follow the progression of characters over the course of the story. While Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road may not display most of the archetypal qualities found in classic Hero’s Journeys such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit or Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, it most clearly exemplifies the qualities of a Hero’s Journey through the Boy’s character in relation to the mentor, tests and enemies, and the

After years of waiting and preparing we started on the journey to the west. We made our way to Independence, Missouri to go on the Oregon Trail which was laid by traders and trapers. While there I became familiar with George Wilson who was also a working family man.