Take Another Little Piece of My Heart Now Baby

Hello Deathlings, 

We meet again for another video combining research, travel, and a whole lotta stuff they don't teach you on high school ! 

This week we're talking about the Donner Party. Just saying the name "Donner" conjures up so many images in our collective imagination: snow covered wagons, frozen pioneers, ground chuck that might have come from, well, Chuck. 

Learning about the Donner Party is truly like reading one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from when you were a kid. Except that every choice is TERRIBLE. 

The trail splits before you. What do you do?

1) To take the shortcut that everyone warns, "DO NOT DO IT, 'TIS NOTHING BUT SUFFERING OVER YONDER," turn to page 17. 

2) To take the shortcut while following some random guide-dude who keeps asking to "borrow" your map, turn to page 25. 

3) To take the well-worn, trusted path to safety, turn to [pages missing see option 1]. 

I joke, but in all seriousness this video was eye-opening, a little jarring for me. Survival cannibalism is the stuff of nightmares, but the Donner Party's harrowing experience was SO MUCH worse – both mentally and physically. It was a nightmare that just. KEPT. GOING. I had no idea. 

Playing "Oregon Trail" on my old Macintosh desktop did not prepare me for this. 

If you want to learn more about the Donner party (are you not intrigued?), I highly recommend reading The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown. Both Louise and I tore through this book in preparation for the video – couldn't put it down. 

And if you're hungry for more content, don't despair! Next week we have a new episode of Death in the Afternoon coming out (please rate & review if you like it!) PLUS a new article on the Order website! 

Thank you for your support deathlings!

Yours in feast and famine, 

Caitlin