Donner_Party_Discussion

The Donner Party Discussion/Comprehension Questions

 * 1) What reasons led James Reed and George Donner to take Hastings Cutoff? Why was their decision unwise?
 * 2) What other factors contributed to the failure of their venture?
 * 3) Was Lansford Hastings to blame for what happened to the Donner Party? How?
 * 4) What traits did members of the Donner and Reed families possess? Support your answer with examples from the film.
 * 5) How did people in the 1840s view the American West? How did the story of the Donner Party help to strike down the myth of frontier idealism?
 * 6) Finally, use your Survival Questionaire (from the Deep Survival reading) to analyze the Donner Party debacle.