Page 7 - Death in the Donner Party: A Cause-and-Effect Investigation
P. 7
Eventually, snow buried the trail. The travelers could not
continue. One night in late October, they stopped to camp within
3 miles (5 km) of Fremont’s Pass. Stanton and one of the Miwok
guides went ahead to find the route. They returned with word that
snow had not yet blocked the pass. But the travelers would need to
cross it before more snow fell.
The skies overhead looked threatening. Some pioneers wanted
to continue before bad weather arrived. But they were exhausted.
They could not travel any farther that day. They agreed to stop for
the night and push ahead in the morning.
Dark clouds warned that more
bad weather might be coming.
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