3262117 Across the Plains in the Donner Party, 1846 (litho) by American School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: The Donner Party (sometimes called the Donner-Reed Party) was a group of American pioneers led by George Donner and James F. Reed who set out for California in a wagon train in May 1846. They were delayed by a series of mishaps and mistakes, and spent the winter of 1846??7 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Some of the pioneers resorted to cannibalism to survive.); Peter Newark Pictures; American, out of copyright.