In this episode, the American dream turns into an infamous nightmare for the members of the Donner Party, a group of pioneers traveling to California in the 1800s. After facing multiple setbacks along their journey, their wagon train become stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. As the snow accumulates and their supplies dwindle, the Donner Party must commit unthinkable acts in order to survive.
Sources:
The primary source that I (Siera) used for this episode was a book written by Eliza Houghton, the daughter of George Donner. Her book is entitled The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate, and it can be found for free on archive.org. Archive.org also contains several other books recounting the tragedy. For a quick introduction to the Donner Party, you can start with the articles below:
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/donner-party
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-donner-party