Donner Party

In 1846, just a few years before the Gold Rush, a group consisting of thirty six men, women, and children seeking a new start in California attempted, against advisement, to cross the Sierra Nevada range and found themselves ensnared in the frigid mountains and ultimately resorting to cannibalism. Ric Burns' treatment of the chilling, mythical tale of Manifest Destiny is hauntingly told and features exquisite photography of the region.