Introduction+(Harrison)

**__Into the Minds of the Donner Party__**   I was nearing the end of the book //Alive// by Piers Paul Read, when someone first mentioned the story of the Donner Party to me. //Alive//, the true story of the rugby team who were stranded in the Andes after their plane crashed, and the Donner Party had very similar story lines, as history repeats itself. Each are true stories that portray human endurance, sacrifice, and nature in its most open and naked form. They are the stories that tell of what lengths we humans will go to, to keep fighting for our life and survival.  I remember being confused about the name “Donner Party.” I had no idea what it was, though it did sound interesting. It didn’t weigh on my mind though, seeing that when I went to my mom for further detail, I had already forgotten the nameless Party. Since I hadn’t remembered the first name, she couldn’t help me, and the thought was soon brushed away.  But this year, the remembrance of the Donner Party was sparked in my mind as a topic for my research paper in Mrs. Gallego’s class. After the paper was finished, I had a more in-depth understanding of the history of the Donner Party, but I still wanted to know more.  I knew the reasons some had done what they did, why they had taken the route they took, but now, what I really want is to see inside their minds. I want to discover what the members of the Donner Party thought when they were stranded up in the cold, snowy Sierra Nevada. I want to know if in those longs months they ever even expected to find salvation, if any of them still clung to hope they would be rescued. I want to know why some just gave up, and why some pushed on ahead. But I really want to figure out what made them turn on one another. Why they cast narrow-eyed glances at one another’s backs, why they turned to whisper cautiously and unheard into someone’s ear, why these people, brought up into a world where they were taught morals, ethics, and religion, would toss those away and turn into nothing other than savages in the end.  And as I pour through information and research once more, I try and discover the meanings behind those, and try to understand the true complexity of the desperate human mind. But before I begin, I can tell you this: There is no party like the Donner Party.