Grinning, you embrace your boyhood friend.

"Harold, good to see you, as always."

Harold grins. "I know it is! Everyone says the same exact damn thing!"

He chuckles, long and low.

"But come, I haven't seen you since our last battle! That was two bloody months ago, near as! Where've you been! Avoiding me, have you?"

You laugh

"If I went to another feast of yours, I wouldn't fit into my mail"

He shakes his head ruefully

"You should learn to unwind more! Live your life, you know? Speaking of, how's your wife?"

You nod solemnly

"She fares well, and yours?"

Harold snorts derisively

"Fat and ugly, as always. Ah well, that's what tavern girls are for, eh?"

He grins and nudges you with his shoulder; you shrug. Harold notices your expression and laughs again

"As chaste as a damned priest! Ah well, we'll break you in eventually."

Again you shrug. You and Harold have very different views on the matter, he won't change, nor will you. The best course, you decide, is to skate around the issue altogether. Nodding towards the hill, you speak seriously

"What do you make of our defenses?"

Harold frowns, his earlier humor gone. He throws up his hands irritably.

"My Kingdom depends on a hill and five thousand farmers"

You shake your head

"Five thousand farmers and three thousand warriors"

Harold nods

"Aye. True enough. We'll make this William pay for every inch, if nothing else"

He squints at the hill in the fading light

"The scouts say William has four thousand cavalry"

You shake your head decisively

"No cavalry in the world can break a strong shieldwall"

Harold laughs bitterly

"Our shieldwall isn't strong! It's weak! Half of the bloody farmers don't even own shields! Goddamned useless bastards!"

Surveying the hill thoughtfully, two plans come to mind;

You could craft wooden stakes and plant them along the hill, disorganizing the horse charge.

Or you could create makeshift shields for the conscripts, to help them hold the line.

The carpenters will only have enough time to do one of the two tasks, you must choose which you value most.
> You craft makeshift shields
You look back at the camp, where five thousand farmers, butchers, bakers, and other citizens huddle in their cloaks for warmth, or sit by a fire and listen in awe as soldiers tell them tales of battles in faraway lands. None of them are ready for this, and most will not have the courage to face the prospect of shieldwall combat willingly. Giving them a slight advantage is the least you can do, really.

"If your carpenters can hew some fresh wood, they could make shields for the conscripts. Nothing fancy, just a wood board with a grip. Something to keep them alive. To keep them from breaking."

Harold claps you on the shoulder

"I'll have my carpenters start working right away! Let's turn these farmers into proper soldiers!"

He laughs, and you see the fire in his eyes. This is what King Harold does best. Strategy and rule he manages, but it's the fighting he loves. You understand the feeling all too well. How many times have you knelt before a cross, armor bloody and gore speckled, thinking back with revulsion and guilt at how you loved it.

Loved every bit of it.

Loved the blades flashing, reflecting the rays of the sun. Loved the sound of shields splintering, cracking open.

Loved the bloody chaos of the shieldwall.

In the clash of the shieldwall it is where men like you, and Harold, and no doubt William too, come alive.

This world has molded you.

Molded you into a warrior.

You are bred for this.


Acwellen continues to stare into the flickering glow of the burning town. His face is stony, unfathomable. You turn to leave, picking your way through a patch of muck gingerly. Pressing down with your foot, you assess the ground. Certain patches are dry, but the soil is perilously loose. All it will take is a night of rain to turn the battlefield into a muddy hell. Well, you think to yourself, at least the mud will hurt the Normans worse than us.

"Aethelwulf!"

A voice interrupts your musings.

A very familiar voice, deep and booming. It is the voice of Harold, your king.

At just under six feet, he stands a head taller than most, and is just on par with yourself. Both his beard and hair are a fiery orange, and both are thick and wild. His chest is broad and his body muscular, but you notice a distinct bulge in the leather jerkin around his midriff; his infamous love of revelry has not gone unpunished.

"Aethelwulf, you canny bastard!"

He bellows, grinning and thumping you on the back.
> You say "My liege"
Inclining your head respectfully, you murmur solemnly

"My liege"

King Harold laughs madly, and then punches you light-heartedly on the shoulder

"You always were a mannerful bastard, Aethelwulf!"

He chuckles, long and low.

"But come, I haven't seen you since our last battle! That was two bloody months ago, near as! Where've you been! Avoiding me, have you?"

You laugh, your respectful tone undone by his amicable nature.

"If I went to another feast of yours, I wouldn't fit into my mail"

He shakes his head ruefully

"You should learn to unwind more! Live your life, you know? Speaking of, how's your wife?"

You nod solemnly

"She fares well, and yours?"

Harold snorts derisively

"Fat and ugly, as always. Ah well, that's what tavern girls are for, eh?"

He grins and nudges you with his shoulder; you shrug. Harold notices your expression and laughs again

"As chaste as a damned priest! Ah well, we'll break you in eventually."

Again you shrug. You and Harold have very different views on the matter, he won't change, nor will you. The best course, you decide, is to skate around the issue altogether. Nodding towards the hill, you speak seriously

"What do you make of our defenses?"

Harold frowns, his earlier humor gone. He throws up his hands irritably.

"My Kingdom depends on a hill and five thousand farmers"

You shake your head

"Five thousand farmers and three thousand warriors"

Harold nods

"Aye. True enough. We'll make this William pay for every inch, if nothing else"

He squints at the hill in the fading light

"The scouts say William has four thousand cavalry"

You shake your head decisively

"No cavalry in the world can break a strong shieldwall"

Harold laughs bitterly

"Our shieldwall isn't strong! It's weak! Half of the bloody farmers don't even own shields! Goddamned useless bastards!"

Surveying the hill thoughtfully, two plans come to mind;

You could craft wooden stakes and plant them along the hill, disorganizing the horse charge.

Or you could create makeshift shields for the conscripts, to help them hold the line.

The carpenters will only have enough time to do one of the two tasks, you must choose which one you believe is more strategic.


Gently, you place your hand on his shoulder and speak softly

"I'm sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine the pain of losing a son, but I am sure he looks down on you from heaven."

Acwellen's gaze remains fixed on the burning town, and his face is still set in a mask of stone, but his cheeks are streaked.

"Thank you"

He exhales shakily, opens his mouth to say something else, then closes it and remains silent, yet the words are plainly on his mind, trying to slip free like hounds on a leash. At last he speaks, grim and quiet, little more than a whisper.

"Can we win this battle?"

The question hangs there for an eternity, all the fear and anxiety of the English army expressed in the musings of one broken man.
> No
Hidden by the dense screen of trees, twelve thousand Norman warriors wait. Each one is battle ready, and battle hardened; professional killers. Within your camp waits fewer than eight thousand men, but of those eight thousand only three thousand can be trusted. The rest are just farmers, weary and ill-disciplined. Even with the high ground, these numbers are far too slanted.

You know it with a dull certainty; only death awaits you here.

Acwellen is still looking at you, waiting for a response. Your mouth moves of its own accord, the words escaping in a wisp of breath.

"No."


All around you is the smell of warfare. Acrid smoke from the campfires, piss and refuse from the latrines, sweat from the men.

And fear. You smell that too.

These men have reason to be afraid. You have spent the last few months fighting King Harold's enemies, only to march double-time to confront his most dangerous yet; William of Normandy. His army is camped below, twelve thousand men strong, in comparison to your eight thousand. There is reason to be afraid. Are you afraid? No, you affirm decisively in your mind. You are not afraid. You are Lord Aethelwulf, The Lord In The North, King Harold's most trusted advisor, and the veteran of a hundred battles. Why should you be afraid of an army of ragtag Normans who come to die on your sword?

Shaking such doubts from your mind, you stride purposefully through the bustle of the camp, intent on checking on the forward defenses. A pair of giggling urchins weave nimbly around you and a staggering drunk lurches out in front of you, notices your sparkling chainmail armor and backs away, apologizing profusely. Striding onward towards the edge of the English camp you pass the watchful gaze of the sentries unchallenged and stand at the upper slope of the hill.

You are not alone. Another man sits on the hill, wreathed in the shadow of the setting sun. Drawing closer you recognize him as Acwellen, a minor lord, but stalwart fighter. His face is stone, his jaw grimly set and his eyes staring out at the horizon. Looking over his shoulder you see the black smoke smearing the red evening sky. In the distance the town of Hastings burns. In the blurry uncertainty of the setting sun, you cannot tell if the glisten at his eyes is tears or just the sparkle of dying sunlight. Acwellen's son, you remember, was put in command of Hasting's garrison.

Above the treeline you can just make out the crackle of flames. Hastings burns.
> You remind him his son could be alive
Adamantly, you grip him by the shoulder and turn him to face you. Kneeling, you look him in the eyes, grasping his shoulders with sudden ferocity.

"Listen to me Acwellen! Your son may not be dead. Every hour men from the garrison at Hastings enter our camp. There are survivors. Do not give up hope so soon"

Acwellen sighs raggedly, and seems about to disagree, but instead nods fiercely.

"Yes. You're right. I cannot give up hope, my son... my son could still be out there"

His conviction appears slight, but at least you have gotten his attention away from the blaze of Hastings' buildings. Acwellen exhales shakily, opens his mouth to say something else, then closes it and remains silent, yet the words are plainly on his mind, trying to slip free like hounds on a leash. At last he speaks, grim and quiet, little more than a whisper.

"Can we win this battle?"

The question hangs there for an eternity, all the fear and anxiety of the English army expressed in the musings of one broken man.


You are an immigrant travelling along the Oregon Trail to California, joining the thousands of settlers who are crossing America to the rich fertile lands of Oregon and California. Three months of journeying alone finds you in Fort Bridger, the last outpost on the Oregon Trail until you come to California. An explorer named Lansford Hastings recommends that settlers travelling to California leave the Oregon Trail here and follow a route known as Hasting’s Cut-Off, a shortcut across the Salt Lake Desert and Sierra Nevada Mountains that will save hundreds of miles of travelling.

Jim Bridger, a legendary explorer and owner of the trading post Fort Bridger, also recommends the route to the last party of settlers to arrive before you: a group of eighty-seven people led by two brothers called George and Jacob Donner. Hastings left Fort Bridger a week ago, escorting another party through Hastings Cut-Off and though you are disappointed to have missed him you decide to join the Donner Party who are also taking the route.

It will prove to be the worst decision of your life.

On the last day of July the Donner Party leaves Fort Bridger and you leave with them, driving your wagon piled high with provisions. You travel over the hills and valleys of the Wasatch Mountains until after a week a letter is discovered tied to a sage bush at the mouth of a canyon. It is from Hastings and advises against going down the canyon as it is rocky and might damage the wagons. He suggests that any immigrants following should send some people on fast horses to catch up with him so he can give specific directions about the route ahead.

Three men: James Reed (a man with a strong personality and one of the most respected members of the party), Charles Stanton (Another strong personality in the party who is travelling to California on his own initiative) and William Pike (An engineer and one of the cleverest men in the group) are chosen to perform the dangerous task of travelling across unfamiliar country to try and catch up with Hastings. You can either volunteer to accompany them or remain camped with the Donner Party.

What do you do?

> You ride ahead
Riding hard for three days with your companions you cover a great deal of distance before finally catching up with Hastings and a large wagon party of a few hundred settlers on the shores of the great Salt Lake. By the time the four of you catch up with him you are all exhausted and your horses are close to collapse. Lansford Hastings is a strong-jawed man with a rapidly receding hairline and despite his note he is surprised to see you.

While Charles Stanton and William Pike rest their horses you and James Reed trade your horses for two fresh ones from some of the settlers with Hastings and ride with him to the summit of a nearby mountain where Hastings explains the best direction to travel across the Canyon’s wooded slopes and promises to continue leaving messages. Reed is keen to ride ahead and get back to the Donner Party to get them moving along this but both Pike and Stanton’s horses are tired. Reed proposes to split up: he’ll ride ahead back to the Party while Stanton and Pike follow behind.

What do you do?

> You ride ahead with Reed
It took three days to reach Stanton but by riding with incredible speed and determination it takes just one for you and James Reed to return to the Donner Party. There Reed boastfully describes meeting with Lansford Hastings and how they worked out the route the Donner Party should take. Unfortunately it turns out to be a not very good route and you have to cut a road through the thick trees that line the Canyon’s sides and haul the wagons up some steep inclines to make it. Charles Stanton and William Pike become lost on their return journey and arrive twelve days after you, extremely hungry and very relieved to re-discover the Party. The jubilation of their safe return and finally reaching the Salt Lake Desert is marred by a tragedy that happens the next day.

> The first death...
Just outside Fort Bridger a young man called Luke Halloran joined your group: dying of tuberculosis he was taken in by George and Jacob Donner and allowed to ride in their wagon. On the shores of the Salt Lake he collapses and dies suddenly of his illness. There was nothing anyone could have done but his death casts a bleak mood of the Party. He is buried the next day on the shores of Salt Lake next to the grave of another settler who died on his way to California.

Pressing on you enter the Salt Desert in September, a place of skin-blistering heat and dry humidity. The wagons struggle to cross the Desert, the cattle pulling them consume enormous amounts of water as they struggle to pull the wagons. James Reed is forced to abandon two of his wagons and George Donner and another settler, a fierce man called Louis Keseberg, both have to abandon one of their wagons. The whole wagon train becomes strung out over many miles and the cattle herds with the wagons become separated, many of them dying. Somehow you manage to keep your wagon moving and your cattle alive but the experience is nightmarish.

Finally you and your companions make it across the Desert and camp at a spring for several days which are spent rounding up lost cattle, recovering things from the abandoned wagons and it is not until nearly the middle of September that the Party is ready to continue. The crossing through the Desert killed many cattle and also cost the Party many supplies. Most of the settlers, especially James Reed, are now concerned they might not have enough food to make it all the way to California.

A plan is soon made: Charles Stanton and another settler called William McCutchen (a giant of a man who is travelling to California with his wife and baby daughter) volunteer to go ahead on fast horses to Fort Sutter, the first trading post in California, collect fresh supplies and bring them back to the Party. Moving fast they could be back in as little as a month. If you want you can ride ahead with them to California or you can remain travelling with the Donner Party.

What do you do?

> You stay with the Donner Party
After Charles Stanton and William McCutchen leave things get no better. Though you are out of the Desert Indians now begin to steal horses from the Party at night and tempers become very short. Arguments begin to break out between the settlers as food becomes scarce and hunger begins to set in. The situation inevitably culminates in violence in October when two wagons become stuck while climbing a difficult hill.

Your wagon becomes stuck in the rocks while climbing the hill, forcing James Reed’s wagon and another belonging to Franklin Graves (a friendly man travelling with his wife, seven children and son-in-law) to collide. Reed loses his temper and snarls “Move you damn fool, you have no business being in my way!” “Shut your mouth trash or I‘ll shut it for you” barks back John Snyder, a hot-tempered driver working for Graves.

At this Reed completely loses his temper and springing from his wagon he strides across towards Snyder who drops to the ground to meet him. You are startled to see a long-bladed butcher’s knife gleaming in Reed’s hand and there is murder in his eyes.

What do you do?

> You rush forward to intervene
You drop from your wagon and race forward as Reed plunges his blade deep into Snyder’s chest. Snyder staggers backwards clutching his wound and falls to the ground. As you run up Reed whirls and slashes his knife across your throat, opening a savage wound. You step back and clutch your throat, stunned. Immediately Reed drops the knife and looks horrified. “My God, what have I done?” he cries but it is too late. The world turns black and you collapse lifeless to the ground.


After Charles Stanton and William McCutchen leave things get no better. Though you are out of the Desert Indians now begin to steal horses from the Party at night and tempers become very short. Arguments begin to break out between the settlers as food becomes scarce and hunger begins to set in. The situation inevitably culminates in violence in October when two wagons become stuck while climbing a difficult hill.

Your wagon becomes stuck in the rocks while climbing the hill, forcing James Reed’s wagon and another belonging to Franklin Graves (a friendly man travelling with his wife, seven children and son-in-law) to collide. Reed loses his temper and snarls “Move you damn fool, you have no business being in my way!” “Shut your mouth trash or I‘ll shut it for you” barks back John Snyder, a hot-tempered driver working for Graves.

At this Reed completely loses his temper and springing from his wagon he strides across towards Snyder who drops to the ground to meet him. You are startled to see a long-bladed butcher’s knife gleaming in Reed’s hand and there is murder in his eyes.

What do you do?

> You fetch your pistol from your wagon
You find your pistol and cocking it you jump from the wagon. You are just in time to see Snyder staggering towards you, his eyes wide in shock and the handle of Reed’s knife sticking out of the centre of his chest. Reed stands shocked by what he has done and as you stare at him several other men including the Donner brothers come running up. Before your eyes Snyder collapses to the ground and breathes his last breath.

The men of the Donner Party quickly gather and Reed is surrounded, giving in without a fight. He is placed under armed guard while a quick discussion ensues over what to do with him. Franklin Graves is furious that Reed has murdered his employee while his wife and children are crying hysterically. “Hang him” Louis Keseberg urges, looking fiercely among you. “No” replies William Eddy (a friend of Reed’s and a skilled marksman). “Mr Reed should leave the camp.”

There is a great deal of arguing for a while and eventually it is agreed that Reed should take some food and be sent away to make his own way to California. One of Reed’s teamsters called Walter Herron volunteers to accompany him and Reed, still in a state of shock, says a brief farewell to his wife and children. Snyder is buried; the Graves Family are inconsolable and the whole Party is stunned by this sudden outbreak of violence. William Eddy is worried about Reed and Herron’s chances of making it to California on their own and mutters to you that perhaps others should go with them.

What do you do?

> You stay with the Donner Party
After Reed and Herron leave the Donner Party’s situation continues to deteriorate. Indians shoot arrows at William Eddy and William Pike when they are hunting away from the main party and both are lucky to escape unhurt. Louis Keseberg irritated by his elderly wagon-driver Hardcoop’s increasing complaints orders him out of his wagon and snaps at him to walk. Hardcoop manages keeps up for the first day but increasingly begins to lag behind. Without James the Reed family have to abandon another wagon and now many of the Party are on foot: a dangerous situation to be in with so many hostile Indians about. At noon you see Hardcoop, now a long way behind, collapse and crawl under the shade of some bushes.

What do you do?

> You go back to help him
Unable to turn your wagon around you abandon it and carrying two canteens of water you walk back to where you saw Hardcoop fall. By the time you reach him you can see you are too late: the old man is dead. By now the Donner Party have vanished from sight and you hurry back as fast as you can, drinking all your water. You don’t even see the Indian hiding behind a rock until it is too late, with deadly accuracy he shoots you through the head, ending your journey and life in an instant.


After Reed and Herron leave the Donner Party’s situation continues to deteriorate. Indians shoot arrows at William Eddy and William Pike when they are hunting away from the main party and both are lucky to escape unhurt. Louis Keseberg irritated by his elderly wagon-driver Hardcoop’s increasing complaints orders him out of his wagon and snaps at him to walk. Hardcoop manages keeps up for the first day but increasingly begins to lag behind. Without James the Reed family have to abandon another wagon and now many of the Party are on foot: a dangerous situation to be in with so many hostile Indians about. At noon you see Hardcoop, now a long way behind, collapse and crawl under the shade of some bushes.

What do you do?

> You grit your teeth and press on
That day’s journey is a difficult one and that night Hardcoop fails to rejoin the group, William Eddy and another man do go out to look for him but return without him after a few hours. Without food and water and surrounded by hostile Indians there is little chance that the old man is still alive. Louis Keseberg is criticised by most of the group for forcing Hardcoop out of his wagon and Keseberg responds by angrily challenging anyone who doesn’t like him to a fight. The Party is beginning to tear itself apart.

Moving on the next day you come across the skeleton of a settler killed by Indians, more horses are stolen and that night nineteen cattle vanish, stolen by Indians who occasionally fire arrows at your group from hiding in the rocks all around. Keseberg steps on a spiked tree stump and seriously injures his foot, making him more disagreeable, Indians make off with no less than twenty-one oxen the next day and William Eddy is forced to abandon his wagon.

A week after Hardcoop’s death another wagon owned by a German called Wolfinger falls behind. Two other Germans called Joseph Reinhardt and Augustus Spitzer go back to help him. They are mean-looking fellows and for some reason both take their rifles with them when they go back. You don’t like the look of this but the other members of the Party appear not to see and continue struggling to get their remaining wagons to the Humboldt River.

What do you do?

> You go back to help Wolfinger
Leaving your wagon you walk back on foot towards Wolfinger’s wagon. As you approach you hear the boom of a gunshot and see Wolfinger fall from his wagon to the ground. You cry out and both Reinhardt and Spitzer, their rifles raised, turn and see you. As you turn to run they both open fire with deadly accuracy. A bullet hits you in the back of the head, killing you instantly and you fall to the ground, murdered like Wolfinger for your money.


That day’s journey is a difficult one and that night Hardcoop fails to rejoin the group, William Eddy and another man do go out to look for him but return without him after a few hours. Without food and water and surrounded by hostile Indians there is little chance that the old man is still alive. Louis Keseberg is criticised by most of the group for forcing Hardcoop out of his wagon and Keseberg responds by angrily challenging anyone who doesn’t like him to a fight. The Party is beginning to tear itself apart.

Moving on the next day you come across the skeleton of a settler killed by Indians, more horses are stolen and that night nineteen cattle vanish, stolen by Indians who occasionally fire arrows at your group from hiding in the rocks all around. Keseberg steps on a spiked tree stump and seriously injures his foot, making him more disagreeable, Indians make off with no less than twenty-one oxen the next day and William Eddy is forced to abandon his wagon.

A week after Hardcoop’s death another wagon owned by a German called Wolfinger falls behind. Two other Germans called Joseph Reinhardt and Augustus Spitzer go back to help him. They are mean-looking fellows and for some reason both take their rifles with them when they go back. You don’t like the look of this but the other members of the Party appear not to see and continue struggling to get their remaining wagons to the Humboldt River.

What do you do?

> You keep moving
You keep going and that night Reinhardt and Spitzer rejoin the Party without Wolfinger. In grim tones and with lowered eyes they tell the group, which includes Wolfinger’s young wife Doris, that Wolfinger was killed by Indians who pilfered his wagon. Many in the group quietly express doubts among themselves that the pair are lying but no one is willing to go back and investigate so the matter is dropped but the mood in the group plunges even more.

The next day William Eddy and Patrick Breen (a wealthy settler and dedicated Catholic travelling with his large family) nearly get into a fight when Breen refuses to give Eddy any water for his thirsty children and Eddy threatens to kill him, the matter is only resolved when the Donner Brothers intervene and persuade Breen to give up some of his water. As the Donner Party struggles slowly on, suffering now from lack of provisions along with everything else.

You reach Truckee Meadows near the Humboldt River and here the Party halts for a rest. A small hunting group is prepared by William Pike and William Foster (a tough young man travelling with his wife and infant child). They are loading various weapons and drying wet gunpowder packets near the fire when William Eddy walks up to you and suggests that you join the pair in trying to shoot some animals for food.

What do you do?

> You join Pike and Foster's hunting expedition
You join Pike and Foster by the fire where they are loading their pistols. Someone yells for Foster to put some more wood on the fire. “Here hold this for me” he says passing you his pistol. As you seize the weapon it accidentally fires, the bullet piercing your heart and killing you instantly, victim of a tragic accident.


You keep going and that night Reinhardt and Spitzer rejoin the Party without Wolfinger. In grim tones and with lowered eyes they tell the group, which includes Wolfinger’s young wife Doris, that Wolfinger was killed by Indians who pilfered his wagon. Many in the group quietly express doubts among themselves that the pair are lying but no one is willing to go back and investigate so the matter is dropped but the mood in the group plunges even more.

The next day William Eddy and Patrick Breen (a wealthy settler and dedicated Catholic travelling with his large family) nearly get into a fight when Breen refuses to give Eddy any water for his thirsty children and Eddy threatens to kill him, the matter is only resolved when the Donner Brothers intervene and persuade Breen to give up some of his water. As the Donner Party struggles slowly on, suffering now from lack of provisions along with everything else.

You reach Truckee Meadows near the Humboldt River and here the Party halts for a rest. A small hunting group is prepared by William Pike and William Foster (a tough young man travelling with his wife and infant child). They are loading various weapons and drying wet gunpowder packets near the fire when William Eddy walks up to you and suggests that you join the pair in trying to shoot some animals for food.

What do you do?

> You stay with the rest of the Party
You decline to join the group and it is just as well. William Foster is loading his pistol when it accidentally goes off, hitting his brother-in-law William Pike in the back and killing him instantly. This accident, the latest to befall the Party, is an especially great tragedy as the two men were the closest of friends, Pike was a popular member of the group and he leaves behind a wife and two infant children. Foster is horrified by the accident and inconsolable for weeks.

Three days later Charles Stanton returns to the Donner Party bringing with him seven mules loaded down with food being driven by two Indians called Luis and Salvador. Everyone is overjoyed to see him return and Stanton quickly fills you in on a few details. He says William McCutchen has fallen ill and is back at Fort Sutter in California. He met James Reed and Walter Herron on his way over the mountains and though on the verge of starvation both men made it to California safely. He reports it took him just eight days to travel from Johnson’s Ranch, the furthest outpost of civilization in California, to the Donner Party. One last push will get you over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to California and safety.

As soon as the Donner Party sets off the troubles begin again. An Indian shoots nineteen oxen with arrows until William Eddy shoots him with his rifle and kills him. George Donner cuts his hand very badly trying to repair his wagon and the Donner Brothers, who are not young men, begin to lag behind. Even worse it starts to snow on the last day of October, which threatens to make the journey over the Sierra Nevada Mountains practically impossible. Charles Stanton, Patrick Breen and a few other families press ahead, climbing near vertical slopes while the Donner Brothers fall increasingly behind, slowed by George’s injury.

What do you do?

> You press on ahead
Determined to press on over the mountains before the passes become impassable you join a small group that includes Patrick Breen, William Eddy, Louis Keseberg, Charles Stanton, Patrick Dolan (a friend of Breen’s) and the two Indians Luis and Salvador in pushing on towards the summit. It is not to be however: the snow begins to fall more thickly and the pass below is impassable. You cannot go forward or backwards.

You are trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains until the snow melts in the spring.

Wearily you turn back to re-join the women and the children who have stopped on the edge of a frozen lake. The Donner Brothers did not even make it this far: snowbound down at Alder Creek eight miles further down the mountain they have halted there. As November goes on all the settlers begin to build cabins: at Truckee Lake the Breen and Murphy families build a cabin each while the Reeds and Graves Families share a cabin. Louis Keseberg builds a strange sort of lean-to against the Breen Cabin for his wife and their children. William Eddy and his family move in with the Murphy’s while Charles Stanton and the two Indians move in with the Graves and Reeds.

Down at Alder Creek the Donner’s build two cabins, one for the Donner family and the other for various wagon drivers and others, including Mrs Wolfinger who has been with the Donner’s since the death of her husband. In all there are twenty-one people staying at the Donner’s camp at Alder Creek and sixty living up by Truckee Lake. For your part you had better move into one of the two camps and make yourself comfortable: the snow won’t melt until Spring and the supplies are not going to last nearly that long.

Which camp do you move into?

> The Alder Creek Camp
Finding room in the tent that holds the Donner Brother’s wagon drivers you make yourself as comfortable as you can in a corner with blankets and hunker down. There is little you can do: a strange lethargy seems to have come over the camp at Alder Creek: George Donner is still suffering badly from his wounded hand and Jacob Donner is looking more ill by the day. Both brothers, especially Jacob, keep themselves busy writing letters that various wagon drivers run up to the camp at Truckee Lake promising generous amounts of money for any food, no matter how small. All the cattle have already been slaughtered and everyone is cold and hungry.

In mid-December you visit the camp at Truckee Lake and return with an interesting note from Charles Stanton addressed to George Donner at “Donnersville”. It mentions that he and Franklin Graves have been making snow shoes to try and cross the snow into California and asks for Donner’s compass and some tobacco. Travelling up to Truckee Lake with Donner’s compass you find that seventeen volunteers have been equipped with snowshoes to attempt the dangerous crossing of the snow-filled passes.

This group consists of William Eddy, Franklin Graves, Patrick Dolan (Patrick Breen‘s friend), Jay Fosdick (Grave’s son-in-law), William Foster (the man who accidentally shot William Pike), Donner teamsters Dutch Charley Burger and Antonio, Sarah Fosdick (Jay Fosdick’s wife), Sarah Foster (William Foster’s wife), Mary Graves (Franklin’s adult daughter), Amanda McCutchen (William McCutchen’s wife), Harriet Pike (William Pike’s widow), Lemuel Murphy (who is twelve) and William Murphy (who is ten). The journey will be dangerous and extremely risky but you can either volunteer or sit tight in the camp.

What do you do?

> You volunteer yourself
Each member of the Snowshoes Party is given enough food for six days (at least enough for a few bites each day) and a pair of snowshoes. It is quickly discovered that William Murphy cannot keep up and he is sent back to the camp with Dutch Charley Burger, a little chunky man who is not built for this sort of activity. If you want to turn back now this is your last chance, otherwise you’ll have to risk the dangers of the snow-filled passes.

What do you do?

> You press on
Pressing on you initially make good progress, reaching the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains after one day’s travel. Charles Stanton who has been exerting himself a great deal in making the snowshoes begins to suffer from snow blindness and fall behind. By the fifth day there is very little food left and everyone is exhausted. Stanton declares he is unable to walk and sitting by the fire calmly smoking his pipe he tells the rest of your group to go on without him. After a few moments hesitation the group resume their journey.

What do you do?

> You stay with Stanton
Remembering everything Stanton has done to help the group you know that you can’t leave him behind. Sitting next to him the pair of you enjoy a last smoke and as the wind begins to whip the snow up all around you lose sight of each other. A wave of tiredness overcomes you and you find you can neither get up nor do you want to try. The pair of you die there in the snowy pass.


Pressing on you initially make good progress, reaching the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains after one day’s travel. Charles Stanton who has been exerting himself a great deal in making the snowshoes begins to suffer from snow blindness and fall behind. By the fifth day there is very little food left and everyone is exhausted. Stanton declares he is unable to walk and sitting by the fire calmly smoking his pipe he tells the rest of your group to go on without him. After a few moments hesitation the group resume their journey.

What do you do?

> You head on with the others
Charles Stanton is left behind and you continue to resolutely press on for another three days, William Eddy finds his wife has secretly packed some bear meat in his bag and shares it with the rest of you. After that there is nothing to eat and soon the talk is becoming increasingly wild, people proposing that some members of the group be killed for food or that they turn back to the camp. All the women and William Eddy are determined to keep going but all the rest want to stop.

As you are arguing a snowstorm catches you all out in the open. Immediately you and your companions gather together for warmth and wrap yourselves in blankets but it is no good. The young Mexican teamster Antonio dies first, perishing without a sound. Franklin Gardner, in his late fifties, succumbs next. He lies very still, barely moving and Eddy tells him he is dying. Gardner replies he does not care and urges his daughters Sarah and Mary to eat his body after he dies. He expires soon after. As the cold increases you feel an increasingly irrational urge to run out into the snowstorm and hunt for food.

What do you do?

> You leave the group to search for something to kill
There is nothing you can do. Losing all control of yourself you race out into the snow. Immediately you lose sight of your companions and never find them again. You stagger on until you collapse and half-buried by the fast-falling snow you never get up again.


Charles Stanton is left behind and you continue to resolutely press on for another three days, William Eddy finds his wife has secretly packed some bear meat in his bag and shares it with the rest of you. After that there is nothing to eat and soon the talk is becoming increasingly wild, people proposing that some members of the group be killed for food or that they turn back to the camp. All the women and William Eddy are determined to keep going but all the rest want to stop.

As you are arguing a snowstorm catches you all out in the open. Immediately you and your companions gather together for warmth and wrap yourselves in blankets but it is no good. The young Mexican teamster Antonio dies first, perishing without a sound. Franklin Gardner, in his late fifties, succumbs next. He lies very still, barely moving and Eddy tells him he is dying. Gardner replies he does not care and urges his daughters Sarah and Mary to eat his body after he dies. He expires soon after. As the cold increases you feel an increasingly irrational urge to run out into the snowstorm and hunt for food.

What do you do?

> You sit tight
It is a miserable Christmas. All day the snowstorm rages and you are convinced that all of you will die out here. Patrick Breen’s friend Patrick Dolan goes next. He becomes delirious with hunger, tearing off his clothes and racing out into the storm: it is with great difficulty that William Eddy gets him under control and physically forces him back. He is held down until he becomes increasingly quiet and eventually dies. Poor Lemuel Murphy dies next: he showed great courage and endurance for a boy of twelve. Like Dolan he becomes delirious and his sister Sarah Foster tries to distract him with a story about the moon, tears in her eyes. Eventually he too slips away into the endless night.

The cold is overwhelming you and you want to do nothing but shut your eyes. It occurs to you that if you can just get some sleep you will feel stronger when you wake up and better able to handle the cold, which is piercing your bones like a knife.

What do you do?

> You shut your eyes
The darkness overwhelms you but you couldn’t care less. Everything is numb, faded and blurred and all you want to do is sleep. So you shut your eyes and drift down, down into the darkness and escape from this world of pain and terror.


It is a miserable Christmas. All day the snowstorm rages and you are convinced that all of you will die out here. Patrick Breen’s friend Patrick Dolan goes next. He becomes delirious with hunger, tearing off his clothes and racing out into the storm: it is with great difficulty that William Eddy gets him under control and physically forces him back. He is held down until he becomes increasingly quiet and eventually dies. Poor Lemuel Murphy dies next: he showed great courage and endurance for a boy of twelve. Like Dolan he becomes delirious and his sister Sarah Foster tries to distract him with a story about the moon, tears in her eyes. Eventually he too slips away into the endless night.

The cold is overwhelming you and you want to do nothing but shut your eyes. It occurs to you that if you can just get some sleep you will feel stronger when you wake up and better able to handle the cold, which is piercing your bones like a knife.

What do you do?

> You force them to remain open
Finally the snow storm at Camp Death dies down and you and the other survivors emerge from the snow-covered blankets, moving stiffly and more dead than alive. You join the remaining men in setting fire to a pine tree and you all lie around it, so utterly indifferent to the heat that William Eddy, Sarah Foster and Amanda McCutchen all get burned. You spend three days in the camp, drying the bodies of the dead which you then carve up with a knife and begin to eat. The meat you dry on the fire and without thinking about it you just eat. Some of the men and women have tears frozen on their faces, each being careful not to eat a family member.

Finally you resume your journey, packaging the human flesh you have not yet eaten so you can take it with you. Struggling on you clamber over rocks, your feet numbed and bleeding as your snowshoes begin to fall apart. When all the flesh is eaten a week later someone proposes you kill the two Indians who are with you. As the suggestion gains favour in the group the Indians, understandably terrified, flee from the rest of you. The next day Jay Fosdick collapses and his wife Sarah stays with him. Eddy causes unrestrained joy when he manages to shoot down a skeletal deer which is quickly butchered for food. You have stayed back with Jay and like Sarah you try to tell him to hold on, that Eddy has just shot a deer, but it is no good. Jay expires and Sarah, telling you she wishes to die too, lies next to him. The rest of the group walks away.

What do you do?

> You try to persuade Sarah to rejoin the group
With a broken voice you whisper at Sarah to hold on but seeing her lying there tranquil make you want to rest too. You lie down near the couple and remain still. Slowly the coldness creeps through you, overwhelming you with weariness and almost gently you slip out of this world.


Finally the snow storm at Camp Death dies down and you and the other survivors emerge from the snow-covered blankets, moving stiffly and more dead than alive. You join the remaining men in setting fire to a pine tree and you all lie around it, so utterly indifferent to the heat that William Eddy, Sarah Foster and Amanda McCutchen all get burned. You spend three days in the camp, drying the bodies of the dead which you then carve up with a knife and begin to eat. The meat you dry on the fire and without thinking about it you just eat. Some of the men and women have tears frozen on their faces, each being careful not to eat a family member.

Finally you resume your journey, packaging the human flesh you have not yet eaten so you can take it with you. Struggling on you clamber over rocks, your feet numbed and bleeding as your snowshoes begin to fall apart. When all the flesh is eaten a week later someone proposes you kill the two Indians who are with you. As the suggestion gains favour in the group the Indians, understandably terrified, flee from the rest of you. The next day Jay Fosdick collapses and his wife Sarah stays with him. Eddy causes unrestrained joy when he manages to shoot down a skeletal deer which is quickly butchered for food. You have stayed back with Jay and like Sarah you try to tell him to hold on, that Eddy has just shot a deer, but it is no good. Jay expires and Sarah, telling you she wishes to die too, lies next to him. The rest of the group walks away.

What do you do?

> You keep walking
Despite her wishes Sarah Fosdick does not die. Her sister Mary Graves returns for her and the pair cut up Jay Fosdick’s body for food. Somehow Mary helps her sister rejoin the rest of the group and you silently eat the cold meat, the dead man’s wife watching with tears in her eyes before silently accepting some flesh and chewing. Jay Fosdick’s death means you, William Eddy and William Foster are the last surviving men along with the five women and Foster is beginning to show alarming signs of derangement. Drawing you and Eddy to one side he quietly whispers that at least one of the women must be killed to feed the others.

William Eddy’s temper snaps and throwing a large stick to Foster he draws his knife and barks “defend yourself Foster!” You restrain Eddy while Foster stands motionless staring at Eddy before quietly walking away. For the moment danger is averted but the next day you come across the two Indians, Luis and Salvador, lying near death in the snow. Foster declares that the two Indians must die. When Eddy protests against this Foster draws his pistol and calmly shoots Luis in the head.

What do you do?

> You intervene to stop Foster killing Salvador
As you step forward to stop William Foster killing Salvador he turns the pistol on you. The first shot hits you in the throat and you fall to the ground, stepping forward Foster fires twice more into your head, his eyes wide with hunger and madness.


Despite her wishes Sarah Fosdick does not die. Her sister Mary Graves returns for her and the pair cut up Jay Fosdick’s body for food. Somehow Mary helps her sister rejoin the rest of the group and you silently eat the cold meat, the dead man’s wife watching with tears in her eyes before silently accepting some flesh and chewing. Jay Fosdick’s death means you, William Eddy and William Foster are the last surviving men along with the five women and Foster is beginning to show alarming signs of derangement. Drawing you and Eddy to one side he quietly whispers that at least one of the women must be killed to feed the others.

William Eddy’s temper snaps and throwing a large stick to Foster he draws his knife and barks “defend yourself Foster!” You restrain Eddy while Foster stands motionless staring at Eddy before quietly walking away. For the moment danger is averted but the next day you come across the two Indians, Luis and Salvador, lying near death in the snow. Foster declares that the two Indians must die. When Eddy protests against this Foster draws his pistol and calmly shoots Luis in the head.

What do you do?

> You stand back
You step back as Foster shoots Salvador in the head as well before dropping the pistol. The Indians are quickly carved up and a fire lit to cook their flesh. Foster sits silently by the flames, staring into their depths and not even his wife Sarah can trigger a reaction. Wearily you stumble on and three days later you meet with a small group of Indians who are so horrified by your skeletal appearance that they give you all some acorns to eat. The Indians are friendly and indicate for you to follow them. The women and Foster are too exhausted to walk so you and William Eddy follow the Indians and finally reach Johnson’s Ranch, the first settlement in California.

When you arrive, leaving a trail of blood, Eddy knocks on the door which is answered by a young lady. In a broken voice you ask for a little bread. The girl takes one look at the pair of you, bursts into tears and you are both hurried inside. Oh the wonder of it! Hot tea, food, warm beds and all the comforts you could want are provided! Supplies are hastily sent to the other six survivors. You set out with seventeen people a month ago: two turned back, eight died and only seven survived.

For now you don’t care: you are safe. Your terrible ordeal is over, thank god!

> You get some much-needed rest
It doesn’t take long for two familiar faces to turn up at Johnson’s Ranch: James Reed and William McCutchen who both made it over the mountains ahead of the Donner Party. You and Eddy give them tell them what happened in the mountains and you are not surprised to learn Reed is putting together an expedition to rescue survivors. Another expedition is already ready at Fort Sutter and Eddy, despite the ordeal you have already been through is determined to lead it back to the Donner Party. It is up to you which you join: Eddy’s is leaving quicker but his health is broken while Reed’s and McCutchen’s is leaving later but both are healthy.

Which expedition party do you want to accompany?

> You eddy's First Relief
The journey out to where the Donner Party is stranded is a nightmare, despite the fact you have plenty of food the snow has begun to thaw a little. There are fourteen of you in this rescue party but halfway through the journey William Eddy, still weakened by his earlier ordeal, is forced to turn back. Two more men are left behind with some of the provisions while the rest of you struggle on towards the Donner Party. The group becomes very discouraged and when three more men turn back, the rest begin muttering that they’ll be trapped in the snow like the Donner Party and die too.

What do you do?

> You press on
Pressing on bravely you and the others stumble over the mountains and three days later you reach a huddle of cabins on the shore of Truckee Lake late in the evening. Here you find less than forty emaciated survivors, mostly women and children. The first that you meet is a gaunt woman with a hollowed face who asks if you have come from California or heaven. Apparently your companions have been dying on an almost daily basis and your arrival prompts a great many tears of joy and prayers to God.

Patrick Breen is one of the healthiest remaining alive and though he has not lost any of his children he tells you a dozen have died since the Snowshoe Party left and that the Donner Brothers and others are further down the mountain at Alder Creek. It is perhaps fortunate that William Eddy did not accompany the expedition all this way as his wife Eleanor and youngest child Margaret are dead, the other child James is practically all bone. It is a terrible sight.

Pushing on ahead to Alder Creek you get there to find Jacob Donner and three others have died and those that remain are in a poor condition: George Donner has an infected hand from an earlier injury and there are many starving women and children there. Of the two remaining teamsters alive with the Donner’s one, Noah James, is too weak to help and though the other, Jean Baptiste is in better health he does not want to stay and it takes a great deal of persuasion to get him to look after the Donner’s. Returning to the Truckee Lake Camp you discover that in your absence another settler has died, the infant Catherine Pike.

Finally those settlers strong enough to get down the mountain are assembled: twenty-one of them. The rest will have to wait for James Reed’s Second Relief. The settlers you are taking down with you are the weak teamsters John Denton and Noah James, women Margret Reed, Philippe Keseberg, Doris Wolfinger and Eliza Williams and fifteen children. With such a weakened party of settlers the return journey will be far worse than the one there.

> Back to California...
The return journey with the survivors is a difficult one. Teamster John Denton gives out and is left behind to die. The child Ada Keseberg dies of cold and another child, William Hook dies after over-gorging on supplies. You pass James Reed, William McCutchen and the Second Relief party going up into the mountains. Reed is overjoyed to see most of his family safe while McCutchen is devastated to learn of his infant daughter Harriet’s death. They press on.

Nearing California you pass a Third Relief party going the other way led by William Eddy and William Foster. Both eagerly seek out news of their families: Eddy is devastated to learn that his wife and daughter died in the mountains. Parting ways the next day you reach Johnson’s Ranch with your remaining eighteen survivors. There you rest. Reed and McCutchen come in a few days later with just three survivors, two of them Reed’s children, having abandoned the rest in the mountains. A brave man called John Stark later brings in the eleven survivors from this group, Eddy and Foster return soon after with five survivors and state that they do not think there will be any more. George Donner, his wife Tamzene, their nephew Samuel, Levinah Jackson and Louis Keseberg remain alive in the mountains, having resorted to cannibalism to survive. In the first half of April William Foster organises a final Relief party to search for survivors. You can either accompany this group of if you have had enough of the business remain at Sutter’s Fort with the other survivors.

What do you do?

> You accompany Foster's expedition
You join William Foster’s expedition, which is hopeful of finding at least Tamzene Donner or Louis Keseberg still alive as they were in the best health. It takes you less than a week to reach the camps in the mountains, the snow melting fast all around you as spring descends and what you find is terrible. At Truckee Lake human limbs and bones lie in every direction. Moving on to the Alder Creek camp you find more horrors including the body of George Donner torn apart with pieces of his brain in a kettle. Returning to the Truckee Lake camp you are surprised to discover Louis Keseberg, skeletal but alive.

As Keseberg ate Foster’s child the two are not on the best of terms and the fact that Keseberg has clearly been stealing things from the Donner Camp and using them as his own does not improve things. When large amounts of money are found on him Foster accuses him of murdering Tamzene Donner and threatens to hang him and it is only with some reluctance that the group agree to take him back to California. Before leaving the camp, the last of the Donner Party to be rescued, Keseberg looks back at the cabins and mutters “I hope God will forgive me for what I’ve done.” It takes just five days to get down the mountain and back to Johnson’s Ranch. Along the way Keseberg discovers the corpse of his dead daughter Ada in the snow.

> Back to California...
Foster’s Fourth Relief discovers Louis Keseberg still alive and that last survivor of the Donner Party is brought out of the mountains and into California. Altogether of the 90 members of the Donner Party (including you) 43 died, including infants Jonathon and Elizabeth Graves who die that summer from their sufferings in the mountains. Of those that survive some like Louis Keseberg are branded as cannibals and murderers. You were lucky to survive this truly terrible experience: a story that will go down in American History as a tale of cannibalism and death in the Sierra Mountains.


The journey out to where the Donner Party is stranded is a nightmare, despite the fact you have plenty of food the snow has begun to thaw a little. There are fourteen of you in this rescue party but halfway through the journey William Eddy, still weakened by his earlier ordeal, is forced to turn back. Two more men are left behind with some of the provisions while the rest of you struggle on towards the Donner Party. The group becomes very discouraged and when three more men turn back, the rest begin muttering that they’ll be trapped in the snow like the Donner Party and die too.

What do you do?

> You turn back with Eddy
Unable to keep up you turn back with William Eddy and rest for close to a month at Johnson’s Ranch, recovering your strength. There you are joined by William Foster, still gaunt but able to travel and together you prepare a Third Relief to rescue those trapped in the mountains. You set out near the start of March, travelling rapidly. On the first day you meet members of the First Relief returning to Johnson’s Ranch with eighteen survivors, three having died on the way. They give you mixed news: though Eddy’s wife Eleanor and youngest child Margaret are dead his second child James still lives. Foster’s baby boy Jeremiah is still alive too. Eddy is broken by the news but his anguish is replaced by a desire to get into the mountains and rescue his remaining child.

Two days later you encounter James Reed and William McCutchen returning down the mountain with three survivors, two of which are Reed’s own children. Another twelve you learn are further up the mountain, having been abandoned for lack of food and exhaustion with the bodies of another two that have already died, one of which was Franklin Graves’s widow Elizabeth. Moving on into the mountains you come across the body of wagon-driver John Denton, who died while returning with the First Relief and is found in a sitting position with a poem he wrote as he lay dying about memories of a happier past.

That evening you reach the place where Reed left the survivors to find they are just eleven in number now, another having died. Like you they have survived by eating the bodies of those that died. The remaining survivors are Patrick Breen, his wife Margaret, their five children, three of the orphaned Graves children and one of the Donner children. The decision is made by a brave member of the party called John Stark that he will guide this group down to safety while the rest of you go onto the camps. Two days later you reach the remaining survivors in the mountains.

> You into the mountains...
When you reach the Truckee Lake Camp what you find shocks all of you. There are just three people left alive there: Louis Keseberg, Lavinah Jackson and her son Samuel. You find the remains of William Eddy’s son James and William Foster’s son Jeremiah. Both children have died very recently and been partially eaten by the others as a means of staying alive. For a time it looks like murder will happen, finally Eddy declares that if he ever meets Louis Keseberg again in California he will kill him. You help calm the rescuers enough that they agree to take Simon Murphy to safety.

At the Donner camp at Alder Creek you find George Donner bed-ridden with an infected hand, though his wife Tamzene is in good health. They ask you to take their daughters Eliza, Georgia and Frances with you as well as the teamster Jean Baptiste and another man called Nicholas Clark who was left by one of the earlier expeditions to help look after them. Another child is at the Donner Ranch but he is dying and too weak to travel. Collecting the five survivors and Clark together you set off back down the mountain. By now the snows are melting rapidly with the onset of spring and it takes just a week to make it from the camps to Jonson’s Ranch. Soon after returning William Foster begins putting together a final rescue mission to recover Donner, his wife and infant nephew, Keseberg and Jackson from the hills. You can either accompany this last mission or stay at Sutter’s Fort.

What do you do?


It doesn’t take long for two familiar faces to turn up at Johnson’s Ranch: James Reed and William McCutchen who both made it over the mountains ahead of the Donner Party. You and Eddy give them tell them what happened in the mountains and you are not surprised to learn Reed is putting together an expedition to rescue survivors. Another expedition is already ready at Fort Sutter and Eddy, despite the ordeal you have already been through is determined to lead it back to the Donner Party. It is up to you which you join: Eddy’s is leaving quicker but his health is broken while Reed’s and McCutchen’s is leaving later but both are healthy.

Which expedition party do you want to accompany?

> You reed and McCutchen's Second Relief
James Reed is nothing if not thorough in his preparations and it is not until the second half of February that a dozen men, including you, Reed and William McCutchen set off from Johnson’s Ranch into the mountains. Making fairly good progress thanks to the fact the snow is beginning to thaw you encounter the First Relief returning down the mountain. Reed gives a cry of joy when he sees his wife Margret and several of their children and races forward to embrace them.

You swiftly learn some very worrying things: at the camps in the mountains the remaining members of the Donner Party are dying steadily from hunger, just coming down the mountain wagon-driver John Denton and child, Ada Keseberg, died while travelling with the First Relief. Nineteen survivors remain with the First Relief but many more are still in the mountains, including two of Reed’s children. William McCutchen learns that his infant daughter Harriet died in the mountains and takes the news hard.

When you reach a huddle of cabins in the snow-covered wilderness on the first day of March the first person you meet is Reed’s daughter Patty, sprinting towards her father they embrace with shouts of joy. A few other figures emerge from the cabins including Patrick Breen and Louis Keseberg, altogether there are nineteen people still living in the cabins around Truckee Lake and about a dozen down at Alder Creek including George Donner. Staying only a day you gather together seventeen survivors, all you can take out. There is some discussion and it is agreed to leave a man or two to help the thirteen being left behind, especially those at Alder Creek.

What do you do?

> You leave with the rest of the Second Relief
You choose to accompany the Second Relief and its seventeen settlers on the long and difficult journey back to Sutter’s Fort. It gets off to a bad start when a storm traps you all in open ground and Isaac Donner dies. James Reed and William McCutchen decide that because supplies are so low they must keep going but the majority of the settlers are too weak to move. Taking two of Reed’s children and a third child along you keep moving, unable to stay with the others.

A few days later you meet William Eddy and William Foster leading their relief party up the mountains. Reed directs them to where you left the survivors and by the middle of March you make it back to Johnson’s Ranch. Eleven of the settlers you left make it in two days later, two of their number having died. Soon after Eddy and Foster return with another five survivors and report there are unlikely to be any more. George Donner, his wife Tamzene and nephew Samuel, Louis Keseberg and Lavaniah Jackson are still in the mountains, having resorted to cannibalism to survive. At the beginning of April William Foster begins forming a final rescue party to search for the last of the Donner Party still trapped. You can either accompany him or remain safely in Sutter’s Fort.

What do you do?


James Reed is nothing if not thorough in his preparations and it is not until the second half of February that a dozen men, including you, Reed and William McCutchen set off from Johnson’s Ranch into the mountains. Making fairly good progress thanks to the fact the snow is beginning to thaw you encounter the First Relief returning down the mountain. Reed gives a cry of joy when he sees his wife Margret and several of their children and races forward to embrace them.

You swiftly learn some very worrying things: at the camps in the mountains the remaining members of the Donner Party are dying steadily from hunger, just coming down the mountain wagon-driver John Denton and child, Ada Keseberg, died while travelling with the First Relief. Nineteen survivors remain with the First Relief but many more are still in the mountains, including two of Reed’s children. William McCutchen learns that his infant daughter Harriet died in the mountains and takes the news hard.

When you reach a huddle of cabins in the snow-covered wilderness on the first day of March the first person you meet is Reed’s daughter Patty, sprinting towards her father they embrace with shouts of joy. A few other figures emerge from the cabins including Patrick Breen and Louis Keseberg, altogether there are nineteen people still living in the cabins around Truckee Lake and about a dozen down at Alder Creek including George Donner. Staying only a day you gather together seventeen survivors, all you can take out. There is some discussion and it is agreed to leave a man or two to help the thirteen being left behind, especially those at Alder Creek.

What do you do?

> You volunteer to stay behind and help the remaining survivors
Staying with George Donner, his wife Tamzene, their daughters Georgia, Frances and Eliza as well as Jacob Donner’s widow Elizabeth and her sons Lewis and Samuel you help Nicholas Clark and Jean Baptiste look after them. Clark, like you, is a fellow rescuer and in good health but Baptiste is weakening. The whole party are in desperate danger, in one day both Elizabeth and her son Lewis die and to your horror pieces of flesh are cut off them and eaten by the starving children and adults.

Fortunately days later a third rescue party arrives led by William Eddy and William Foster. They inform you just three people remain alive up at the Truckee Lake camp and they have come to help those who can walk leave. Though Mrs Donner is in good health George Donner is bed-ridden with an infected hand and Tamzene refuses to leave him. Instead she asks the group to take her three daughters to safety. Jean Baptiste and Nicholas Clark take this opportunity to leave too, the latter carrying a backpack of goods purloined from the Donner’s. A fourth child, Simon Murphy, complete your little party (Samuel Donner is too weak to be carried down) and you set off. The last thing you hear is Tamzene Donner calling out to you to make sure her children reach safety.

> You to safety...
You join the Relief and exhausted and weary you stumble down through the mountains with the relief party, relieved to have survived for such a long time in the mountains. The snow is melting all around you and it takes just a week to make it to Johnson’s Ranch, the start of civilization in California. There you find most of the other survivors of the Donner Party and rest and recover your strength for a few weeks. At the start of April William Foster begins organising a final rescue mission to go into the mountains and try to bring down those five people: George Donner, his wife Tamzene, their nephew Samuel, Lavaniah Jackson and Louis Keseberg. You are not keen to return to the mountains so soon after escaping but if you are willing you can join the expedition or remain at Johnson’s Ranch.

What do you do?


Each member of the Snowshoes Party is given enough food for six days (at least enough for a few bites each day) and a pair of snowshoes. It is quickly discovered that William Murphy cannot keep up and he is sent back to the camp with Dutch Charley Burger, a little chunky man who is not built for this sort of activity. If you want to turn back now this is your last chance, otherwise you’ll have to risk the dangers of the snow-filled passes.

What do you do?

> You turn back to the Alder Creek Camp
You make yourself as comfortable as you can in the Teamsters Tent but it is very crowded there: not only are there too manypeople in too small a space but one of the Reed’s Teamsters Milt Elliott is visiting you as well. A snowstorm blows over the Mountains and it brings death with it. Jacob Donner is the first to succumb. He dies while sitting at a table, his head bowed in his hands, the very picture of despair. Donner’s death is just the beginning.

Samuel Shoemaker, a teamster for the Donner’s dies next and he is soon followed by Joseph Reinhardt. Knowing he is dying Reinhardt confesses in front of you, Doris Wolfinger and George Donner that he shot and killed Mr Wolfinger but that he regrets it. He never explains why and the confession is of little comfort to the poor widow. James Smith, a teamster who actually works for the Reeds but has somehow wound up at the Donner Camp dies of the cold too. That night with the winter breeze piercing your body to the core you are struck by the urge to walk out into the cold and end it all rather than suffer this slow and lingering demise.

What do you do?

> You walk out into the cold
There is a fifth victim of this snowstorm. Numb with cold, pale with hunger and wrapped in your blankets you stagger out into the snow. Quickly the relentlessly falling white ice overwhelms you: cold permeates every part of your body and your body is found the next morning.


You make yourself as comfortable as you can in the Teamsters Tent but it is very crowded there: not only are there too manypeople in too small a space but one of the Reed’s Teamsters Milt Elliott is visiting you as well. A snowstorm blows over the Mountains and it brings death with it. Jacob Donner is the first to succumb. He dies while sitting at a table, his head bowed in his hands, the very picture of despair. Donner’s death is just the beginning.

Samuel Shoemaker, a teamster for the Donner’s dies next and he is soon followed by Joseph Reinhardt. Knowing he is dying Reinhardt confesses in front of you, Doris Wolfinger and George Donner that he shot and killed Mr Wolfinger but that he regrets it. He never explains why and the confession is of little comfort to the poor widow. James Smith, a teamster who actually works for the Reeds but has somehow wound up at the Donner Camp dies of the cold too. That night with the winter breeze piercing your body to the core you are struck by the urge to walk out into the cold and end it all rather than suffer this slow and lingering demise.

What do you do?

> You summon all the strength you have to remain in the teamsterâ€™s tent
You survive the initial series of deaths which leave George Donner and the teamsters Noah James and Jean Baptiste as the only healthy men in a camp full of women and children. For the next two months you survive. Several people die at the Truckee Lake Camp but for some reason no one else at the Alder Creek camp dies, perhaps because the Donner’s have slightly more food than everyone else. Finally in the second half of February three healthy-looking men arrive at the camp. They are rescuers from California, having made contact with members of the Snowshoe Party they have travelled out to bring people back.

It quickly becomes apparent that there are too few of them to take everyone to California with them, George Donner’s hand has become infected and many of the others are too weak to go. It is agreed that the men will take Elitha, Lenna and George Donner and William Hook (the weakest children) with them as well as Doris Wolfinger and wagon-driver Noah James, who is in very bad shape. Wagon-driver Jean Baptiste wants to leave too but the settlers persuade him to stay and help look after the Donner’s. At both Alder Creek and Truckee Lake the remaining men (George Donner, Patrick Breen, Louis Keseberg and Donner wagon-driver Jean Trudeau) have chosen to stay so that the women and children can leave in safety. More help is on it’s way to rescue them but if you truly insist you will be allowed to accompany the First Relief down.

What do you do?

> You demand that the rescuers take you too
After much begging the members of the First Relief let you join them in travelling on to California and safety but the going is hard. Most of the children are so weak the rescuers have to take turns carrying them while you and the other adults stagger on as best you can. One morning John Denton, an English wagon-driver who has been of great assistance around the camps, is unable to continue and insists that he is left behind at the fire. Finding him unable to walk the other settlers agree and he is left behind.

What do you do?

> You stay behind and try to persuade him to keep moving
You sit down next to John and try to get him to keep going but he just shakes his head and sings out a poem: “I look on scenes of past delight, without my wonted pleasures, as a mister on the bed of death looks coldly on his treasures.“ Your bodies are found a few weeks later.


After much begging the members of the First Relief let you join them in travelling on to California and safety but the going is hard. Most of the children are so weak the rescuers have to take turns carrying them while you and the other adults stagger on as best you can. One morning John Denton, an English wagon-driver who has been of great assistance around the camps, is unable to continue and insists that he is left behind at the fire. Finding him unable to walk the other settlers agree and he is left behind.

What do you do?

> You press on with the others
Leaving John Denton behind you keep going but things continue to worsen. In particular Phillippe Keseberg’s infant daughter Ada is almost unresponsive and her mother desperately offers a gold watch and money to anyone who will help her keep her child alive but it is no good. By nightfall the infant is dead and her crying mother buries her in the ground. The wind that night is relentless and chills you to the bone, you are tempted to move away from the camp and try to find a better spot.

What do you do?

> You search for a warmer location
Rising to your feet you stagger away from the camp. In the flurrying snow you lose sight of the camp completely and wander round helplessly calling out names. Finally you can walk no more and have to lie down where you gently expire.


Leaving John Denton behind you keep going but things continue to worsen. In particular Phillippe Keseberg’s infant daughter Ada is almost unresponsive and her mother desperately offers a gold watch and money to anyone who will help her keep her child alive but it is no good. By nightfall the infant is dead and her crying mother buries her in the ground. The wind that night is relentless and chills you to the bone, you are tempted to move away from the camp and try to find a better spot.

What do you do?

> You sit tight and make the best of it
Finally you make it over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and begin to descend the far side. On the way you meet the Second Relief travelling out to those of the Donner Party still stranded in the mountains, this group is led by James Reed and William McCutchen. When Reed’s wife Margret sees him she gives a cry of sheer amazement and collapses in the snow. The reunion is a moving occasion and Reed’s children cry as they embrace their father. But one person’s joy is another person’s sorrow: McCutchen learns that his baby daughter Harriet died at Truckee Lake. Reed still has two children in the camps and is anxious to rescue them.

You part ways, the Second Relief going on up into the mountains while you and the others go down: coming to where a large stash of provisions has been placed. You are overjoyed to taste good food again and eat. One of your companions, William Hook (Jacob Donner’s stepson) eats and eats until he can eat no more. You are tempted to stuff yourself too.

What do you do?

> You eat everything that you can
You over-indulge and that night your stomach is wracked by swift agonising pains. Moaning in agony this last pain is too much for your weakened nervous system. You die that night just a few miles from safety.


Finally you make it over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and begin to descend the far side. On the way you meet the Second Relief travelling out to those of the Donner Party still stranded in the mountains, this group is led by James Reed and William McCutchen. When Reed’s wife Margret sees him she gives a cry of sheer amazement and collapses in the snow. The reunion is a moving occasion and Reed’s children cry as they embrace their father. But one person’s joy is another person’s sorrow: McCutchen learns that his baby daughter Harriet died at Truckee Lake. Reed still has two children in the camps and is anxious to rescue them.

You part ways, the Second Relief going on up into the mountains while you and the others go down: coming to where a large stash of provisions has been placed. You are overjoyed to taste good food again and eat. One of your companions, William Hook (Jacob Donner’s stepson) eats and eats until he can eat no more. You are tempted to stuff yourself too.

What do you do?

> You eat moderately
You are lucky you are able to resist over-indulging (William Hook is found dead the next morning) and a week later you reach Johnson’s Ranch, having passed a third rescue party led by William Eddy and William Foster going the other way. You thank them for warning the people of California of your plight but regrettably have to tell Eddy his wife and youngest child have died. The parties separate and soon after you are overjoyed to reach Johnson’s Ranch, a place of supplies and safety. There you rest for a month.

Meanwhile the relief parties continue to bring survivors in. James Reed and William McCutchen return with just three having abandoned more further up the trail. Another man called John Stark brings eleven of these in himself. Finally Eddy and Foster return with five more. They report that the remaining survivors in the mountains: George Donner, his wife Tamzene, their nephew Samuel, Louis Keseberg and Levinah Jackson, have resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. At the start of April William Foster begins organising a final Relief Party to bring in these survivors, if they are still alive. You can either accompany this group or remain safely at Sutter’s Fort.

What do you do?


You survive the initial series of deaths which leave George Donner and the teamsters Noah James and Jean Baptiste as the only healthy men in a camp full of women and children. For the next two months you survive. Several people die at the Truckee Lake Camp but for some reason no one else at the Alder Creek camp dies, perhaps because the Donner’s have slightly more food than everyone else. Finally in the second half of February three healthy-looking men arrive at the camp. They are rescuers from California, having made contact with members of the Snowshoe Party they have travelled out to bring people back.

It quickly becomes apparent that there are too few of them to take everyone to California with them, George Donner’s hand has become infected and many of the others are too weak to go. It is agreed that the men will take Elitha, Lenna and George Donner and William Hook (the weakest children) with them as well as Doris Wolfinger and wagon-driver Noah James, who is in very bad shape. Wagon-driver Jean Baptiste wants to leave too but the settlers persuade him to stay and help look after the Donner’s. At both Alder Creek and Truckee Lake the remaining men (George Donner, Patrick Breen, Louis Keseberg and Donner wagon-driver Jean Trudeau) have chosen to stay so that the women and children can leave in safety. More help is on it’s way to rescue them but if you truly insist you will be allowed to accompany the First Relief down.

What do you do?

> You wait for more help
You choose to remain with George Donner and his family at Alder Creek, helping Jean Baptiste look after the two women and seven children there. There is some talk about eating human flesh but fortunately you manage to resist the urge to do that and in the first days of March a second rescue party arrives at Alder Creek led by James Reed and William McCutchen. They bring a little more food and offer to take three of the Donner children out but intend to leave a man behind to help Jean Baptiste look after the Donner family until the next rescue mission arrives.

What do you do?

> You insist on leaving with the Second Relief
You are incredibly relieved to join the other survivors who are leaving, which consists of Elizabeth Graves (Franklin Graves’s widow), her four children, Patrick Breen, his wife Margaret and their five children, two of James Reed’s children and three of the Donner’s children. Your group sets off and initially makes good progress before disaster strikes.

Just a few days into the journey you are struck by a fierce snowstorm on open ground and are forced to huddle down below blankets: James Reed nearly collapses from the effort of making sure everyone is safe. Huddling together against the fierce cold you do your best. At one point during the storm it is discovered that Isaac Donner has died, slipping away so silently that the two girls huddled either side of him did not notice his death. In the midst of the cold the thought strikes you that the child must be buried.

What do you do?

> You dig a grave for Isaac Donner
Against Breen and Reed’s protests you carry the Donner boy’s body out of the group and try to dig a grave in the snow. It is hopeless in the midst of a blizzard and the grave becomes your own when you collapse into it and do not move again.


You are incredibly relieved to join the other survivors who are leaving, which consists of Elizabeth Graves (Franklin Graves’s widow), her four children, Patrick Breen, his wife Margaret and their five children, two of James Reed’s children and three of the Donner’s children. Your group sets off and initially makes good progress before disaster strikes.

Just a few days into the journey you are struck by a fierce snowstorm on open ground and are forced to huddle down below blankets: James Reed nearly collapses from the effort of making sure everyone is safe. Huddling together against the fierce cold you do your best. At one point during the storm it is discovered that Isaac Donner has died, slipping away so silently that the two girls huddled either side of him did not notice his death. In the midst of the cold the thought strikes you that the child must be buried.

What do you do?

> You stay with everyone else in the huddle
By the time the storm ends you and virtually all the survivors are too exhausted to continue. James Reed makes the decision to press on anyway, carrying his children Patty and Thomas with him while Solomon Hook is strong enough to continue. The remaining thirteen of you are abandoned by Reed, who promises to go ahead, get supplies and send them back. Soon after they leave the storm kicks up again. Elizabeth Graves succumbs, turning on her side she flings her arm out in one last effort and lies still as the life leaves her. The rest of you huddle together and try to endure. Mrs Graves’s four (now orphaned) children can’t stop crying and beg you to drag their mother’s body away from them.

What do you do?

> You move Mrs Graves's body
You move Mrs Graves’s body but the effort proves too much for you. Returning to the others you lie down with a sigh and do not get up again. Like the other dead your body will be cannibalised by the survivors.


By the time the storm ends you and virtually all the survivors are too exhausted to continue. James Reed makes the decision to press on anyway, carrying his children Patty and Thomas with him while Solomon Hook is strong enough to continue. The remaining thirteen of you are abandoned by Reed, who promises to go ahead, get supplies and send them back. Soon after they leave the storm kicks up again. Elizabeth Graves succumbs, turning on her side she flings her arm out in one last effort and lies still as the life leaves her. The rest of you huddle together and try to endure. Mrs Graves’s four (now orphaned) children can’t stop crying and beg you to drag their mother’s body away from them.

What do you do?

> You remain where you are
For three days the storm rages and you all lie there without food and living on melted snow. It is a miracle any of you survive: even Patrick Breen begins to pray for death. The child Franklin Graves dies next, so cold he feels like he is almost frozen solid. His orphaned siblings Nancy, Jonathon and Elizabeth huddle round the body, too exhausted to even cry. The cold gets worst and to your astonishment you see Patrick Breen begin to carve up the bodies of the dead and pass the flesh around which is eaten cold.

What do you do?

> You refuse to touch it
You refuse to touch the human flesh while the others eat. Devoid of strength you sink into a sleep from which you do not wake and like the other dead your body too is cut up to provide nourishment for the remaining survivors.


For three days the storm rages and you all lie there without food and living on melted snow. It is a miracle any of you survive: even Patrick Breen begins to pray for death. The child Franklin Graves dies next, so cold he feels like he is almost frozen solid. His orphaned siblings Nancy, Jonathon and Elizabeth huddle round the body, too exhausted to even cry. The cold gets worst and to your astonishment you see Patrick Breen begin to carve up the bodies of the dead and pass the flesh around which is eaten cold.

What do you do?

> You accept some of the offered flesh
Reluctantly you eat the flesh which ensures your survival. Tearing the cold flesh from the bones you feast on the bodies of the dead, doing anything to restore some strength into your weakened frames. Even Patrick Breen and his wife put aside their religious beliefs to feast. The meat saves your lives for a few days until a third rescue party led by William Eddy and William Foster reach you. They share some provisions with you and a brave man called John Stark volunteers to lead you all to safety. After more than a week of agonising walking the eleven of you miraculously make it to Johnson’s Ranch.

Here you rest and eat for a time. Eddy and Foster return soon after you with another five survivors and report that George Donner, his wife Tamzene, their nephew Samuel, Louis Keseberg and Levinah Jackson are still in the mountains. At the start of April William Foster begins to put together a final search party to go and look for them. Though still weakened from your recent experiences you are strong enough to join them or if, understandably, you don’t want to go back into the mountains you can remain at Sutter’s Fort.

What do you do?


You choose to remain with George Donner and his family at Alder Creek, helping Jean Baptiste look after the two women and seven children there. There is some talk about eating human flesh but fortunately you manage to resist the urge to do that and in the first days of March a second rescue party arrives at Alder Creek led by James Reed and William McCutchen. They bring a little more food and offer to take three of the Donner children out but intend to leave a man behind to help Jean Baptiste look after the Donner family until the next rescue mission arrives.

What do you do?

> You stay with those that are left
You are certain that you are strong enough to stay and help Nicholas Clark and Jean Baptiste look after George Donner, his wife Tamzene and their children Georgia, Frances and Eliza as well as Jacob Donner’s widow Elizabeth and her children Lewis and Samuel. Though you are all weakening the efforts of you, Clark and Baptiste keep the others alive and at one point Clark is even able to shoot a bear. It is too late though: Elizabeth walks into George Donner’s tent and without a word lays the dead body of her son Lewis on Tamzene’s lap. Stumbling away she is found dead herself soon after. George Donner cuts up both bodies, cooks the meat on a fire and feeds it to the remaining children.

What do you do?

> You refuse to eat the human flesh
Refusing to eat any human flesh you return to your tent by yourself and lie under a blanket. That night as the snow piles up outside you succumb to your hunger and die.


You are certain that you are strong enough to stay and help Nicholas Clark and Jean Baptiste look after George Donner, his wife Tamzene and their children Georgia, Frances and Eliza as well as Jacob Donner’s widow Elizabeth and her children Lewis and Samuel. Though you are all weakening the efforts of you, Clark and Baptiste keep the others alive and at one point Clark is even able to shoot a bear. It is too late though: Elizabeth walks into George Donner’s tent and without a word lays the dead body of her son Lewis on Tamzene’s lap. Stumbling away she is found dead herself soon after. George Donner cuts up both bodies, cooks the meat on a fire and feeds it to the remaining children.

What do you do?

> You eat the meat
Reluctantly you eat the flesh which ensures your survival. Days after the double-deaths and the beginning of cannibalism a rescue party arrives led by William Eddy and William Foster. They talk to George Donner about who can be rescued: Donner’s daughters Frances, Georgia and Eliza are quickly volunteered and both Jean Baptiste and Nicholas Clark choose to leave as well. Though Tamzene Donner is in good health she refuses to leave her bed-ridden husband George Donner and their nephew Samuel is too weak to be carried and near death. The rescuers prepare to leave with the four members of the Donner Party from Alder Creek and a boy called Simon Murphy from the Truckee Lake camp. You can ask them to take you as well or stay and help George, Tamzene and Samuel Donner.

What do you do?


Each member of the Snowshoes Party is given enough food for six days (at least enough for a few bites each day) and a pair of snowshoes. It is quickly discovered that William Murphy cannot keep up and he is sent back to the camp with Dutch Charley Burger, a little chunky man who is not built for this sort of activity. If you want to turn back now this is your last chance, otherwise you’ll have to risk the dangers of the snow-filled passes.

What do you do?

> You turn back to the Truckee Lake Camp
Soon after setting off Dutch Charley Burger and young William Murphy return, having decided they cannot keep up with the Snowshoe Party. Reed Teamster Milt Elliott returns from a visit to Alder Creek with the terrible news that Jacob Donner, Samuel Shoemaker, Joseph Reinhardt and James Smith have all died. Dutch Charley, a chubby individual is the next one: weakening steadily he dies in Louis Keseberg’s lean-to soon after his return. You are all suffering now.

The cold is permeating every part of you. Every moment of every day you are hungry and at night the cold numbs your body. It is like being on fire and unable to put it out, one night it is worse than ever and you find all you want to do is give in, to walk out into the howling snow and die rather than go on suffering like this. Your companions are mere skeletons of themselves and despair is etched on every face.

What do you do?

> You venture out into the cold
You too do not survive the year. Rising from your thin blanket you stumble out into the cold. What you are searching for you do not know and never find out. Your body is found the next morning, half buried in snow.


Soon after setting off Dutch Charley Burger and young William Murphy return, having decided they cannot keep up with the Snowshoe Party. Reed Teamster Milt Elliott returns from a visit to Alder Creek with the terrible news that Jacob Donner, Samuel Shoemaker, Joseph Reinhardt and James Smith have all died. Dutch Charley, a chubby individual is the next one: weakening steadily he dies in Louis Keseberg’s lean-to soon after his return. You are all suffering now.

The cold is permeating every part of you. Every moment of every day you are hungry and at night the cold numbs your body. It is like being on fire and unable to put it out, one night it is worse than ever and you find all you want to do is give in, to walk out into the howling snow and die rather than go on suffering like this. Your companions are mere skeletons of themselves and despair is etched on every face.

What do you do?

> You continue suffering
The New Year brings no fresh joys with it. Those in the cabins around Truckee Lake remain cold and starving and those at Alder Creek are little better off. After the initial wave of six deaths people are adjusting to the terrible conditions but that doesn’t make it any easier. The babies and young children cry continually and it is hellish for the adults. You have heard nothing of the Snowshoes Party and have no idea if any of them have made it to civilization. Things continue to worsen and near the end of January Louis Keseberg’s infant son, also called Louis, dies in the Murphy Cabin. Keseberg is grief-stricken and one night he stumbles into your cabin with his dead baby in his arms and asks you to help bury him in the snow.

What do you do?

> You help Louis bury his son
You stumble out into the snow with Louis and scrabble around in the snow trying to dig a shallow grave. The infant is finally laid to rest but when you return to your cabin you find you cannot see. The world is darkness. Lying down makes it better and during the night you slip away.


The New Year brings no fresh joys with it. Those in the cabins around Truckee Lake remain cold and starving and those at Alder Creek are little better off. After the initial wave of six deaths people are adjusting to the terrible conditions but that doesn’t make it any easier. The babies and young children cry continually and it is hellish for the adults. You have heard nothing of the Snowshoes Party and have no idea if any of them have made it to civilization. Things continue to worsen and near the end of January Louis Keseberg’s infant son, also called Louis, dies in the Murphy Cabin. Keseberg is grief-stricken and one night he stumbles into your cabin with his dead baby in his arms and asks you to help bury him in the snow.

What do you do?

> You try to get him to wait until morning
You manage to persuade Louis to wait until morning when a group of the remaining men help bury his son. The death of Louis Keseberg’s child is just the first of the year. John Murphy, a strapping sixteen-year-old who looks after his mother and extended family of younger children worsens steadily. His mother, Levinah Jackson, tries to revive him by placing a little piece of meat in his mouth and John swallows it, goes to sleep with a weak gurgling snore and dies. His mother asks you for your blanket to bury the child.

What do you do?

> You let him have it
Without your blanket you have no chance of surviving the bitter cold. Lying in the corner you too go to sleep, a deep sleep from which you do not wake.


You manage to persuade Louis to wait until morning when a group of the remaining men help bury his son. The death of Louis Keseberg’s child is just the first of the year. John Murphy, a strapping sixteen-year-old who looks after his mother and extended family of younger children worsens steadily. His mother, Levinah Jackson, tries to revive him by placing a little piece of meat in his mouth and John swallows it, goes to sleep with a weak gurgling snore and dies. His mother asks you for your blanket to bury the child.

What do you do?

> You refuse to surrender your blanket
You hold onto your blanket, despite Mrs Jackson’s pleas. The deaths continue: the next to go is Margaret Eddy, the absent William Eddy’s infant daughter. She died one night in the arms of her mother Eleanor and her mother is inconsolable. Margaret’s death means that apart from you there are just forty other people remaining in the camps at Truckee Lake and less than half that at Alder Creek.

Patrick Breen and Louis Keseberg want to make sure the Donner group at Alder Ceek are ok and being too weak themselves ask you to travel down to their camp.

What do you do?

> You agree to go and visit the Donner's
You set off on the eight mile journey that morning but your weakened state soon becomes apparent. You get less than halfway before you have to lie down in the snow and rest. You never get up again, your strength simply slips away from you.


You hold onto your blanket, despite Mrs Jackson’s pleas. The deaths continue: the next to go is Margaret Eddy, the absent William Eddy’s infant daughter. She died one night in the arms of her mother Eleanor and her mother is inconsolable. Margaret’s death means that apart from you there are just forty other people remaining in the camps at Truckee Lake and less than half that at Alder Creek.

Patrick Breen and Louis Keseberg want to make sure the Donner group at Alder Ceek are ok and being too weak themselves ask you to travel down to their camp.

What do you do?

> You sunday 7 February 1847: Truckee Lake, California
You refuse to make the difficult journey and a few nights later a pair of deaths shake the camp. Harriet McCutchen, an infant both of whose parents have left the Donner Party and who was being looked after by the Graves family dies. The infant had spent most of her waking hours crying and death must have been a release for it. Eleanor Eddy dies too: since her husband left with the Snowshoe Party she has been looked after by the Murphy family. Since her daughter Margaret died she lost the will to live, those she does leave a son James who is a toddler. Their deaths make the mood even more grim, that night as the wind whistles around the huddled cabins you are struck by an urge to go out and find something to shoot and eat.

What do you do?

> You go outside
You set out on your journey but do not return: losing sight of the camp you are hurled to the ground by the freezing blizzard and do not get up again.


You refuse to make the difficult journey and a few nights later a pair of deaths shake the camp. Harriet McCutchen, an infant both of whose parents have left the Donner Party and who was being looked after by the Graves family dies. The infant had spent most of her waking hours crying and death must have been a release for it. Eleanor Eddy dies too: since her husband left with the Snowshoe Party she has been looked after by the Murphy family. Since her daughter Margaret died she lost the will to live, those she does leave a son James who is a toddler. Their deaths make the mood even more grim, that night as the wind whistles around the huddled cabins you are struck by an urge to go out and find something to shoot and eat.

What do you do?

> Monday 8 February 1847: Truckee Lake, California
The day after the double deaths there is another death: at this rate there will be no one left by the end of the month. A Teamster called Augustus Spitzer collapsed in the Breen house two months ago and has been on the verge of death since. Today he finally dies, imploring Margaret Breen to put just a little meat in his mouth so he might remember the taste of it. There is none to give him and death soon follows. The Breen children are upset by his death and Patrick Breen asks you to help him move the body outside.

What do you do?

> You help Breen move Spitzer's corpse
You help Breen carry Spritzer outside but when you come back inside you find you cannot stop shake in. Lying down you force yourself to go into an uneasy sleep but it is one that you do not awake from.