0
    Nova
    Ancient WorldsAncient Worlds

    Traces of the Donner Party

    Few stories of the American frontier are as infamous as the legend of the Donner Party. But archeologist Julie Schablitsky cautions that you can't take newspaper accounts describing "mothers eating their children" at face value. In this slide show, Schablitsky shows artifacts she uncovered at the Donner family campsite and describes what evidence there was—and wasn't—for cannibalism.

    BySusan LewisNova

    Major funding for NOVA is provided by the David H. Koch Fund for Science, the NOVA Science Trust, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS viewers.