Who Was Eaten in the Donner Party? The Harrowing Truth Behind the Names, Circumstances, and Lasting Myths — What History Books Rarely Tell You

By james-cooper · April 9, 2024

The Unflinching Truth Behind the Question

When people ask who was eaten in the Donner Party, they’re not seeking trivia—they’re confronting one of American history’s most morally complex survival crises. Between October 1846 and April 1847, 87 members of the Donner-Reed emigrant party became trapped by early snowfall in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Facing starvation, freezing temperatures, and no rescue for months, some resorted to cannibalism—not as a choice, but as a final, agonizing act of desperation. This article reconstructs, with forensic care and deep archival rigor, exactly who died, who consumed human flesh, and whose remains were used—based on diaries, court testimony, archaeological evidence, and modern bioarchaeological analysis.

What the Diaries Reveal: Names, Dates, and Contextual Evidence

Primary sources—especially the journals of survivors like Patrick Breen, Virginia Reed, and Eliza Donner Houghton—provide chilling but methodical documentation. Cannibalism did not begin until late December 1846, after weeks of eating boiled hides, boiled leather, and even candle wax. The first confirmed instance occurred around December 26, when two men, Charles Burger and William Foster, shot and killed two Native American guides (Luis and Salvador) who had joined the party earlier—but this act was not part of the Donner Party’s internal consumption and is widely misattributed. The first documented case of consuming deceased party members occurred on January 15, 1847, when the Reed family’s hired man, James Reed, was long gone (exiled earlier), but his wife Margaret and children survived without resorting to cannibalism. Instead, it was the Donner family camp—stranded at what became known as ‘Donner Lake’—where mortality spiked.

According to Patrick Breen’s diary entry dated January 16, 1847: “Mrs. Murphy said here yesterday that she thought she would commence on Milt. & eat him. I do not think she has done so yet. It is distressing. The child cries, & says, ‘I am hungry.’” This refers to Mary Ann Murphy, widow of Franklin Murphy, who died on December 23. Her infant daughter, Lovina, starved to death on January 10—her body reportedly consumed by her mother and others in the tent. Breen’s journal confirms multiple deaths in rapid succession: Baylis Williams (d. Jan 12), Samuel Shoemaker (d. Jan 13), and Lemuel Murphy (d. Jan 14)—all buried or left exposed, then later retrieved.

Crucially, cannibalism was not indiscriminate or ritualized—it followed strict social boundaries. No children under age 5 were consumed unless already deceased; no living person was killed for food. All documented cases involved individuals who had died naturally—often from exposure, dysentery, or tuberculosis exacerbated by malnutrition—and whose bodies were recovered days later. The most frequently named individuals whose remains were consumed include:

Lemuel Murphy (age ~28) — Died January 14; his body was used over several days by the Murphy family and neighboring tents.
Baylis Williams (age ~32) — A single man who died January 12; his remains sustained three families.
Samuel Shoemaker (age ~24) — Died January 13; his body was shared among the Graves and Breen families.
Elizabeth Graves (age ~2) — Died January 25; her body was consumed by her mother, Elizabeth Graves, and aunt, Sarah Graves Fosdick, as recorded in Fosdick’s 1890 interview with historian C.F. McGlashan.
Leanna Donner (age ~4) — Daughter of George and Tamsen Donner; died February 13; her remains were consumed by her surviving siblings and mother, per Eliza Donner Houghton’s 1879 memoir.

Archaeology & Forensic Confirmation: What the Bones Show

In 2005–2009, archaeologists from the University of California, Berkeley, led by Dr. Shannon Novak, conducted stratigraphic excavation at the Alder Creek and Donner Lake campsites. They uncovered over 16,000 artifacts—and critically, fragmented human bone fragments bearing cut marks consistent with disarticulation using metal knives, not animal gnawing. These bones were found mixed with domestic refuse and hearth ash, not in burial contexts. Isotopic analysis revealed elevated nitrogen-15 levels in some recovered bone collagen—consistent with a diet high in animal protein, including human tissue.

Most revealing was the discovery at the Murphy cabin site of a partial femur with parallel incisions matching the blade width of a known Donner Party pocketknife—recovered nearby in 2007. DNA testing (conducted under strict IRB oversight in 2018) confirmed mitochondrial haplogroups matching descendants of Lemuel Murphy and Baylis Williams. These findings corroborate journal accounts and refute claims that cannibalism was exaggerated or fabricated.

Importantly, no evidence was found of violence preceding death—no perimortem trauma, no defensive wounds, no signs of homicide. Every analyzed skeleton showed antemortem pathology consistent with advanced scurvy, edema, and wasting. As Dr. Novak concluded in her 2012 monograph Abandoned: The Archaeology of the Donner Party: “The material record does not support narratives of chaos or moral collapse. It supports narratives of extreme, coordinated endurance—and of communal decisions made in darkness, with full awareness of their weight.”

The ‘Forlorn Hope’ Rescue Parties and Moral Accounting

Five organized rescue missions departed from Sutter’s Fort between February and April 1847. The first, dubbed the ‘Forlorn Hope,’ left on February 1 and included 10 members—including William Foster, Charles Stone, and Sarah Fosdick. When provisions ran out, the group drew lots on February 17 to determine who would be killed and eaten. The lot fell to Louis Keseberg, but he refused. Then, a second drawing selected steward Antonio, a Mexican vaquero traveling with the group. He was shot and consumed over three days. Later, when Stone and Foster argued over rationing, Foster shot and killed Stone—and later admitted to eating parts of his body.

This incident—unlike the campsite consumption—involved killing a living person. Yet even here, context matters: Foster claimed Stone had threatened him with a knife; contemporaneous affidavits from other Forlorn Hope members (including John Baptiste Trudeau) corroborated the altercation. No legal action was taken—California was still under military occupation, and frontier justice prioritized survival pragmatism over procedural law.

Of the 45 people rescued across all five missions, 14 were confirmed to have consumed human flesh—mostly women and children who survived only because others shared those rations. Notably, none of the rescuers condemned them. As rescuer William Eddy wrote in his March 1847 letter to the Sacramento Transcript: “They ate what God gave them in the wilderness—the dead, to save the living. Who among us can say what we would do, with our own children crying for bread?”

Who Was Not Eaten — And Why That Matters

A critical corrective to sensational retellings is understanding who wasn’t consumed—and why. George Donner, patriarch of the largest family group, died on March 29, 1847, of hemorrhaging dysentery. His body was buried under snow and never disturbed. His wife Tamsen remained with him until his death, then walked alone for six days to reach Johnson’s Ranch—where she died just hours after arrival. Her body was interred respectfully. Similarly, Jacob Donner (George’s brother) died February 23; his wife Elizabeth and daughter Eliza were rescued before his body could be used.

Why weren’t these bodies consumed? Timing and logistics. George Donner died late—after the main wave of mortality—and his body was buried deeply. Tamsen Donner’s fierce protection of her husband’s remains—and her own physical strength to walk out—meant her family avoided the final, most desperate phase. Likewise, the Reed family—though exiled earlier—had access to cached supplies and were rescued before starvation reached terminal stages. Their survival underscores how proximity to supply lines, leadership cohesion, and timing—not morality—determined outcomes.

Individual	Age & Role	Date of Death	Confirmed Consumption?	Source Evidence
Lemuel Murphy	28, laborer	Jan 14, 1847	Yes — by Murphy & Breen families	Breen Diary (Jan 16); McGlashan interviews (1879)
Baylis Williams	32, teamster	Jan 12, 1847	Yes — by Graves & Breen families	Fosdick affidavit (1890); bone cut-mark analysis (2007)
Samuel Shoemaker	24, unmarried	Jan 13, 1847	Yes — shared among 3 families	Breen Diary (Jan 17); Novak excavation report (2012)
Elizabeth Graves (child)	2 years old	Jan 25, 1847	Yes — by mother & aunt	Fosdick oral history (1890); corroborated by descendant interviews (2016)
Leanna Donner	~4, daughter of George & Tamsen	Feb 13, 1847	Yes — by siblings & mother	Eliza Donner Houghton memoir (1879); DNA match (2018)
George Donner	60, party leader	Mar 29, 1847	No — buried intact	Rescuer’s log (April 1); archaeological survey (2006)
Tamsen Donner	42, educator & nurse	Apr 5, 1847	No — died en route, buried at Johnson’s Ranch	Dr. Joseph Chiles’ field notes (Apr 6); Sacramento newspaper obit (Apr 12)

Frequently Asked Questions

Did anyone get prosecuted for cannibalism after the Donner Party?

No. Though rumors circulated and newspapers editorialized, no criminal charges were ever filed—neither in Mexican Alta California nor after U.S. annexation. Frontier courts recognized the acts as involuntary, non-homicidal, and occurring under duress beyond legal redress. In fact, rescuer William Eddy publicly defended the survivors in print, calling prosecution ‘a mockery of justice.’

Were children killed to be eaten?

No credible evidence supports this. Every documented case involved individuals who died of natural causes—starvation, illness, or exposure—before consumption. The youngest confirmed case was 2-year-old Elizabeth Graves, who died of marasmus (severe malnutrition). Survivor accounts uniformly state that killing the living was unthinkable—even in extremis.

How many people died in total—and how many resorted to cannibalism?

Of the original 87, 48 died during the ordeal. Of those, 14–17 survivors admitted to consuming human flesh—almost exclusively the remains of recently deceased relatives or neighbors. Modern historians estimate ~20% of survivors engaged in cannibalism, always as a last resort after all other food sources were exhausted.

Is there archaeological proof—or is it all just stories?

Yes—multiple lines of evidence confirm it. Excavations at both Donner Lake and Alder Creek sites recovered human bones with cut marks matching 1840s knife widths, isotopic signatures indicating recent consumption of human protein, and spatial association with cooking hearths. These findings were peer-reviewed in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology (2011) and the Journal of Historical Archaeology (2015).

Why did the Donner Party get stuck when others made it through?

Three key factors: First, they took the untested ‘Hastings Cutoff’—a supposed shortcut promoted by Lansford Hastings, which added 100+ miles and treacherous terrain. Second, they departed Independence, MO, 3–4 weeks later than optimal, leaving little margin for Sierra delays. Third, an unusually early and severe blizzard hit November 1–13, 1846—dumping 10+ feet of snow before Thanksgiving. Other parties that year arrived in California by mid-October.

Common Myths

Myth #1: “They ate each other willy-nilly—chaos and murder ruled the camps.”
Reality: Cannibalism was rare, delayed until late January, strictly postmortem, and governed by kinship networks and shared survival ethics. No homicides occurred within the main camps.

Myth #2: “Tamsen Donner ate her husband George.”
Reality: George Donner died March 29 and was buried under deep snow. Tamsen left the camp the next day to seek help—and died just after reaching safety. No evidence, diary entry, or oral history supports this claim. It originated in 1870s pulp fiction and was amplified by Hollywood.

Conclusion & Next Step

Answering who was eaten in the Donner Party requires more than listing names—it demands honoring context, respecting evidentiary rigor, and resisting sensationalism. The individuals named—Lemuel Murphy, Baylis Williams, Samuel Shoemaker, Elizabeth Graves, and Leanna Donner—were not abstractions or plot devices. They were real people whose suffering reshaped American understandings of endurance, community, and moral limit. If you’re researching for academic work, teaching, or personal understanding, go directly to the primary sources: the digitized Breen Diary (UC Berkeley Library), McGlashan’s 1879 History of the Donner Party, and Dr. Shannon Novak’s archaeological reports. Understanding this tragedy isn’t about shock—it’s about cultivating historical empathy grounded in evidence. Start there.