Researcher: Donner Party did cannibalize the dead after all [View All]

Contrary to recent media reports sparked by a university's news release, the Donner Party of 1846-47 did cannibalize the dead, Western historians, authors and a bone researcher said.

The clarifications were based on a flurry of stories last week, which included headlines like: "Oops! Donner Party Gets Apology" (Winston-Salem Journal); "Analysis Clears Donner Party of Rumored Cannibalism" (Cleveland Leader); and "Donner Party Did Not Eat Each Other" (Examiner.com).

The problem: That's not what the bone study says. And telling Western historians the entrapped 1846-47 pioneers didn't eat each other is akin to announcing the Titanic missed that iceberg or Custer survived the Little Big Horn.

Historians said the recent research by Appalachian State University -- which states that no human bones were identified among 85 bone fragments found in a fire pit at one of the Donner Party's campsites -- confirms the families lived on a starvation diet. No human bones were identified in a single fire pit, but that can't be used as proof that the well-documented cannibalism was a myth.