Stumps of trees cut by the Donner Party in Summit Valley, Placer County (Photo: Lawrence & Houseworth, 1886 via Library of Congress digital archives)
The Donner Party, Western United States (1847)
The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers that set out in a wagon train for California in May of 1846. Their trip did not go according to plan – a slow pace, rugged terrain, and various errors left the group trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They were forced to survive for over four months in the snowbound wilderness before the first relief parties were able to reach them with supplies, and by that point some had already turned to eating the dead to survive. Of the 87 people who set off from Missouri, only 48 made it to California, most of whom lost all their possessions on the trek. Furthermore, the survivors who did make it back to civilization were frequently shunned because they were assumed to be cannibals, and generally lived difficult and notorious lives thereafter.
Historical people we might meet: The man who organized this particular wagon train was called James Frasier Reed, and he was eager to build a fortune in California. He was so eager, in fact, that he agreed to follow a new, and largely untested route to the West, which was advertised to be both easier and save time. (Narrator voice: It was not easier, nor did it save time.) In fact, this route had never been tested at all, and Reed’s decision to follow it is a big reason the group ultimately faced such calamity.
Potential adventures: Much like the story of the lost Franklin Expedition earlier in this list, the tragedy of the Donner Party has all the makings of a great Doctor Who episode. There’s automatic tension about whether the Doctor can somehow help – or at least secretly feed – these people and the fact that they’re all snowed in on top of a mountain makes for a scary “siege” style setting. Throw in a monster or an alien of some type that’s stalking our friends or the settlers? Instantly terrifying.