Christmas is a special family time. The story of the Donner Party is a story of survival of family members where others perished.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Oregon Trail crossed North America from East to West. In 1846, a party of 81 people, mostly German in origin, crossed the continent with their wagons and their cattle on their way to California. They were known as the Donner party after their leaders, Jacob and George Donner. They made good progress until they reached the Sierra Nevada mountains. Against the advice of local Indians, they decided to cross the Sierra Nevada’s.

It was early winter and on the East side of the mountains they became totally bogged down in the snow. They could move neither forward nor backward. There they remained from November until April of the following year when they were rescued. Of the 81 who set out, 45 survived.

Scholars have studied the question of who survived and why. They discovered that the first to perish were the lone fighters who tried to break through alone. Those who survived were all members of families. Some were elderly, some were children and some were even sick. Scholars have concluded that members of families survive when others groups such as friends or loners perish. “The family”, they say, “is the survival network of the future. Families find ways to help each other and save each other more effectively than any other group”. May Our Saviour be with you and your family wherever you find yourself this Christmas.