The Mothers Author:Vardis Fisher The now famous Donner Party was headed for California-one of the many pioneer wagon-trains that ventured across the unsettled West in search of new land and new lives. It was a — small band of armed men, their women and children, a few precious belongings, oxen and conestoga wagons. — Trough the longhot days of summer, across endless paraire and I... more »dian country, one queston was uppermost in the minds of leadr and scout: Could they cross the High Sierras-the gateway to everything for which they had staked thier lives-before the great winter storms swept in from the North...?« less