The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate

I purchased [The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate] because I wanted to learn the actual cause of and fate of the well known attempt by the Donner’s to cross the Sierra Nevadas; including their reputed resort to cannibalism. However, the author was only 4 years old at the time of the trip. Less than 50% of the book is about the expedition and other than remembering that they were cold and hungry, the author has to rely on things others have told her about the trip. The majority of the book is about the author's growing up as an orphan. While Ms. Donner does write a good story of her childhood after the death of her parents, since she was not present and cannot remember their deaths or many other facts, it's just another nice story about life in the west as an orphan. She has no recollection of cannibalism, although other children in the party did. ( )