The Donner Party’s tragic story is inextricably linked with survival cannibalism when a group of emigrants became snowbound and stranded in the Sierra Nevada during the winter of 1846–47. Archaeological fieldwork at the Donner Family’s Alder Creek camp on the Tahoe National Forest brought attention to the complexities of the human condition, revealing insights into broader issues facing humanity, including risk, vulnerability, and resilience.

Combining the approaches of history, ethnohistory, archaeology, bioarchaeology, and social anthropology, Dixon and her colleagues’ innovative look at the Donner Party’s experience at the Alder Creek Camp offers insights into many long-unsolved mysteries and misunderstandings. Centered on archaeological investigations near Truckee, California and drawing from the book, An Archaeology of Desperation: Exploring the Donner Party’s Alder Creek Camp, this talk will walk you through an analysis of evidence to learn more about what happened out there 180 years ago. Join us to dive into some sobering science during our spooky season this October.

Dr. Kelly J. Dixon has worked in the field of archaeology and heritage management for over 25 years. Since the fall of 2003, she has worked as an Archaeologist and Professor at the University of Montana’s (UM) Department of Anthropology. Living and working in the North American West for 20 years, Dixon’s body of work underscores the ways in which actions in the American West have connections with, and impacts on, the rest of the world as humans navigate extreme social and environmental changes. For the past decade, she has been assisting with UM’s cultural heritage collections as part of her service duties at UM, which has given her experience working with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) processes. Whether drawing lessons from the past to make informed decisions about the present or whether working collaboratively with her colleagues, Dixon believes partnerships with Tribal, Federal, State, and local government agencies, as well as with private businesses, stakeholders, communities, and other universities can help responsibly and respectfully preserve and protect land, heritage, and humanity’s well-being in the 21^st century and beyond.