You find your pistol and cocking it you jump from the wagon. You are just in time to see Snyder staggering towards you, his eyes wide in shock and the handle of Reed's knife sticking out of the centre of his chest. Reed stands shocked by what he has done and as you stare at him several other men including the Donner brothers come running up. Before your eyes Snyder collapses to the ground and breathes his last breath.


The men of the Donner Party quickly gather and Reed is surrounded, giving in without a fight. He is placed under armed guard while a quick discussion ensues over what to do with him. Franklin Graves is furious that Reed has murdered his employee while his wife and children are crying hysterically. "Hang him" Louis Keseberg urges, looking fiercely among you. "No" replies William Eddy (a friend of Reed's and a skilled marksman). "Mr Reed should leave the camp."


There is a great deal of arguing for a while and eventually it is agreed that Reed should take some food and be sent away to make his own way to California. One of Reed's teamsters called Walter Herron volunteers to accompany him and Reed, still in a state of shock, says a brief farewell to his wife and children. Snyder is buried; the Graves Family are inconsolable and the whole Party is stunned by this sudden outbreak of violence. William Eddy is worried about Reed and Herron's chances of making it to California on their own and mutters to you that perhaps others should go with them.


What do you do?

You volunteer to accompany Reed and Herron

Your decision to accompany James Reed and Walter Herron raises some eyebrows but you are glad to get away from the increasingly slow-moving group and press on ahead. Unfortunately the journey turns out to be very difficult: you are all unsuccessful at hunting and by the time you reach the Sierra Nevada Mountains you have eaten all your supplies and are surviving chiefly on wild onions and beans. Herron wants to kill the horses for food but you and Reed persuade him that you need them.


Finally you make it across the Mountains and in Bear Valley where you have the wonderful fortune of meeting a party of settlers near Johnson's Ranch, the beginning of civilization in California. They share some food with you and while you are there you meet Charles Stanton, who is on his way back to the Donner Party with seven mules of provisions and two Indians guides. Stanton is delighted to see the three of you and you quickly exchange news.


Reed tactfully explains that you three were sent ahead of get supplies, leaving out the part about him murdering John Snyder. Stanton tells you that William McCutchen has fallen ill and is resting at Fort Sutter. Reed decides to press onto Fort Sutter with Herron to get more supplies. Stanton suggests that you accompany him back to the Donner Party.


What do you do?

You join Stanton in going back to the Donner Party

Setting off from California with Charles Stanton and the two Indians Luis and Salvador you initially make good progress. James Reed and Walter Herron are both at Johnson's Ranch, both in poor shape but keen to get more supplies from Fort Sutter and follow Stanton back to the Donner Party. Making a swift journey, thanks to your Indian guides' expert knowledge of the route you re-cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains and find the Donner Party camped at Truckee Meadows near the Humboldt River in a very bad state.


You are shocked to learn of four fatalities in your absence. Reed stabbed and killed the Graves Family's wagon-driver John Snyder in an argument which led to his being banished. Louis Keseberg (A German settler with a fierce temper) abandoned his wagon-driver, an elderly Belgian man called Hardcoop, who fell behind and was never seen again. Another settler called Wolfinger was allegedly killed by Indians, though no one saw it except his friends Joseph Reinhardt and August Spitzer who many in the party suspect murdered him. Finally William Pike was accidentally shot and killed by his brother-in-law William Foster (a determined and able man).


The whole Donner Party are on the verge of running out of food, making the extra supplies extremely welcome, and immediately resume their journey after you and Stanton join them. You get a taste of what they have been experiencing when on the first day of the journey nineteen oxen are shot with arrows by an Indian who William Eddy (a first-rate marksman and teller of tall stories) shoots and kills. Soon afterwards George Donner badly injures his hand trying to repair a wagon and the Donner Brothers lag behind the rest of the group.


By the end of October you have reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains but on the last day of October it begins to snow. This is very serious because heavy snow will leave you trapped in the mountains and unable to continue. Patrick Breen (a staunch Catholic who is travelling with his large family), Stanton and a few others press on to try and clear the valley but others like the Donner Brothers are lagging behind and obviously in need of assistance.


What do you do?