Seven Lessons Learned from George Donner:

1. Beware of easy gain:  What I remember best about my Junior High School Social Science teacher, Mr. Sokol, was the phrase he uttered over and over again; “Something for nothing, you never get something for nothing.”  Daily he hammered that into our developing brains.  He taught us that nothing great comes easy and that a good result follows a good investment.  For the Donnor Party what looked easy ended up killing most of them.  Easy gain, no matter how temping, is best avoided.  The “tried and true” things in life are “true” because they have been “tried.”