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On March 26, 1846, George Donner and James Reed, residents of Illinois near the state capital of Springfield, posted an add in a local newspaper The Sangamo Journal. The ad called for a group of people to set off on an expedition to California. Eventually, on April 14, the two men had a group and set out to California. Unfortunately, this trek was the fateful Donner Party, where both men eventually perished in winter 1846-47.

At the time, Abraham Lincoln, a friend of Reed's from the Blackhawk War, considered taking his family out West with Reed and Donner, but his young son, his wife's pregnancy, and the Congressional race ultimately led to him deciding not to go. What if, somehow, Lincoln decided to join the Donner Party, and survived, possibly losing his kid and his wife. How would that effect the life of Abe Lincoln and the nation as a whole? Would Lincoln eventually run for office, or merely be a footnote in Illinois history as one of the people who helped move the capital to Springfield? If Lincoln went into politics, would he be nominated for President in 1860? Could he have won?
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