The Pioneer's Lost Trunk

M1, T3: In 1849 a group of optimistic and determined pioneers set out from the settlement of Salt Lake, Utah to head to California. Most were gold seekers, some Mormon Missionaries and others simply looking for a better life. But all seemed impatient. When some of them took a shortcut, it got them into the “jaws of hell” as was predicted, leading them directly into the place they named “Death Valley.” Most escaped with just the clothes on their back leaving behind a trail of animal bones, wagon remains and all their earthly possessions. But in 1998 an expedition of historians and explorers claimed to have found a trunk that belonged to those original pioneers. Was it real or was the trunk bunk?