Donner Party

A party of emigrants led by Captain George Donner left Springfield, Illinois, for California in April 1846, but delays slowed their journey, and when they reached this locality on October 29, the Truckee Pass Emigrant Road was hidden by snow twenty-two feet deep. After futile efforts to cross the summit, they were forced to encamp for the winter. The Breen cabin stood near this spot, the Graves cabin was about three-quarters of a mile to the eastward, the Murphy cabin about two hundred yards southwest, and the Donner tents were at the head of Alder Creek. Ninety people were in the party, and forty-two died, most from starvation and exposure.

Truckee, California · United States