Near this spot stood a small cabin built by 18-year-old Moses Schallenberger and two other men, members of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy party of 1844, the first pioneers to take wagons over the Sierra Nevada and open the Truckee Route of the California Trail. The three volunteered to remain behind and guard six wagons left there by the main party, but extreme winter weather and lack of food led them to separate. The two older men rejoined the wagon party, while Moses Schallenberger, weakened physically, remained at the cabin and survived there alone for nearly three months during the winter of 1844-45 before being rescued. The cabin later sheltered the Breen family of the stranded Donner Party in 1846-47, and Schallenberger's courage and resolve during his solitary winter ordeal made him one of the true heroes in the saga of the California Trail.