Our Mission The mission of the Department of Parks and Recreation is to provide for the health, inspiration and education of the The people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, he of America was grow protecting its most valued natural and cultural Ting rapidly during the 1830s, when resources, and creating opportunities for American frontiersmen and sailors began to high-quality outdoor recreation. bring back stories about the wonders of Alta California. The political situation was uncer- ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER tain. Mexico still held the area, but it was Governor widely believed that she was losing control of MIKE CHRISMAN her northernmost province. It seemed inevi- Secretary for Resources table that, sooner or later, the U.S.A. would RUTH COLEMAN step in. It was “,” they said, Director, California State Parks that the United States of America should stretch across the continent from sea to shining sea. Interest in California was further heightened in 1841, when word reached the eastern settlements that it was possible to travel directly overland to the West Coast and thus avoid an expensive sea voyage. Two prosperous Illinois farmers, and his brother Jacob, were among the California State Parks does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. Prior to many who listened to the fabulous stories of arrival, visitors with disabilities who need fine soil, gentle climate and virtually unlim- assistance should contact the park at the phone ited opportunity in California. Both men were number below. To receive this publication in an in their 60s, but California truly fascinated alternate format, write to the Communications them, and in April 1846, they took their Office at the following address. families and as many of their possessions as they could fit into six wagons and headed CALIFORNIA For information call: west. They were accompanied by their good STATE PARKS (800) 777-0369 friend, James Reed, a well-to-do cabinet- P. O. Box 942896 (916) 653-6995, outside the U.S. maker, and his family. Together they joined a Sacramento, CA 711, TTY relay service 94296-0001 stream of people of all sorts, rich and poor, bound for California. www.parks.ca.gov Donner Memorial State Park 12593 Road Truckee, CA 96161 (530) 582-7892 © 2003 California State Parks (Rev. 8/2004) Printed on Recycled Paper By early summer, this stream had reached the plains west of the Mississippi mules loaded with beef and flour. He also River. Tamsen Donner, George’s wife, wrote brought news of a very difficult mountain to a friend that the journey up to that point crossing up ahead, so the group rested for had been both beautiful and pleasant. But nearly a week to gather strength. The delay at a fork in the trail beyond , in proved fatal. what is now , the stream of emi- Winter came early to the Sierra grants divided. , an that year. By the time the party reached eloquent spokesman for westward migra- , there was snow on the ground. tion, was recommending a shortcut via Fort The Donner families became snowbound at Bridger that he said would save 200 miles. Alder Creek, six miles from Several families decided to take the new the lake. The The Donner Lake encampment, “,” and soon 23 wagons and rest of the a total of 89 people were committed to the November 1846 party tried to route. George Donner was elected cross Donner wagonmaster, and the group therefore came to bickering families. Pass three be known as the Donner Party, though it also James Reed knifed a times but included the Reeds, the Breens, the Murphys, man during a heated finally gave up. the Eddys, the Graves’ and the family of Lewis argument, and though THE CAMP Keseberg, a well-educated German who spoke he claimed to have Still hoping four languages. acted in self-defense, that a thaw As it turned out, the “shortcut” was no sentiment ran high would open timesaver. The group wore itself out hacking a against him. In the end, the pass, the 36-mile road through the Wasatch Mountains he was banished from Arrival of the first relief party,group February at the 1847 lake settled in for the winter. and then lost most of their oxen and cattle the party and traveled on to California alone, The Murphys built a cabin against a large while crossing the desolate, completely while his wife and children stayed with the boulder, while the Breens and Kesebergs waterless, 80-mile-wide main party. partitioned an existing cabin into two rooms, Desert. As a result, several wagons and many Late October found the Donner Party in one for each family. The Reed and Graves possessions had to be abandoned. By the Truckee Meadows, near present-day Reno, families built a two-room log cabin further time the party returned to the main California Nevada. The local Paiute Indians were harass- downstream, and with snow swirling about Trail in eastern Nevada, they were a full three ing them, and they were exhausted, demoral- them, the Donners built two teepee-style, weeks behind those who had not chosen to ized, bitter and completely out of food. Then hide-covered brush shelters against trees. take the Hastings Cutoff. Tired, frustrated, Charles Stanton, a bachelor who had gone Food was soon scarce once again, and hungry and disillusioned, the party turned ahead to obtain provisions, returned from efforts at hunting and fishing in the snowy from a cooperative group into a cluster of Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento with seven pack mountains were had survived on one deer and the husband. Reduced to starvation, Reed’s unsuccessful. bodies of their dead companions. party was forced to wait out another three- Individual day blizzard at a spot later known as THE RESCUERS survival instincts Starved Camp, the scene of more deaths Relief was slow in coming for the were already and cannibalism. Donner Party. There was a war going on, showing, as After the blizzard, Reed and the strongest and finding men to take food into the families with the members of the group pressed on and met a snowy mountains was difficult. Finally, most provisions third relief party of four men at Emigrant in late February, seven men reached could not be Gap. These men, among them the two male the cabins buried in the snow at induced to share survivors of the December “snowshoe Donner Lake. Several half-starved with the less party,” continued on to Donner Lake to people emerged as the rescuers ap- fortunate. bring out the last able survivors. Of those proached, and one woman asked, “Are In December, who were still able to move about, only two you men from California, or do you with snow remained behind––Lewis Keseberg, who come from Heaven?” They had been continuing to was suffering from a bad foot, and Tamsen reduced to eating the last of their pile up, ten men Donner, who still refused to leave her oxhides and ox bones. Several deaths and five women husband. from starvation had already occurred. decided to make In April 1847, only a year after the Donners Gathering 21 able-bodied survivors, a desperate Patty Reed’s doll. A replica can be had started out from Illinois with such high including some children, the rescue attempt to get to seen at Donner Memorial State Park. hopes, one last party of rescuers came to party started back across the mountains Sutter’s Fort. The original is on exhibit at Sutter’s salvage the immigrants’ belongings. to the west. Having eaten all its food, They left camp Fort State Historic Park in Keseberg alone was still alive. this group was fortunate to meet a on crude snowshoes made fromSacramento, oxbows Califo andrnia. The Donner story is a tragic page in the second party led by the once-banished rawhide strips, carrying only six days’ saga of westward migration. Poor judgment, James Reed. After a brief reunion with his skimpy rations. Five days out, Stanton, the heroic sacrifice, struggle for survival and wife, Reed pressed on to the cabins, and on only one who knew the route, became plain bad luck all played their part. Though March 1 was reunited with his young chil- exhausted and snowblind. To avoid delaying other parties had made it through Donner dren. At the Donner tents, Reed saw his old the group, he stayed behind to die. The Pass intact, the winter of 1846-1847 was one friend, George Donner, dying from a badly others quickly became lost and had to sit of the worst ever recorded in the Sierra. The infected cut on his hand. He also saw evi- out a three-day Christmas storm huddled base of the monument at Donner Memorial dence of cannibalism at both the cabins and under blankets to keep from freezing. Four State Park stands 22 feet high, the depth of the Donner camp. Leaving five survivors at of them died, and with no other food, the the snow that trapped the travelers. Only 49 the cabins and six at the Donner camp, rest ate their bodies. One month later, two of the 91 members of the party, including Reed started back with the rest. Tamsen men and all five of the women, all extremely the entire Breen and Reed families, sur- Donner insisted on remaining with her ailing emaciated, arrived at the settlement. They vived the terrible ordeal. Most of the survivors carried out their original intention of settling in California, but their lives were indelibly marked by the events WASHINGTON of that winter. Keseberg, for example, died a tormented, half-crazed man after being MONTANA NORTH hounded throughout his DAKOTA life by people who ac- OREGON cused him of having murdered Tamsen Donner. SOUTH For those who WYOMING DAKOTA would like to know more about the Truckee tragic story of the Sacramento IOWA Donner Party, a Sutter’s Fort NEBRASKA selection of books is NEVADA Council Bluffs available at the Emigrant Trail Museum St. Joseph in Donner Memorial COLORADO State Park. Independence KANSAS CALIFORNIA Overland Emigrant Trails Conventional Trail Donner Party Trail DONNER MEMORIAL STATE PARK More recently that granite bedrock has been of a gigantic section of the earth’s crust. The The park is located amid the pine and fir exposed by erosion. The Sierra’s steep eastern huge granite block tipped up dramatically on forests just east of Donner Pass in the Sierra face, the barrier that faced the Donner Party the east and tipped down on the west to Nevada. Surrounded by magnificent alpine and other California immigrants, was formed disappear beneath the accumulated sedi- scenery and directly adjacent to a beautiful over the last few million years by the tilting up ments that form the . Gla- three-mile-long lake, the park offers ciers dominated the crest of the vacationers a wide range of recre- throughout much of ational opportunities including camp- the last million years. One of them ing, picnicking, hiking, boating, fishing carved out the Truckee Basin, and waterskiing. where the park is located, depos- The Emigrant Trail Museum at the iting gravel and even some huge park is open year round and includes boulders in what is now a thickly exhibits about the human and natural forested area. When the glacier history of this area. Campfire programs began to retreat, it left behind a and other interpretive programs are terminal moraine of loose soil and conducted by park staff during the gravel that blocked the creek summer. A schedule of interpretive channel and resulted in the programs can be obtained by contact- formation of Donner Lake. ing the park staff or consulting the RECREATION bulletin boards. The forest is made up primarily of Fishing lodgepole pine, Jeffrey pine and white The park has more than three fir. Because of its elevation, nearly 6,000 miles of frontage on Donner Lake feet, there is no poison oak. Deer, and Donner Creek. Fishing is not squirrels, chipmunks, porcupines, spectacular, though the lake is raccoons, beavers and a wide variety of planted periodically with catch- birds are commonly seen. able trout, and both trout and In and near the park are some fasci- kokanee are sometimes caught. A nating traces of the geologic process valid sport fishing license is that shaped this portion of the Sierra required. Many fishermen prefer Nevada. Rounded, smooth-surfaced to use the park as a base to visit rock outcrops are the result of granitic nearby lakes. intrusions that welled up into the earth’s There is no boat launching ramp surface––giant bubbles of molten rock, in the park, but a public ramp is cooling and hardening as they rose. available in the northwest corner of Donner Lake. The lake is open in 1901, when the Native Sons of the to both power and sail boats. Golden West purchased the site and The park has about two and a constructed the stone base on which half miles of hiking trails, and there the bronze statue stands today. The are excellent trail opportunities in monument was completed and officially the neighboring Tahoe National dedicated June 6, 1918. Forest. Hiking information is This is the site of the Breen Cabin, available at the trail museum. one of the structures used by members Camping of the Donner Party during the winter of The 154-site campground is usu- 1846-1847. The Murphy cabin site is ally open from Memorial Day until located 200 yards south of the museum. mid-September. Each campsite It was built against a large rock that has a table and stove, as well as a formed the west end of the cabin. The parking space. Restrooms with hot cabin was built in November 1846, and showers are nearby. Some of the was approximately 25 feet long and 18 campsites will accommodate feet wide. It was cold and damp, with trailers or motorhomes up to 24 an earthen floor. Sixteen members of feet long. There are no hookups the Murphy, Foster and Eddy families available. Reservations for family campsites Donner Lakespent the winter in this cabin. cludes exhibits about the natural history of the can be made up to seven months in advance A gentle, self-guided nature trail starts near Truckee Basin, local Native American life, the by calling (800) 444-7275. Reservations are the museum and makes overland immigration of the , the Donner strongly advised from mid-June through a loop through the tragedy, construction of the transcontinental Labor Day. forest. Printed trail railroad, lumbering and ice harvesting. The guides are available Picnicking/Swimming museum store featues books on the Donner at the museum and The picnic area is located near the lake and Party and Emigrant Trail, local natural entrance station. An includes picnic tables, restrooms and piped history and recreation and related easy, 1-mile lakeside drinking water. A sandy beach and walking items. interpretive trail trails are nearby. The Pioneer Monument, starts in the lagoon located near the museum, was THE EMIGRANT TRAIL MUSEUM portion of the day-use area erected in honor of all who AND PIONEER MONUMENT and continues along the lake. made the difficult trek across The museum was completed in 1962 after 15 the western plains and moun- years of effort by local citizens, park staff and tains to reach California during the Northern legislators. Open all year, the museum in- 1840s. Work on the monument began Flying Squirrel ACCESSIBLE FEATURES PLEASE REMEMBER • Camping—7 accessible family sites; most • Fires are only permitted in the established have paved access to restrooms. fireplaces. The danger of wildfire can be • Picnicking—1 retrofitted table and acute in midsummer. restroom. • Dogs are permitted in the campground and • Exhibits—Paved access to monument; picnic area but must be on a leash (six-foot captioned video and audio available. maximum length) at all times and in your Accessibility is continually improving. Call the tent or motor vehicle at night. They are not park for the latest information. permitted on the trails or on the beach. • Plants and animals are protected in order NEARBY STATE PARKS to preserve the natural beauty of the area. •Tahoe State Recreation Area Please do not feed the squirrels, chipmunks 1/4 mile east of Tahoe City on Highway 28 or any other animals. (530) 525-7232 • Family sites accommodate up to eight • Sugar Pine Point State Park people and two vehicles. Check-out time is 10 miles south of Tahoe City on Highway 89 noon. You may make camping reservations (530) 525-7982 by calling (800)444-7275. • D. L. Bliss State Park • Quiet hours are 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. 17 miles south of Tahoe City on Highway 89 (530) 525-7277 • Emerald Bay State Park 22 miles south of Tahoe City on Highway 89 (530) 541-3030 Map by Eureka Cartography,Map by Eureka Berkeley, CA © 2002 California State Parks © 2002 California

Lakeview Donner Memorial T AHOE NATIONAL FOREST Ca P. For more information contact: Sierra State Parks Foundation, This park is supported in part through a nonprofit organization. nyo n O. Box 28 • Tahoe City, CA 96145 • (530)583-3737

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