On February 19, 1847, the first rescuers reach surviving members
of the Donner Party, a group of California-bound emigrants
stranded by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In the summer of 1846, in the midst of a Western-bound fever
sweeping the United States, 89 people—including 31 members
of the Donner and Reed families—set out in a wagon train from Springfield, Illinois. After arriving at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, the emigrants decided to avoid the usual route and try a new trail
recently blazed by California promoter Lansford Hastings, the
so-called “Hastings Cutoff.” After electing George Donner
(below) as their captain, the party departed Fort Bridger in
mid-July.
The shortcut was nothing of the sort: It set the Donner Party back
nearly three weeks and cost them much-needed supplies. After
suffering great hardships in the Wasatch Mountains, the Great
Salt Lake Desert and along the Humboldt River, they finally
reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains in early October.
Despite the lateness of the season, the emigrants continued to
press on, and on October 28 they camped at Truckee Lake,
located in the high mountains northwest of Lake Tahoe.
Overnight, an early winter storm blanketed the ground with
snow, blocking the mountain pass and trapping the Donner
Party.
George Donner (1836 – 1874)
James F. Reed and his wife, Margret W. Keyes Reed, seen
in this file photo taken in the 1850s, were survivors of the
tragic Donner Party.
Map of the route taken by the Donner Party, showing the Hastings Cutoff—which added 150 miles (240 km) to
their travels—in orange.
