FROM THE ROAD: THE DONNER CAMP

Among the sites that have been preserved near Truckee, CA, to memorialize the tragic story of the Donner Party and the failed attempts of immigrants to cross the Sierras to California is the site where members of the Donner family were stranded and many died. The Donner Party, as it was known, was composed of several families. The Donners and others left Illinois headed to California in 1846. Because of several things, some preventable and some not, the group of pioneers did not reach the base of the Sierras near

The approximate site of the Donner Camp

Truckee until the major winter storm had hit. They were stranded and fought to survive in two different locations. Because of equipment problems the Donner and Reed families reached the area after others. The first to arrive wintered at Donner Lake. The Donners only made it as far as Alder Creek before they were snowed in.  They had planned to build permanent shelter but the winter storm hit before they could do so; they had to survive in tents and lean-tos. The Alder Creek camp site north of Truckee is within the Tahoe National Forest and the U. S. Forest Service has preserved the site and installed interpretive signs along a short trail that weaves throughout the area where the actual camp was. 

The interpretive signs contain information about the unfortunate circumstances forced upon the immigrants and include quotes from some of those involved. Cited especially for their role in keeping the families together are Tamsen and Elizabeth Donner who stayed at the camp until the very end. Of the 25 in that group, only 11 people survived the brutal winter.

This shows how high the snow was in 1846 at the camp.