The Rescue of The Donner Party: A Horrible Ordeal 

My ancestors briefly joined the Donner Party. Realizing that their guide was in error and that the weather was turning against them, they made the decision to head to what is now Reno, Nevada and wait there till Spring ... and they did well to do so.

My great great grandfather was is the first wagon train that had gone through the camp after the camp had been cleared out. His dad found a hatchet 20+ feet in a tree. That hatchet remained on my family's ranch until it was lost some time in the 1960s.

My neighbor is descended from the Donner party. His family came over with my second cousins the Reeds through the Keyes. We had a long talk about what our families went through and when he gets extra cantankerous, I break his mood with saying “please don’t eat me”. It’s an inside joke that he started when we first met. He said “Better be careful or I might have to resort to our kins behavior and I think it’s nice that we can be good neighbors after our ancestors shared horror.

I'm always amazed that the many iterations of the Donner story almost always fail to mention that Tamzen Donner was born a Wheelwright, one of the really significant families of the founding of America.

I got to visit Donner Pass, years ago. You can feel the spirits of the people, both living and dead. There was a light mist in the air, and that added to the feeling of hopelessness the people must have felt.

What a horror story! I've crossed Donner pass many times and every time I think of this tragic tale. The worst part is how senseless it was.

I've been there and have seen the museum and those trees as well as the statue that's there as a monument, and like was said before, something is definitely palpable in the air when you visit. Well said and told friend. Even in the middle of summer it feels like I was sitting by a fire in a cabin listening to a ghost story. Look forward to the next one. Joaquin Murietta perhaps? Haha.

Crossing mountains in the winter time has led to some seriously awful situations throughout history.

So well done! I am addicted to your accounting of these stories of the West. It’s impossible to learn about the West outside reading primary sources and pre-1963 historical non-fiction, or even fiction. It’s a blessing because it helps so much to better understand our present. As our history is quite literally being erased so many of us feel lost not knowing where we came from. These men planting trees they knew they would never enjoy the shade of, the least we can do is tell their story. Thank you.

I saw the last name Murphy and had to check my family tree. It looks like my two of my 3rd great aunts traveled emigrated to Oregon - one of them traveling with Robert Berry Boyd Jr. (:

Remember driving from Mountinview Ca to Reno in a snow storm years ago . Donner Pass was the worst stretch. God rest those poor people.

Glad to see another video I’m definitely hooked on this channel now!

Frozen food and FU46

I know the story well, but it is a classic.

I live just 30 minutes from Truckee. The terrain is beautiful and unforgiving.

Hard to believe how horrible it was and hard to hear of the pain, fear and death. Really tragic. Thank you for another great episode.

Many in these comments are descended from this fateful event.

All they had to do was head back just a few miles the way they came which is north east on what is highway 80 today. They amazingly did not do this, did not realize this. No one told them that snow is essentially non existent or very light just east of Truckee Lake/Donner Pass at Martis Valley area and that the snow is terrible from Truckee/donner lake west to the Sacramento Foothills Blue Canyon area some 40 to 50+ miles of snow that can be 60+ feet deep. The Donner Family was actually camped by Prosser Creek not Truckee/Donner Lake which is an easy trek of just a few miles until you hit snow free solid ground at what is now called Martis Valley and the Truckee River which is the route they came and is now highway 80. Martis Valley is what locals call a banana belt. It remains relatively snow free as it doesn’t get much snow and what snow falls melts rapidly. In the worst of winters and winter storms you get amounts of several inches to 1-2 feet average,,,, 4 feet at worst which melts in a few days and there is just areas with patches of snow with mostly solid ground free of snow. Such an easy solution same for the families stranded at Donner Lake then known as Truckee lake. It is just a few miles to solid ground east of the current town of Truckee and Martis Valley. It is amazing the stupidity of these people.

History is filled with interesting tales some good and many horrific ones. But I find the true stories of the Wild West in the 19th and early 20th century to be the most haunting of them all.

Excellent look at historical events, good and bad.