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Donner Party Tracker: Alder Creek Site

BUILDING SHELTERS: The Donner Party--Early November 1846

One hundred and sixty-three years ago this week, members of the Donner Party were busy building shelters at both Donner Lake and in the Alder Creek Valley north of present-day Truckee.
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STOPPED: The Donner Party-End of October 1846

One hundred and sixty-plus years ago this week, the lead wagons in the Donner Party reached the east end of Truckee Lake (later re-named Donner Lake). The lake, about five miles long and aligned along an east-west axis, lies at the base of a pass over the Sierra; the pass towers more than 1,000 feet above the lake.

Help On The Way?: The Donner Party--October 25, 1846

One hundred and sixty-three years ago this week, members of the Donner Party were slowly making their way westward out of the Truckee Meadows (Reno) area. The nine-member Breen family was the first to leave, accompanied by Louis Keseberg, his wife and two children, and William Eddy with his wife and children.

FOUL PLAY: The Donner Party--Mid-October 1846

One hundred and sixty-three years ago this week, members of the Donner Party had reached the Truckee River and were heading west toward the Sierra crest separating them from Sutter's Fort in mid-California at present-day Sacramento.

COMING APART: The Donner Party--October 13, 1846

One hundred and sixty-plus years ago this week, members of the Donner Party were hustling along the Humboldt River in Nevada in their desperate rush to reach California before winter overtook them.