11/06/2026
On October 31, 1846, the Donner Party could not travel further west. The majority of the group of 81 American immigrants passed Truckee Lake (Donner Lake today) with about 8 inches of snow on the ground that fell the night before. They were 3 miles east of the summit of the Sierra when the snow fall became higher than the axles on their wagons. Some tried to go on further without wagons but there was already so much snow that the established trail was no longer visible, let alone be able to walk in those conditions. The group retreated to the eastern side of Truckee Lake.
At the lake, the immigrants found a cabin. This cabin was built 2 years prior by members of the Murphy-Stephens-Townsend Party for Moses Schallenberger when he stayed behind the winter of 1844 to guard the wagons as the rest of the group traveled on without them as there was no established wagon trail at that time.
The Donner Party decided to wait out what they thought was a short storm and then would continue once the storm passed. That was what they hoped for. The Breen family moved into that cabin. Louis Keseberg built a lean-to against the cabin for his family. The Murphy, Eddy, Foster, and Pike families built a cabin against large boulder about 200 yards from the other cabin. The Graves and the Reed families shared a cabin a short distance away. A total of 59 people were at the 3 cabins near the lake. About six miles east at Alder Creek, the Donner families, Mrs. Wolfinger, their teamsters, and others made 3 shelters using canvas, hides, and brush. A total of 22 people were at Alder Creek.
The Donner Party had traveled over 2,000 miles to get to Truckee Lake, but they were less than 150 miles from their planned destination of Sutter’s Fort (the end of the California Trail).
Copy of a lithograph “Camp at Donner Lake” depicting the camp in November 1846 from Thompson and West’s “History of Sacramento County (1880).”
