Donner Memorial State Park
| Donner Memorial State Park | |
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Donner Lake from Donner Memorial State Park
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| Location | Nevada and Placer Counties, California, USA |
| Nearest city | Truckee, California |
| Coordinates | 39°19′12″N 120°14′30″W / 39.32000°N 120.24167°WCoordinates: 39°19′12″N 120°14′30″W / 39.32000°N 120.24167°W |
| Area | 3,293 acres (13.33 km2) |
| Established | 1928 |
| Governing body | California Department of Parks and Recreation |
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Donner Camp
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The Donner Party Memorial at Donner Memorial State Park
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| Nearest city | Truckee, California |
| Built | 1846 |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000218 |
| CHISL # | 134 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | January 20, 1961 |
Donner Memorial State Park is a state park of California, USA, preserving the site of the Donner Camp, where members of the ill-fated Donner Party were trapped by weather during the winter of 1846–1847. Caught without shelter or adequate supplies, members of the group resorted to cannibalism to survive. The Sierra Nevada site has been designated a National Historic Landmark. The state park contains the Emigrant Trail Museum and the Pioneer Monument dedicated to the travelers of the Emigrant Trail.
Donner Memorial State Park is located outside Truckee, California. It has 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of hiking trails, campgrounds, and 3 miles (4.8 km) of lake frontage on Donner Lake. The 3,293-acre (1,333 ha) park was established in 1928.
The Donner Memorial State Park Visitor Center contains exhibits about the cultural history of the area, including local Native Americans, the Donner Party, and builders of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Near the museum is the Pioneer Monument and the Donner Party's Murphy family cabin site. Park staff offer hikes, special presentations and campfires by the museum.
The Pioneer Monument was erected in honor of all who made the difficult trek across the western plains and mountains to reach California during the 1840s. Work on the monument, constructed near the site of the cabins that gave shelter to the Donner Party, began in 1901. On June 6, 1918, in a ceremony that included Donner Party survivors, the Native Sons of the Golden West donated the completed monument and 11 surrounding acres to the State of California.
The plaque on the front of the Pioneer Statue reads:
VIRILE TO RISK AND FIND; KINDLY WITHAL AND A READY HELP. FACING THE BRUNT OF FATE; INDOMITABLE,—UNAFRAID.
The plaque on the rear of the Pioneer Statue reads:
NEAR THIS SPOT STOOD THE BREEN CABIN OF THE PARTY OF EMIGRANTS WHO STARTED FOR CALIFORNIA FROM SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, IN APRIL 1846, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CAPTAIN GEORGE DONNER. DELAYS OCCURRED AND WHEN THE PARTY REACHED THIS LOCALITY, ON OCTOBER 29, THE TRUCKEE PASS EMIGRANT ROAD WAS CONCEALED BY SNOW. THE HEIGHT OF THE SHAFT OF THE MONUMENT INDICATES THE DEPTH OF THE SNOW, WHICH WAS TWENTY-TWO FEET. AFTER FUTILE EFFORTS TO CROSS THE SUMMIT THE PARTY WAS COMPELLED TO ENCAMP FOR THE WINTER. THE GRAVES CABIN WAS SITUATED ABOUT THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILE TO THE EASTWARD, THE MURPHY CABIN ABOUT TWO HUNDRED YARDS SOUTHWEST OF THE MONUMENT, AND THE DONNER TENTS WERE AT THE HEAD OF ALDER CREEK. NINETY PEOPLE WERE IN THE PARTY AND FORTY-TWO PERISHED, MOST OF THEM FROM STARVATION AND EXPOSURE.
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Wikipedia