The Nightmare Begins

The Nightmare Begins. . They were the first to take wagons through the new Hastings Cutoff. Although shorter, it was a difficult detour through rugged mountains and arid deserts. The emigrants lost valuable time, oxen, and supplies. One person was banished. Five people died. The mishaps of their journey made them late in reaching the Sierra Nevada mountains. , The Party Divides , In late October the weary Donner Party started into these mountains. An axle broke on one of the Donner family wagons. The Donners stopped to make the needed repairs. , The larger portions of the wagon train continued on reaching Truckee Lake (now called Donner Lake) 6 miles from here. A snowstorm stopped both groups from continuing over the summit. The Donner family and their teamsters were forced to make camp here in the Alder Creek Valley. , (Side bar at top right:) , It was about the first of November, I think, that we went into that camp of snow and suffering. , John Baptiste Trudeau , (He was 16 years old during the winter of 1846-47) , From a statement reported in the San Francisco Morning Call, October 11, 1891.