[Illustration: S.O. HOUGHTON]

THE EXPEDITION OF THE DONNER PARTY

AND ITS TRAGIC FATE



BY ELIZA P. DONNER HOUGHTON

[Illustration: Eliza P. Donner Houghton]

PREFACE


Out of the sunshine and shadows of sixty-eight years come these
personal recollections of California--of the period when American
civilization first crossed its mountain heights and entered its
overland gateways.

I seem to hear the tread of many feet, the lowing of many herds, and
know they are the re-echoing sounds of the sturdy pioneer home-seekers.
Travel-stained and weary, yet triumphant and happy, most of them reach
their various destinations, and their trying experiences and valorous
deeds are quietly interwoven with the general history of the State.

Not so, however, the "Donner Party," of which my father was captain.
Like fated trains of other epochs whose privations, sufferings, and
self-sacrifices have added renown to colonization movements and served
as danger signals to later wayfarers, that party began its journey with