"The Donner Party has been selected by us as the most typical and as
the most varied and comprehensive in its experiences of all the
trains that made these wonderful journeys of thousands of miles, so
unique in their daring, so brave, so worthy of the admiration of
man."

ELIZA P. DONNER HOUGHTON.

Los Angeles, California,

_September, 1911_.

CONTENTS



CHAPTER I

THE PACIFIC COAST IN 1845--SPEECHES OF SENATOR BENTON AND REPORT OF
CAPT. FRÉMONT--MY FATHER AND HIS FAMILY--INTEREST AWAKENED IN THE NEW
TERRITORY--FORMATION OF THE FIRST EMIGRANT PARTY FROM ILLINOIS TO
CALIFORNIA--PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY--THE START--ON THE OUTSKIRTS
OF CIVILIZATION


CHAPTER II

IN THE TERRITORY OF KANSAS--PRAIRIE SCHOONERS FROM SANTA FÉ TO
INDEPENDENCE, MO.--LIFE _en route_--THE BIG BLUE--CAMP GOVERNMENT--THE
_Blue Rover_