Virginia Reed Murphy

The final leg of the Oregon Trail, crossing the mountains into California and Oregon, tested the limits of the pioneers' endurance. The path into California, for example, was unmapped for many years. Different expeditions tried to find the best route through the Sierras at their own peril.

By 1846, the established, though arduous, route was the California Trail. In that year, three hundred pioneers took the California Trail over the Sierras, and most reached the Sacramento Valley without loss of life. But for the DonnerReed Party everything went well until they reached Fort Bridger. There they decided to take a short cut to California described in Lansford W. Hastings' Emigrants' Guide. They soon discovered their choice was unfortunate. The terrain was steep and rocky, and the party was forced to abandon their overloaded wagons. They lost weeks on the...