Emigrant Donner Camp
Reno, Washoe County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Emigrant Donner Camp. Upon entering the Truckee Meadows along the Truckee River thousands of California-bound emigrants turned their wagons southwest to avoid extensive marshes and uncrossable sloughs. Here at the base of Rattlesnake Mountain the emigrants established a campground which extended nearly two miles to the east and west, one half mile north and south. Numerous local springs furnished quality water and the protected location of the camp provided an ideal locale for a rest stop after hundreds of grueling miles spent traversing the Humboldt River Valley. Once rested the emigrants turned west to lace their major obstacle, the Sierra Nevadas. In October of 1846, the ill-fated Donner Party spent five days in this area resting and grazing their weary animals. Plagued by a series of unfortunate incidents one member of the party, William Pike, was accidentally shot, died and was buried in the vicinity.
Erected by Nevada Emigrant Trail Marking Committee
The Story
As California-bound emigrants reached the Truckee Meadows, they turned their wagons southwest to skirt impassable marshes, gathering at this sprawling campground at the foot of Rattlesnake Mountain. Fed by local springs, it was an ideal place to rest and graze exhausted animals before the daunting climb over the Sierra Nevada. In October 1846 the ill-fated Donner Party spent five days here; during that stay one member, William Pike, was accidentally shot and buried nearby.
Why it matters
It is a tangible link to the overland emigration and the tragedy of the Donner Party, one of the most haunting cautionary tales of the westward journey.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · William Pike
Related events
- · Donner Party migration
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Junction House
Reno, NV
At this crossing of the Truckee Meadows, one of pioneer Nevada's busiest crossroads took shape. By 1853 Junction House had become the valley's first permanent settlement and a stopping place for thousands of emigrants. It anchored a web of toll roads in the 1860s — the turnpikes to Washoe City and Virginia City, the Myron Lake Road, and the important Henness Pass route to California. Governor John Sparks later owned the property.
Historic Huffaker Ranch House
Reno, NV
This building preserves the Huffaker Ranch House, a survivor of the early ranching era in the Truckee Meadows south of Reno. The Huffaker name belonged to a pioneering family that raised stock and farmed the valley in the decades after Nevada's mining rushes drew settlers to the region. The old ranch house anchors that frontier-agricultural past amid modern development.
Huffaker's
Reno, NV
When Granville W. Huffaker drove 500 head of cattle into the Truckee Meadows in 1858, the valley's main settlers were Mormons; he established his ranch the following year just as the Comstock Lode focused new attention on the region. Through the 1860s Huffaker's grew into a bustling stage stop and community center, with a stage line, post office, and an 1868 schoolhouse, hosting dances, horse races, and even a literary society. In 1875 the "Bonanza Kings" completed their great lumber flume from the Tahoe basin to a nearby terminus, where the Virginia and Truckee Railroad built a depot and spur to transfer the timber.
Reno Arch
Reno, NV
The Reno Arch first spanned Virginia Street in 1926, built to celebrate the completion of the Lincoln and Victory Highways that funneled early automobile travelers through northern Nevada. Its famous slogan—"The Biggest Little City in the World"—was chosen in a 1929 contest, and the glowing arch quickly became the emblem of a town whose fortunes rode on liberal divorce laws, legalized gambling, and the tourists who came for both. Successive arches have risen over the same spot, but the boast has never changed.