Excavation of the Donner-Reed Wagons

the long version

In 1846, the ill-fated Donner-Reed party of emigrants chose an alternate route to California - the largely untested Hastings Cutoff - and became bogged down in the mud and playa of the Great Salt Lake Desert. Losing at least four wagons and numerous oxen, the delay contributed to their late-season attempt to cross the Sierra Nevada and the famous efforts by party members to endure deep winter snows, exposure, and starvation. Excavation of the Donner-Reed Wagons presents the results of work undertaken in 1986 to salvage the remnants of the abandoned wagons in the face of rising water from the Great Salt Lake. Not only was a fascinating variety of artifacts recovered, but evidence of subsequent exploring parties, such as the one led by Stansbury around the Great Salt Lake in 1849-50, was also identified. Well illustrated with maps and site plans, drawings and photographs of such items as tools, weapon fragments, china, and the wagons themselves, this is a must-read for anyone interested in trail history and the Donner party.