Donner Party & Early Settlers

Historic photo of Donner Lake - Mountain landscape with a distant lake and rocky foreground.

Westward Trails & the Donner Party

Truckee’s history is shaped by resilience, grit, and a connection to the land that began long before the first train arrived. From the harrowing fate of the Donner Party to the rise of a bustling mountain town built by immigrants, loggers, and railroad crews. Explore the region’s earliest—and often most dramatic—stories.

The Donner Party Tragedy (1846-1847)

In the fall of 1846, a group of 87 pioneers known as the Donner Party attempted to cross the Sierra Nevada on their way to California. Delayed by poor decisions and a treacherous shortcut, the party became trapped near Donner Lake by an early and relentless snowstorm.

For months, the emigrants endured freezing temperatures, starvation, and isolation. Nearly half perished. Those who survived resorted to unthinkable means to stay alive. It is an enduring and heartbreaking chapter in American history.

Watch: The Harrowing Rescue Missions to Save the Donner Party Survivors (History Channel)

Standing beside the 22-foot-tall Pioneer Monument at Donner Memorial State Park, you can see how deep the snow was that fateful winter.

Forging the Transcontinental Railroad (1860s)

Truckee’s story changed forever with the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Tasked with conquering the formidable Donner Pass, thousands of laborers—including a significant workforce of Chinese immigrants—accomplished what many considered impossible by carving a railway path through solid granite mountains.

The 1,659-foot Summit Tunnel near Donner Summit took two years to complete. When the first train rolled through in 1867, it marked one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 19th century, and it cemented Truckee’s role as a key rail town.

The railroad brought people, opportunity, and industry but also hardship, backbreaking work, and sacrifice.

Truckee's First Settlements (1960s-1870s)

Before the railroad, there were waystations. In 1863, Joseph Gray built a log cabin trading post at what is now the corner of Jibboom and Bridge Streets, marking one of the earliest white settlements in the area.

A few years later, S.S. Coburn opened a public house in what is now Brickelltown. With the railroad crews came loggers, ice harvesters, and hoteliers, and Truckee began to boom.

Notable early sites and events:

  • Pollard’s Station (1866) near Donner Lake was the first recorded township.
  • Gray’s Toll Bridge was the first to span the Truckee River, charging a fee to cross.
  • Coburn’s Station became the construction base camp and sparked the growth of downtown Truckee.

Truckee was born not as a gold rush town, but as a gritty mountain hub serving the West’s greatest infrastructure project.

Step Into History

Explore Truckee’s rich frontier history at these local museums and heritage stops:

  • Donner Memorial State Museum
    Explore exhibits at the Emigrant Trail Museum, view artifacts from the journey, and take a lakeside walk to reflect on one of America’s most powerful cautionary tales.
  • Truckee Railroad Museum
    Housed in a vintage caboose near the depot, the museum brings this era to life with photos, artifacts, and tributes to the workers who made it possible.
  • Museum of Truckee History (Old Jail + Depot)
    Step inside Truckee’s past with exhibits on logging, early ski culture, ice harvesting, and the stories of everyday life in a frontier town.
  • Historic Downtown Walking Tour (self-guided)
    Stroll through Truckee’s preserved historic district and discover landmarks, interpretive signage, and tales from the town’s earliest days.
     

Want even more? Dive into the archives with the Truckee-Donner Historical Society.