The following timeline provides an almost day-to-day basic description of events directly associated with the 1846 Donner Party pioneers, covering the journey from Illinois to California—, over the Great Plains, two mountain ranges, and the deserts of the Great Basin.
Following the timeline is a chronological list of deaths.
Timeline
April 15, 1846: The journey begins in Springfield, Illinois. The travelers are George Donner, his brother Jacob, and James F. Reed, with their families. Each man has three covered wagons and has hired teamsters to drive the oxen that pull them; Reed also has two servants, who are Eliza and Baylis Williams. The destination of the first leg is Independence, where the Oregon Trail begins; the distance from Springfield to Independence is about . The trip is timed to begin when the spring rains have subsided and grass for the draft animals is available, and to get there before the snow makes the Sierra Nevada impassable.
May 1846 May 10, 1846: The Donners and Reeds arrive at Independence, Missouri, where they spend the next two days completing their outfits for the journey.
May 12, 1846: The Donners and Reeds depart Independence, Missouri for California. May 19, 1846: At Indian Creek, about west of Independence, the Donners and Reeds join a larger wagon train, which is led by Colonel William Henry Russell. May 27, 1846: High water stops the Russell Train at the east bank of the Big Blue River in modern-day Kansas. The emigrants build a raft to carry their wagons across. May 29, 1846: While the emigrants are camped, Mrs. Reed's mother, Sarah Keyes, dies of tuberculosis and is buried under a tree near Alcove Spring in modern-day Kansas. May 31, 1846: The last of the wagons are ferried across the river. At some point during the delay at the Big Blue, the Murphy family from Tennessee has joined the wagon train.
June 1846 June 16, 1846: Tamsen Donner, George's wife, writes that they are now at the Platte River, from Fort Laramie, in present-day Wyoming, and that the journey so far has been easier than expected."The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate" by Eliza P. Donner Houghton pg 24, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London 1997 ed June 18, 1846: William Russell relinquishes his position as captain of the wagon train because he, Edwin Bryant, and others have decided to trade in their wagons and teams for mules in order to travel more quickly. They travel ahead to Fort Laramie to make the transaction. June 27, 1846: The party in which the Donners and Reeds travel, now called the Boggs Company (named for its leader Lilburn W. Boggs, a former governor of Missouri), arrives at Fort Laramie. James Reed meets James Clyman, an old mountaineer, who has just come by horse from California with Lansford Hastings by way of a new route, which will soon be known as Hastings Cutoff. Clyman urges the emigrants to avoid Hastings Cutoff and take the regular route instead.
July 1846 July 4, 1846: The Boggs Company celebrates the Fourth of July at Fort Laramie July 17, 1846: At Independence Rock the Boggs Company encounters a lone eastbound rider bearing an open letter from Hastings urging "all emigrants now on the road" to meet him at Fort Bridger, so he can guide them on his cutoff. July 18, 1846: The Boggs Company crosses the Continental Divide. They are from Independence and have more than to go. July 19, 1846: The Boggs Company reaches the Little Sandy River, where several other wagon trains have also camped. Here those emigrants who have decided to take Hastings's route form a new company and elect George Donner captain, thus creating the Donner Party. July 20, 1846: The Donner Party separates from the other wagon trains and takes the left-hand road to Fort Bridger. July 27, 1846: The Donner Party arrives at Fort Bridger, the corral and two cabins of mountaineer Jim Bridger. There the Donner Party learns that Hastings left the previous week leading the wagons that had already arrived and leaving instructions for later groups to follow him. The Donner Party stays four days to rest their oxen and make repairs. July 31, 1846: James Reed writes "Hastings Cutoff is said to be a saving of 350 or and a better route. The rest of the Californians went the long route, feeling afraid of Hastings' cutoff. But Mr. Bridger informs me that it is a fine, level road with plenty of water and grass. It is estimated that will take us to Captain Sutter's fort, which we hope to make in seven weeks from this day." At the fort the emigrants take on some new members. Now numbering 74 people, the Donner Party leaves Fort Bridger and starts out on Hastings Cutoff.
August 1846 August 1–5, 1846: The Donner Party makes good time following the tracks of the group led by Hastings. August 6, 1846: The Donner Party stops near the mouth of Echo Canyon on the Weber River, present day Henefer, Utah. The Weber River flows on down to the mouth of Weber Canyon at Ogden, Utah; Hastings has left a note for them, warning them that the road ahead is impassable and instructing them to send someone ahead to get instructions. James Reed and two others set out following the wagon tracks of Hastings's group. August 10, 1846: Reed returns to the wagons. Hastings had accompanied Reed partway back; the men ascended a peak where Hastings pointed out an alternative route, then they separated, Reed blazing a rough trail to his wagon train. August 11, 1846: The Donner Party sets out on the new route, but are slowed by the necessity of chopping a road through the brush and trees of the Wasatch Mountains. The Graves family catches up with them; the company now numbers 87 people in 23 wagons.
August 22, 1846: The Donner Party enters the Salt Lake Valley via what will be known as Emigration Canyon having departed the Weber River using East Canyon. With just a month of summer remaining, there are still to go. August 25, 1846: In the evening, Luke Halloran dies of tuberculosis; he is buried in a coffin at a fork in the road the following day. About this time the emigrants find another note from Hastings, warning them of a two-day dry drive ahead. They set out again, following the tracks of the emigrants ahead of them. August 29, 1846: The emigrants stay in camp collecting as much water and grass as possible for the drive ahead. August 30, 1846: The Donner Party reaches Redlum Spring, the last source of water before the dry drive begins, then sets out to cross the Great Salt Lake Desert.
September 1846 September 3, 1846: On the third day in the desert, the water runs out. That night, the Reeds' thirsty oxen run off, never to be found; the Reeds take a few things and set out on foot. September 8, 1846: The emigrants finish the five-day journey across the eighty-mile desert, which Hastings had said was half as wide. They have lost 36 head of cattle, half of them Reed's, and four wagons have to be abandoned. They spend the next week at the foot of Pilot Peak recuperating from their ordeal, hunting for cattle, and caching their possessions. September 10, 1846: The Donner Party sets out again. After taking an inventory of their supplies, the emigrants have realized that they don't have enough food to get them to California and have sent Charles Stanton and William McCutchen ahead to Sutter's Fort to request more. September 26, 1846: The party arrives at the Humboldt River, where the cutoff meets the standard trail, which is actually shorter than Hastings Cutoff. Two Native Americans join the party for a while and are fed. They were thought to have stolen one of Mr. Graves' shirts one night.
October 1846 October 5, 1846: While struggling up a sandy hill at Iron Point, Nevada, the Reed and Graves teams become entangled. A fight breaks out between Milt Elliott, Reed's teamster, and John Snyder, driving the Graves wagon. When Reed intervenes with his knife to cut the teams, Snyder grows angrier and hits Reed on the head with his whip handle; the handle breaks into Reed's skull and causes bleeding. With Snyder about to strike again, Reed stabs him in the chest with his hunting knife. Snyder stumbles some feet up the hill and dies. Louis Keseberg once suggested to hang Reed, but the emigrants decide to banish Reed, who at first refuses to leave but then agrees. October 6, 1846: Reed heads west. The following day he overtakes the Donners, who have moved ahead of the rest of the party. One of Reed's teamsters, Walter Herron, has been traveling with the Donners; he decides to accompany Reed to California. Knowing that time is running out, the emigrants travel as quickly as possible along the Humboldt River. October 7, 1846: Louis Keseberg turns Mr. Hardkoop, an elderly Belgian traveling with him, out of his wagon to lighten the load. Everyone who can is walking. Hardkoop gives out, but nobody can take him in. He is last seen sitting by the road. About October 11, 1846: At night, Paiute Indians kill 21 of the Donner Party's oxen. Shortly thereafter the Indians steal another 18 oxen and wound several others. More than 100 of the party's cattle are now gone. About October 13, 1846: Since the Indians have killed almost all his cattle, a German emigrant named Wolfinger stops at the Humboldt Sink to cache his wagon. Two men, Joseph Reinhardt and Augustus Spitzer, stay behind to help but return without him, saying that he has been killed by Indians. Reinhardt later confesses to having killed Wolfinger. About October 16, 1846: The Donner Party arrives at the Truckee River, which will lead them into the Sierra Nevada. October 1846: John Breen later recalled of this time, "The weather was already very cold and the heavy clouds hanging over the mountains to the west were strong indications of an approaching winter. Some wanted to stop and rest their cattle. Others, in fear of the snow, were in favor of pushing ahead as fast as possible." About October 25, 1846: The emigrants' food is almost depleted when Charles Stanton returns from Sutter's Fort; he brings seven mules loaded with provisions and two Native American guides (Luis and Salvador), plus the news that the pass through the Sierras should be open for another month. William McCutchen, who had accompanied him to California, is ill and remains at Sutter's Fort. October 28, 1846: James Reed arrives at Sutter's Fort. October 30, 1846: William Foster accidentally shoots his brother-in-law William Pike, who dies a short time later. Snow falls during his burial in Truckee Canyon. About this date, Reed and McCutchen get horses and supplies from Sutter and head back into the mountains after their families. They meet deep snow and are unable to continue, so they cache the provisions and return to the fort to await another opportunity. October 31, 1846: The front axle of George Donner's family wagon breaks; while making a new one, George cuts his hand badly. George and Jacob's group lags behind while the rest of the party moves on.
November 1846 Early November 1846: Patrick Breen wrote of this time, "We pushed on as fast as our failing cattle could haul our almost empty wagons. At last we reached the foot of the main ridge near Truckee [now Donner] Lake. It was sundown. The weather was clear, but a large circle around the moon indicated an approaching storm." The emigrants spend the night at the lake, below the summit; during the night, it begins snowing on the summit. Early November 1846: In the morning, the emigrants try to make it over the pass, but the snow is already deep. Stanton and one of the two Indian guides do reach the summit, but turn back; the others are too exhausted to push on. Night finds the emigrants huddled against the mountain in a windy storm of snow and sleet. The next day, temporarily defeated, they return to the eastern end of the lake. They have traveled and are only from Sutter's Fort. The Donners, held up by the accident, are still behind.