Donner Memorial State Park and Emerald Bay
3 / 5
After deciding to extended our Tahoe stay, we set out to explore Emerald Bay State Park. The parking lot was jammed, so we continued on to Donner Memorial State Park instead. This is the site of one of the darkest chapters of westward expansion.
Donner Memorial State Park museum
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The Donner Party, 87 emigrants bound for California, took an untested shortcut known as the Hastings Cutoff. It slowed them down, and by late October 1846 they reached the Sierra Nevada only to be trapped by heavy snow. Supplies ran out. Months of starvation followed. Some resorted to cannibalism of those who had already died. A small group known as the Forlorn Hope set out on makeshift snowshoes to seek help, leading to rescue attempts that ultimately saved just over half the party.
We toured the museum first. It gives a sobering account of the Donner ordeal but also tells the wider story of the region. Exhibits highlight the Washoe native people who were displaced from their land and the Chinese laborers who built the transcontinental railroad while facing harsh discrimination. Outside, a granite monument honors the emigrant families who attempted the crossing.
From there, we followed a paved path past the sites of two cabins. Just after crossing a small bridge, the concrete shifted into raised strips meant for vehicle tires. I didn’t notice. My foot caught the edge wrong and I went down hard. After all the rugged hikes on this trip, this was where I twisted my ankle. On a paved path.
We kept going.
At the Murphy family cabin site, the massive boulder that once formed the north wall still stands. This was where the Murphy family endured that winter, trapped by snow for months as conditions deteriorated around them. A plaque on the rock lists those who perished and those who survived.
The story hits closer to home. Levinah Murphy’s husband was my ancestor’s brother. He had died years earlier, leaving her with seven children. She joined the trek west with her family of thirteen, including two married daughters and their husbands. Levinah herself died there that winter, along with two of her sons, two grandchildren, and one son-in-law. Standing at the site of the cabin where they spent those months, I wondered how my ancestor back in Union County, South Carolina absorbed the news when it finally reached home.
Afterward, we circled back to Emerald Bay and managed to snag a parking spot. We hiked the mile down to the bay to see Vikingsholm Castle, a Scandinavian-style summer home built in 1929. The mile down took a little longer than usual. My ankle was already swelling, so I kept it slow and deliberate.
The castle was wrapped in construction fencing, which dampened the scene a bit, but the bay itself was striking. We added a short walk to Eagle Falls before making the climb back up.
We toured the museum first. It gives a sobering account of the Donner ordeal but also tells the wider story of the region. Exhibits highlight the Washoe native people who were displaced from their land and the Chinese laborers who built the transcontinental railroad while facing harsh discrimination. Outside, a granite monument honors the emigrant families who attempted the crossing.
From there, we followed a paved path past the sites of two cabins. Just after crossing a small bridge, the concrete shifted into raised strips meant for vehicle tires. I didn’t notice. My foot caught the edge wrong and I went down hard. After all the rugged hikes on this trip, this was where I twisted my ankle. On a paved path.
We kept going.
At the Murphy family cabin site, the massive boulder that once formed the north wall still stands. This was where the Murphy family endured that winter, trapped by snow for months as conditions deteriorated around them. A plaque on the rock lists those who perished and those who survived.
The story hits closer to home. Levinah Murphy’s husband was my ancestor’s brother. He had died years earlier, leaving her with seven children. She joined the trek west with her family of thirteen, including two married daughters and their husbands. Levinah herself died there that winter, along with two of her sons, two grandchildren, and one son-in-law. Standing at the site of the cabin where they spent those months, I wondered how my ancestor back in Union County, South Carolina absorbed the news when it finally reached home.
Afterward, we circled back to Emerald Bay and managed to snag a parking spot. We hiked the mile down to the bay to see Vikingsholm Castle, a Scandinavian-style summer home built in 1929. The mile down took a little longer than usual. My ankle was already swelling, so I kept it slow and deliberate.
The castle was wrapped in construction fencing, which dampened the scene a bit, but the bay itself was striking. We added a short walk to Eagle Falls before making the climb back up.