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[ISmellGold]

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[DizzyDigger]

Some event must of occurred at the river that sparked a massacre, because I am not buying the whole cannibal story. Too much game in that area to have people eating each other.

ISG, chase your theory, but as I said before, the Donner Party is one of the most intimately investigated and reported events of the time.

I used to live in Truckee, and have spent considerable time visiting the Donner Party memorial. I have walked where they walked, and have seen the remaining evidence.

Too much game? What game? Deer? You think they're out walking around in the 30' deep snow drifts? Not to mention that it's seriously rugged country. No roads or trails to speak of.

Take some time and go visit the Donner Party Museum..walk where they walked, and imagine trying to survive as they did.

IF (and a big IF) they cached away any gold, it would be some distance East of Truckee, as they had lost their oxen and most all their supplies by the time they reached Donner Pass.

 

[DizzyDigger]

I don't care what anybody says I'm going to get me some of those Pre49er Donner Party River Nuggets.

Donner Pass is over 7000', but nuthin' would make me happier than to be proven wrong in this case. Just sharing what I know to be true, but if you believe it's there, go get it......and I hope you get rich .....

FWIW, a pass just East of me on Hwy 20 is Washington Pass, marked at 5476'. The weather is so bad up there in winter that they can't keep it plowed, so they just close the road for the entire winter, every year. It just recently re-opened, in fact.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Okey Dokie...go get 'em.

 

[bc5391]

Been on the pass a few times over the years, long before computers and internet, did not know of river gold. Always new information.

 

[MiddenMonster]

I have reason to believe the "official story" may not be as quite as accurate as the "story" goes.

OK. 1) What is the reason you have to disbelieve the official story? And 2), Why do you think they were hauling gold? At least enough gold of consequence? I know that if I were traveling with a significant amount of gold back then I sure wouldn't have strayed from the accepted established route and risked everything on an unproven route.

 

[MiddenMonster]

All I know is something was up.

When you get right down to it, that's the reason on which you are relying for disbelieving the official story. You just know something is off. You're free to pursue that, of course. But I would want a better foundation to build on if I was going to go after an alleged treasure. It's not like we're talking about a small area up there where you could just start poking around and digging a hole here and there.

 

[Mine Shaft]

Pretty much everybody from Northern California has heard of "the Donner Party" . Arrived in California from a Wagon Train in 1846-1847, that got stuck in the mountains . I have reason to believe the "official story" may not be as quite as accurate as the "story" goes.
Could there be lost diggings burried around Truckee California?
The Official Story According to Wikpedia

Donner Party - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The big herds of Deer migrate out of that area so no deer to speak of at that time of year and to this day the same migration route is still the same. + the Bears hibernate so no Bear meat that would only leave Birds and bunny's maybe a few Squirrel's.

 

[Mackaydon]

The title: 'Doner Party Buried Gold' to me is a joke. Had the group possessed gold they would have bartered it within the group for food: yet I am not aware of gold being mentioned in this Party much less bartered for food.

Another mistake is to believe game was abundant. A few may have tried to hunt, but this is largely hopeless, since the large animals either evacuated the mountains or hibernated in winter--and the powered snow pack was measured in feet, not inches.

The only animals that remained were too small to shoot; though you could possibly trap them (coyotes and fox). Unfortunately, while the Donners were strong, smart, hardworking, entrepreneurial, and industrious, they’re Midwestern farmers; not mountain men. They don’t have traps, nor the fishing gear to catch trout from the lake, and may not have known how to use either if they did. If they were going to eat, it will be the oxen and the food they came with (or....each other) or starve to death. Tough choice for many who opted to abstain.

Don in SoCal.

 

[MiddenMonster]

Those sum*itches were selling Springfield Riffles to wipe out the injuns on the river near the gold.

What evidence do you have that there was an association of Springfield rifles and the Donner Party, especially as a business?

 

[Mackaydon]

ISmellGold: "I just find it awful suspicious that settlers were headed hear in 1846 without any knowledge of the Gold situation."
Gold wasn't discovered in California until 1848; years after the Doner Party (DP) experience. What lured the DP to California was Manifest Destiny.
Don......

 

[Dejure]

ISG, chase your theory, but as I said before, the Donner Party is one of the most intimately investigated and reported events of the time.

I used to live in Truckee, and have spent considerable time visiting the Donner Party memorial. I have walked where they walked, and have seen the remaining evidence.

Too much game? What game? Deer? You think they're out walking around in the 30' deep snow drifts? Not to mention that it's seriously rugged country. No roads or trails to speak of.

Take some time and go visit the Donner Party Museum..walk where they walked, and imagine trying to survive as they did.

IF (and a big IF) they cached away any gold, it would be some distance East of Truckee, as they had lost their oxen and most all their supplies by the time they reached Donner Pass.

I'm in your camp. Anyone who thinks there is a lot of game in the high mountains during the winter hasn't spent much time traveling them then.


All the elk move down as the snow makes finding food and moving about more difficult.

On our Washington passes, I've seen the snow accumulations of over 10 feet.

Even down much lower, around the winter of 69, when the snow was only around 5 or 6 feet in the Okanogan area, many were trapped by it.

Using snowmobiles (a relatively new thing, then), you could only go, say, 20, then had to dig out for another run, as you tried to get supplies to those stranded on their farms and such.

Now imagine those creatures with long, pointy legs and hooves trying to move about in that thawing snow. People wouldn't fare much better.

 

[tahomatom]

Pretty much everybody from Northern California has heard of "the Donner Party" . Arrived in California from a Wagon Train in 1846-1847, that got stuck in the mountains . I have reason to believe the "official story" may not be as quite as accurate as the "story" goes.
Could there be lost diggings burried around Truckee California?
The Official Story According to Wikpedia

Donner Party - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I know a guy that detects near old springs that travelers would stop at in Nevada.
People would travel from spring to spring and would bury their valuables.
Sometimes people would die or ambushed and the stashes would be lost. He has recovered a few of them with the help of old maps that showed locations of springs.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Meh, those guys terrible hunters 🤣 I could of found game. They were probably to busy hawking their guns.

Another "route map". Apparently story goes they were headed for Sutters Fort? I personally think the settlers were getting ready for a big push into Indian territory in the foothills and Sierras. But that is just me, I guess.

I'm going to find me that Pre49 burried gold nugget river gold, though.

Well, then go find it. You're not going to get rich hanging around here BS'ing...

 

[MiddenMonster]

Whatever happened, I don't believe it was as clearcut as Historians portray.

It may not be. But why fixate on the Donner Party? You've bounced from foreign gold to Springfield rifles to nuggets. There were thousands of people and hundreds of wagon trains that made that journey. It seems like the only reason the Donner Party is involved in the treasure tales is because of their notoriety. I don't deny that there is a buried cache or two--or more in the mountains. But I've seen zero evidence that there is cache shrouded in mystery surrounding all the drama. And even if there was, people survived the winter. Wouldn't they have gone back for it? That last sentence applies to pretty much most of the treasure tales where people supposedly buried gold in dire circumstances, got away and survived with the intent of coming back at a later time. It's the third party tales where others talk about someone who found a lot of gold but died in the wilderness before they could get it to the trading post that hold the most weight for me. Why would someone hide gold, then tell people about how they hid gold? And then not go back for it before the bum's rush begins?

 

[robertk]

Why would someone hide gold, then tell people about how they hid gold? And then not go back for it before the bum's rush begins?

A couple of centuries ago, there were no roads or trails, no detailed maps, and no GPS. I've done a lot of hiking in wilderness areas, and it would be really easy to find something, really make an effort to remember landmarks, positions and distances -- and yet still not be able to find it upon returning. The less visible landmarks, the harder it would be. Even the carvings on rocks and trees assumes you can find the rocks and trees.

 

[Mine Shaft]

Dont know if it was said but they did not come for Gold.

 

[robertk]

Actually it could be possible the "Treasure found wasn't even associated with the Donner Party?
Who knows? the Foreign gold coins seems just odd though?

It seems odd to me that if they went out there searching for gold, when they supposedly had $10,000 already on them. in 1840, $10,000 was a fortune (equivalent to about $370,000 today). That's a lot of walking around money.

 

[Mine Shaft]

I just Googled why the Donner party wanted to come to California and the Oregon territory main reason # 1 New land/ Homestead, economic prospects. Nothing about Guns or Gold. One more thing ismellgold what newspaper did you find this info in ? it should be at the top of the page or somewhere where it was printed ?

 

[MiddenMonster]

I gots me a Silva Dolla for anybody that shows those Donnors were gun runners. Might be a manifest or someting out there.

Doesn't that kinda presume that there are others here who believe that the Donner Party was running guns?

When I get my River Gold nuggets I am going to put it in my mason jar.

If you get your river gold nuggets, you're panning for gold. If you dig up someone else's buried gold you're discovering a cache and making us all envious.

It was for the Guns & Gold. Article was on Treasurenet post. I can't remember off hand.

If you're talking about the "Buried Treasure Found" article, it was originally published in the The Semi-Weekly New Era Lancaster, Pennsylvania • Sat, May 23, 1891 Page 3. Now granted, this does provide some support for your belief that the Donners may have buried coins when they were stranded. But that article is still fairly tenuous, and if taken at face value my guess would be that old man Reynolds found it. If you're really serious about this, I'd suggest following the only real clue found within it: The reference to "Mrs. Graves". At the top of the list I would try to determine if she is credible, or if she is a dingbat.