# @sachistorymuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DXIJHq6EiQ9
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/64207887-sachistorymuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/6c4f0596ab.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-14T21:30:43.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Sacramento History Museum (@sachistorymuseum) — https://gondola.cc/sachistorymuseum

## Caption

On April 14, 1846, the Donner and Reed families loaded their belongings in their wagons and left their homes in Springfield, Illinois. Their first destination was Independence, Missouri, the beginning of the California-Oregon Overland Trail. 

While in Independence, they purchased any last supplies needed for their expected 6 month journey to California. According to a departure notice published on April 23rd in the Sangamo Journal, the local Springfield newspaper, the group consisted of 15 men, 8 women, and 16 children. They had 9 wagons, far more wagons than other families heading overland. The article also mentions, “They were in good spirits, and we trust they will safely reach their anticipated home.”

When the group left Independence on May 12th, two thousand miles were ahead until their expected destination of Sutter’s Fort in present-day Sacramento. They joined a large wagon train captained by Col. William H. Russell consisting of dozens of wagons and families as part of a large migration of Americans seeking better economic opportunities in California and also fueled by colonizing beliefs like Manifest Destiny. 

It was not until July 19, 1846 when a group of immigrants decided to venture away from the established trail to take a new route called Hastings Cutoff. That group elected George Donner as their captain, thus creating the Donner Party.

Illustration of “A Desperate Situation” by Charles Nahl. This was published in “Across the Plains in the Donner Party (1846)” by Virginia Reed. A large copy of this painting is on display in our California Gallery on the 3rd floor of the Sacramento History Museum. 

#TodayInHistory #OnThisDay #DonnerParty #SacHistoryMuseum #suttersfort

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todayinhistory, onthisday, donnerparty, suttersfort, sachistorymuseum

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