One hundred and sixty-plus years ago this week, the members of the Donner Party were doing their best to keep their hopes and themselves alive.

The snowshoers in the "Forlorn Hope" group had left more than two weeks ago for the Sacramento Valley in a desperate journey for help that should have only taken them about six or seven days.

New Year’s Day 1847
The pioneers dreamed that a rescue party would reach their encampment very soon.

New Year's Day dawned cloudy and blustery for the emigrants trapped in the mountains, but fortunately for them, the big storm that Patrick Breen and the others had feared did not materialize. Light snowfall had developed overnight on New Year's Eve, but the weather system was not strong enough to punch through the ridge of higher atmospheric pressure over the region. There was only light precipitation, but the east wind that followed ushered in the coldest weather of the season.

Breen's diary entry on January 1 revealed the snowbound pioneers' increasing sense of desperation. They were in a tough spot, stuck in deep snow with virtually no food. Breen wrote:
"We pray the God of mercy to deliver us, from our present Calamity if it be his Holy will, Amen. Commenced snowing last night, [but] does not snow fast. Sun peeps out at times... provisions getting scant... dug up a hide from under the snow yesterday for Milt [Elliot]."


Donner Lake was now frozen over and deep snow covered the ice. Fishing or hunting for food had become virtually impossible.

January 1847 Weather
The month of January 1847 would exhibit the classic Sierra weather pattern of periodic storminess separated by extended intervals of fair and dry conditions. There were two active storm periods in 1847: a three-day event mid-month and a more significant weather system during the third week.

From January 2 to January 9, mostly clear skies reigned over the two pioneer encampments. Under a protective dome of high pressure, the sun warmed daytime temperatures to above freezing, but with clear skies at night, any heat quickly escaped into the atmosphere after sunset.

The lack of wind, short daylight hours, low sun angle. and extensive snowpack caused damp, cold air to pool around Donner Lake and over the Alder Creek Valley basin just north of Truckee. Occasionally these conditions form a chilling frozen fog the Indians called "pogonip." This atmospheric inversion (when air at the surface is colder than air aloft) is a common winter feature in high mountain basins during periods of high pressure.

The weather was cold and damp, especially in the morning, but starvation was the real enemy as it stalked the Donner Party, huddled around their small fires for warmth.

In early January, Margaret Reed, nearly out of food and with four children to sustain, decided to risk everything and go for help. It had been nearly three weeks since the snowshoe party left and still no relief effort had arrived. Her oldest daughter, 13-year-old Virginia, went with her, as did Milt Elliot and Eliza Williams. Margaret Reed reluctantly left her three youngest children behind, as they were too small to take along.

On January 4, Breen wrote: "Fine morning... looks like spring thawing. Now about 12 o'clock... wind southeast. Mrs. Reed, Milt, Virginia, and Eliza started about half-hour ago with the prospect of crossing the mountain. May God of Mercy help them. Left their children here."

Escape Attempt
The members of this attempt supplied themselves with a bit of dried beef, a compass, and some matches. The day after they left, Eliza Williams returned alone to the lake encampment, exhausted and suffering from frostbite. West of the pass, Margaret and Virginia had continued to follow Milt Elliot who broke trail on crude snowshoes. They weren't sure how far they had to walk, but they thought that as long as the storms held off, they might have a chance to make it over the pass and down into California.

Temperatures were frigid at the lake, but the sunny skies gave encouragement to Patrick Breen that the winter might be ending. "Beautiful day... thawing some in the sun, but snow not settling much. We are in hopes of the rainy time ending." Obviously, the dry weather pattern inspired an uninformed optimism in Breen. "I don't think we will have much more snow."

Breen erroneously believed that winter storms were over, but he also noted that the snow had not melted much or diminished in depth.

High pressure kept Pacific storms at bay, but the Sierra snow pack was too deep and the distance to safety too far for the Reed women and Milt Elliot. Five days after they had started, they returned hungry and exhausted. After the arrival, Breen wrote: "Mrs. Reed & company came back this morning. Could not find their way on the other side of the Mountain. They have nothing but hides to live on."

Editor's Note: This installment is #27 in an exclusive, weekly series tracing the actual experiences of the Donner Party as it worked its way into American history. Mark McLaughlin, a weather historian and photographer, who lives on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, wrote the series for Tahoetopia. Copies of all the installments can be found in the Tahoetopia archive under Donner Party.