Confession at Alder Creek Site
The 27 people trapped at this site, five miles from Donner Lake, were miserable. The makeshift tents leaked and the pioneers' clothes were often wet. The people ate the last of their beef and had begun to hunt rabbits and mice for food.

Joseph Reinhardt, who was near death, confessed to George Donner that he and his friend, Augustus Spitzer, had murdered another German immigrant, Karl Wolfinger, for his money. The crime had occurred at the Humboldt Sink, terminus of the Humboldt River in northern Nevada. When Reinhardt and Spitzer returned from supposedly "helping" Wolfinger cache his goods, they had told the other Donner party members that Indians had killed Karl.

Wolfinger's wife, Doris, had stayed with the wagon company and had encamped with the Donner families at Alder Creek. Years later, daughter, Leanna Donner, who was 12 years old in 1846, recalled, "He [Reinhardt] was taken sick in our tent. When death was approaching and he knew there was no escape, then he made a confession in the presence of Mrs. Wolfinger that he shot her husband; what the object was I do not know."

During the second week of December, Jacob Donner, Joseph Reinhardt, James Smith, and Sam Shoemaker all died. Baylis Williams succumbed on December 15. The rapid loss of the able-bodied men would be a lasting blow to the survival of the company.

Weather on San Francisco Bay
Meanwhile, the 1846 Mexican-American War was going on in California and warships from the U.S. Pacific Fleet were positioned up and down the coast. The servicemen on these ships were the first to experience the incoming Pacific storms during the winter of 1846-7, and daily weather observations were entered into each ship's deck log.

On December 9, light southeast breezes and an overcast sky in the town of Sausalito (on north side of San Francisco Bay) indicated an approaching storm. A falling barometer also indicated the high-pressure weather system (fair weather) was eroding. By December 10 fog and rain showers had moved into the region. Over the next two days, the rain increased in intensity until it peaked on December 13, when the U.S. warship Warren reported fresh gales from the southeast, constant rain and hail, and a low atmospheric pressure of 29.54 inches. Dr. Duvall, an assistant U.S. Naval Surgeon who was assigned to the USS Portsmouth, simply noted, "The gale continues."

By December 15, higher pressure (nicer weather) had returned. Dr. Duvall observed, "Today the clouds passed away and the sun again made its appearance." That same day, another warship arrived at Sausalito from San Diego, bringing news from John Drake Sloat, the Commodore of the Pacific squadron. Commodore Sloat was preparing for a military assault on the Pueblo de los Angeles (Los Angeles) and he ordered American forces in northern California to be on alert.

The military action was not all focused in southern California. Dr. Duvall reported that recent intelligence indicated a large Mexican force was just north of San Francisco Bay. To prepare for a possible enemy (Mexican) attack on Sausalito, on December 17 the warship, Portsmouth, was moved to bring her broadside cannons to bear on Sausalito.

Donner Lake Site
The new storm from the Pacific was a slow mover, and it took nearly 48 hours before heavy precipitation really hit the regions east of the Sierra crest. At Donner Lake, showers and finally turned into a heavy snowstorm on December 13. In his diary, Patrick Breen wrote, "Snows faster than any previous day... wind N.W. Stanton & Graves with several others [are] making preparations to cross the Mountain on snow shoes. Snow [at Donner Lake] 8 feet deep on the level."

Editor's Note: This installment is #24 in an exclusive, weekly series tracing the actual experiences of the Donner Party as it worked its way into American history. Mark McLaughlin, weather historian, who lives on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, wrote the series for Tahoetopia.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Bancroft Library