"It was late fall in 1844 when a group of pioneers, horses, oxen and wagons arrived on the shore of a beautiful lake embedded below the wall of the Sierra Nevada. Snow had already accumulated on the ground. River crossings were ice cold. The animals were weary and ragged. But the group had hope. They'd already traveled for months, walking day after day alongside the wagons."
"This was the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party, the first European Americans to cross the Sierra Nevada with wagons. All 52 people survived the journey to California, including two infants who were born on the westward journey. "They were the original pioneers that proved that you could move wagons over the Sierra Nevada," said David Antonucci, a Tahoe historian and author."
"But in November 1844, when the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy party finally arrived at what we now call Donner Lake, they knew it as Truckee Lake. The wagon party decided to split up, increasing their odds of reaching Sutter's Fort. On Nov. 14, a group of six people left the party on horseback and followed the Truckee River to its source at Lake Tahoe, which was then known only to the Washoe"
The Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party reached the Sierra Nevada in late fall 1844, arriving at Truckee Lake amid snow, cold river crossings and exhausted animals. The party became the first European Americans to cross the Sierra Nevada with wagons; all 52 members survived, including two infants born en route. The party's success demonstrated that wagons could traverse the mountain range, but that achievement has been largely overshadowed by the Donner Party's sensational story of starvation and cannibalism. The wagon train split to increase chances of reaching Sutter's Fort; on Nov. 14 six riders followed the Truckee River to Lake Tahoe, known to the Washoe.
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