Thursday, September 24, 1846 (Just downstream from Twin Bridges - see photos below)

"Thu 24  this day North west we mad down Sinking Creek valley about 10 and encamped at the foot of a Red earth hill good grass and water wood plenty in the Vallies Such as sage greace wood & ceder &C--"  [The Camp was near the entrance to the canyon of the South Fork of the Humboldt River.] 

Friday, September 25, 1846 (based on mileage I am assuming between Areas 2 and 3 shown below)

"Frid 25  September  This day we made about Sixteen miles 16 for Six miles a very rough Cannon a perfect Snake trail encamped in the Cannon about 2 miles from its mout"  [This camp was in the canyon of the South Fork of the Humboldt, southwest of present Elko, Nevada.]

Saturday, September 26, 1846 (Hunter Siding - photo below)

"Sat 26  this day made 2 miles in the Cannon and traveled to the Junction of Marys River in all about 8"  [The camp was along the Humboldt River near present Hunter Siding, NV.]

Here, the Donner Party completed the crossing of Hasting's Cut-off, and rejoined the California Trail at the present Hunters Siding.  

Hunter Overpass on the I-80 Freeway looks like the site selection of the future home of the Emigrant Trails Center.  Currently there is a nice kiosk here

that provides the history of this area on three steel plaques (terrible to photograph - easy to read). 

 From here you can see the narrow canyon cut by the South Fork Humboldt that the Donner Party traveled through (over the red roof of the ranch house with the trees nearest the road).  This canyon marks the end of the Hastings Cutoff.  At what is now Hunter Siding (trees in distance between the two "one way" signs ironically pointing west) is where the Donner Party rejoined the California Trail that passed through Elko (left of photo) on its way to California.

Below we will go see what this canyon looks like.

East                                                                                                                        West

Marker at Hunter Overpass on I-80 Freeway

Marker at Hunter Overpass on I-80 Freeway

WEST END OF HASTINGS CUTOFF

ACROSS THE HUMBOLDT VALLEY SOUTHWARD FROM THIS POINT A DEEPLY INCISED CANYON IS SEEN OPENING INTO THE VALLEY.  THROUGH THAT CANYON ALONG THE SOUTH FORK OF THE HUMBOLDT RAN THE DISASTER-LADEN ROUTE CALLED THE HASTINGS CUTOFF.  IT JOINED THE REGULAR FORT HALL ROUTE RUNNING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE HUMBOLDT RIVER HERE.  THE CANYON WAS FIRST TRAVERSED IN 1841 BY THE BARTLESON-BIDWELL PARTY.  THE EARLIEST ORGANIZED CALIFORNIA EMIGRANT GROUP.  IN 1840 LANSFORD HASTINGS GUIDES A PARTY THROUGH THIS DEFILE OF THE SOUTH FORK AND OUT ALONG THE HUMBOLDT.  THE ILL-FATED REED-DONNER PARTY FOLLOWED LATER THE SAME YEAR.  BY 1860 THE DANGERS OF THE CUTOFF ROUTE WERE RECOGNIZED AND IT WAS ABANDONED.  

NEVADA CENTENNIAL MARKER NO. 3

                                                                  To South Fork Reservoir

Index to Photos:

Showing where the following photos were taken

There are no roads in the canyon between areas 3 and 4

(looks like a fun hike - watch for things that slither in the night).  Location 8 is the road from Elko

to the Bullion Mine (Bullion Road) 

South Fork Humboldt River 

Area 1 (below)

HASTINGS CUTOFF - SOUTH FORK CANYON

"THE KANYON ... IS SO NARROW THAT IN MANY PLACES WE HAD TO TRAVEL ALONG THE BED OF THE CREEK ... THERE BEING NO ROOM ON EITHER SIDE FOR A ROAD"  WILLIAM EDMUNDSON SEPT 2, 1850.

^ Old SP Flat Car Used to Make Bridge

Area 2 (below)

Area 3 (below)

Area 4 (below)

Area 5 (below)

Area 6 (below)

HASTING CUTOFF - LEAVING SOUTH FORK CANYON

"CAME THROUGH ONE OF THE WILDEST, TOUGHEST CANYONS I HAVE EVER SEEN"  HENRY S. BLOOM AUG 14, 1850

Area 7 (below)

Looking West Toward Susie Creek Arabian Horse Ranch, Just South of Hunter

^ At Hunter RR Siding looking SE towards South Fork Humboldt River Canyon

Area 8 (below)

Looking Toward Elko - Range Fire Smoke in Distance

South Fork Reservoir

South Fork Reservoir is a newer reservoir.  It is about

10 miles up-stream (SE) from Area 1.  

It is shown in the SE corner of the 1994 aerial photo 

as it was beginning to fill.  I bet the Donner Party would loved it if it was there on Thursday morning September 24, 1846, when they passed by here.

South Fork Humboldt River empting into South Fork

Reservoir.

Just upstream (east) a-piece from South Fork Reservoir, near Twin Bridges (near the present day "Gaging sta" shown on linked topographic map) is where the Donner Party spent Thursday night on September 24, 1846.  On Thursday they had traveled down Huntington Creek to where it met the South Fork Humboldt River at Twin Bridges.  From here they began their travels west through the South Fork Humboldt River Canyon.

The following trail-marker reads:

"HASTINGS CUTOFF - RED BLUFF ON SOUTH FORK

"ENCAMPED AT THE FOOT OF A RED EARTH HILL GOOD GRASS AND WATER  WOOD PLENTY IN THE VALLIES SUCH AS SAGE GREACE WOOD & CEDAR"  - JAMES FRASIER REED, SEP 24 1846"

Wagon Trains, Hastings Cutoff & South Fork of the Humboldt River Links

Elko Hot Springs, Nevada

Abandoned Ranch - SFHR

Carlin Canyon

Grindstone Mountain

The Donner Party by Daniel M. Rosen

Tony's Donner Party Site

Were the engines oxen or horse powered:  "We left our home in Iowa with three wagons drawn by seven yoke of oxen, - and some cows and horses. The horses were intended for the saddle, as at that time in Iowa, it was thought that horses were not suitable to draw wagons across the Rocky mountains as the country between the Missouri and California was called-"

The Donner Party by Daniel Lewis (Eating of the Dead)

The ever-popular Donner Party snow dome
Diaries, Memoirs, Letters and Reports Along The Trails West

"End of the Track. Near Humboldt River Canyon, Nevada." Campsite and train of the Central Pacific Railroad at foot of mountains, 1868. By Alfred A. Hart. [251kb Image from US National Archives]