If you’ve driven down Donner Pass Road near Tahoe Dave’s in the West Center Truckee area and Truckee’s Elementary School and noticed a large 16 foot white wooden cross, have you ever wondered what THAT is for? Here is your chance to find out.

Background

The cross was originally conceived to mark the location of the Graves’ Cabin site based on an 1879 hand drawn map by survivor W.C. Graves who was only 18 years old when he was a member of the Donner Party.

Why is this so important anyway?

Most importantly, the original 1887 Donner Cross was the FIRST public recognition of the ill-fated Donner Party, erected after their 1846-1847 horrific experience. It was erected in the then “Marzen meadow” area which most unfortunately, was subject to flooding. The Donner Cross is one of the first or earliest roadside (trail) memorials found in California.

The original Donner Cross was intended to mark near the site of the Graves Cabin, the second of the three non-contiguous Donner Party camp sites recognized on the National Register, # 66000218 January 20, 1961. The three (3) sites are the Murphy Cabin, the Graves Cabin site, and the Alder Creek camp. But it wasn’t until October 1983 that the three sites were incorporated into the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal government’s official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. Clearly, these three sites commemorate the Donner Party’s winter of entrapment which helped to make the Sierra Nevada area well known and just twenty years later, the site for the First Transcontinental Railroad.

Landmarking

In June 2024, Truckee-Donner Historical Society submitted an Application to the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission requesting landmark status for the Donner Cross. The Nevada County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the application and designated the Donner Cross as NEV 24-07. On Saturday, September 13, at 10 am, the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission, and the Truckee-Donner Historical Society will commemorate this landmarking status at the sight of the current Donner Cross on Donner Pass Road. (The Historical Society is in the process of repairing the Cross as it succumbed to the vagaries of winter and water damage which caused the core to rot and it fell.)

Learn More

On Tuesday, August 12, 2025, starting promptly at 6 p.m., Truckee Library is sponsoring a special program about the History of the Donner Cross. The story is both a complex and fascinating one, but the 45-minute program promises to cover the highlights of the story.

Barbara Czerwinski and Heidi Sproat from the Truckee-Donner Historical Society will present the short program about the Donner Cross, complete with photos of the various sites and Cross iterations. Since its original installation in 1887 by the people of Truckee, the cross has been moved at least five times. It has been erected at various heights and configurations.

Please join us for this most informative presentation on what the Truckee-Donner Historical Society has assembled about the Donner Cross and its importance to the people of Truckee. Tuesday, August 12, 2025, Truckee Library, doors open at 5:30 p.m., program starts promptly at 6 p.m.

Heidi Sproat is a volunteer researcher with the Truckee-Donner Historical Society. She is also the webmaster, image and map facilitator, and liaison to the Nevada County Historical Archive. Heidi splits her time between Truckee and Frederick, Maryland, but Truckee, she concedes, is her happy place. She enjoys biking, skiing, hiking, and boating.