Wendell Huffman wrote:

> One point I have not seen mentioned is that Stockton's eastbound
> party in 1847 was among the first to visit the starvation camps of
> the Donner party. Not only did they carry east along the trail the
> report of the Donner disaster, their firsthand witness to the scene
> (with human bones still unburied) no doubt predisposed members of
> Stockton's party-Lassen and Chiles among them-to seek better
> overland routes into California on their return.

This is a great job of research -- old newspapers are a goldmine of information, but it takes a lot of time, patience, and imagination to dig out the nuggets!

I have a question for you. Stephen W. Kearny and crew were the first over the Sierra in 1847; his escort buried human remains at Donner Lake, but the mass grave was evidently disturbed at some later point. On August 8, 1849, Alexander Love wrote, "The grave that the bones was buired in by Karney is opend" and many '49ers reported seeing grisly sights. I've been trying to figure out if Kearny's men simply did a less than thorough job or if scavengers (animal or human) dug up the grave, and if so, when. Stockton's party seeing "human bones still unburied" is very intriguing -- can you steer me to your sources? I'd be very interested to read any early descriptions of the Donner camps.

Thanks,

Kristin Johnson