My Project

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Crossing Nevada to California 1841 - 1849
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Why they came West

• Rich farm land
• Jobs
• Adventure
• More space

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Wagons were pulled by mules or oxen. On a good
day they could cover 10 miles.
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Emigrants cows and horses were sometimes killed
by bears or mountain lions.
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The Forty-Mile Desert
Little water meant they had to lighten the load.
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The Bidwell Bartleson Party crossed the Great
Basin in 1841. They could not get the wagons over
the Sierra Nevadas.
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Wagons sometimes had to be taken apart so they
could be lowered down the high Sierra Nevada
Mountains.
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In 1844, the Stevens-Murphy-Townsend party became
the first group to get their wagons to California
successfully.
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The Donner Party 1846 - 1847

• Trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
• Huge snowdrifts
• Food ran out ate their animals
• Only 47 of original 87 survived

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1849 - Group led by Lewis Manly

• Took a shortcut through a valley
• Barely survived
• Gave Death Valley its name

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THE END