I, for one, am extremely proud that Captain George Donner was my fourth greatgrandfather. My hope is that this article will help you know more about his life and family. By unanimous vote of all family members, the owners of the ranch upon which is located the Johnson Ranch adobe of Donner Party fame have decided to cancel all further tours of their land, effective immediately. For over ten years the Wilson family generously allowed historians to tour their holdings, but, due to continued incidents of unauthorized trespass, the owners must now exert greater control of their properties. The Wilsons are well aware of the historic events which once took place upon their ranch.
Historians are indeed fortunate to have such caring caretakers.
My son and I would like to emphasize how very greatly we appreciate the many past kindnesses shown to us by the Wilsons. We can never repay what they have allowed us to accomplish at the site. And it is a big book, measuring about 9 inches by 11 inches and totaling 379 pages, so that while it is highly readable it is not very portable. Of course, Chronicles did not actually start out as a book. It began as a series of articles by Frank Mullen, Jr., that ran from May 1996 to May 1997 in the Reno Gazette-Journal .