The metal of which they are made appears to be entirely decomposed. One of the most touching relics, in view of the sad, sad history, is the sole of an infant's shoe. The tiny babe who wore the shoe was probably among the number who perished of starvation. The big rock against which the Murphy cabin stood is half hidden by willows and by fallen tamaracks, whose branches are interlaced so as to form a perfect net-work above the place where the cabin stood. Under the floor of this cabin the remains of the poor victims are supposed to have been buried.
Nature appears to have made every effort to conceal the spot.
In addition to the bushes and the fallen trees there is a rank growth of marsh grass, whose rootlets extend far down in the soil, and firmly resist either shovel or spade. Until very late in the summer this mournful spot is still further protected by being inundated by the waters of Donner Creek. It is hardly necessary to remark that no relics have ever been found under the site of the Murphy cabin. The tall stumps which surround this rock, and the site of the Graves and Reed cabin, and which are particularly numerous around the site of the Donner tents at Alder Creek, are of themselves remarkable relics. Many of them were cut by persons who stood on the top of very deep snow.