The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1919-07-01
TRAGIC HISTORY OF
BONNER LAKE PARTY

Gazette, regarding the history vi tHe
Inflated Bonner party from which
Bonner lake received its name, n
the inquiry suggested to THE Trav-
eler" a visit to that beautiful and
tragic spot. He says:
Several years ago | camped on the
shores there and, armed with a book
on the Bonner party, written by Gen.
c. F. McGlashan of Truckee, inves-
tigated all the places he mentioned.
Bonner lake is thirty-seven miles
from Reno, and although the road Is
not at its best, every motorist must
eventually visit the spot.
Bonner lake is a good place to
spend the day and it is well te start
out early with a lunch basket and see
all there is to see. There is a SPLEEN
did resort on the west end of the lake
where boats may be had and every
accommodation for the tourist is pro-
vided. But this time we will only
interest ourselves in the Bonner party.
The road is in excellent condition
as far as the top of the Dog Valley
grade, beyond Verdi, and the ride into
the pines on a fresh morning. with
the mists of the mountain rising out
of the valleys and climbing the hill
sides, is one of the enjoyable parts
- Az. fr;r II &c mot nnnrlU en- nian
in the middle of the day.
You are on the Lincoln Highway
and there isn't a chance to stray from
the road. so directions are not i'm
portant. Verdi is ten miles from
Reno, and then you hit the Dog Val
ley grade, which is Jour miles long
to the first summit. and rather stiff
Good cars make the entire distance
on intermediate, and some places on
high. so see what your car will do.
You had better change water at the
watering trough half way up.
Truckee is reached at thirty-four
miles, and if you want to get liquid
refreshments for your car or yourself
there is the place. Keep on to the
west and urn to the right at the fork
at the outskirts of the town, and you
are on the way to Bonner lake with a
good road ahead. Two miles out of
Truckee and a mile this side Of DON
ner lake you come upon the monu-
ment to the Bonner party. standing
alone in the solitude of the great
pines, where the Bonner party made
| struggle for life in a wilderness of
snow and without food or the means
of getting it.
Within a few hundred feet, if you
look closely, you car see several large
trees cut off forty feet above the
ground as though by a giant hand,
and you wonder how that happened
These trees were cut at the surface
Of the snow by the members of the
party for frewood, and as the snow
was twenty feet deep the stumps were
that high when the snow melted. Then
the trees grew some more, and there
you see them.
The new Bonner monument, erect
ed something over a year ago. took
the place of a large white cross that
marked the spot where the Bonner
party spent its fatal winter. 1t is
one of the attractions at Bonner lake
and it recalls one of the most tragic
incidents in connection with the early
settlement of the West.
Out of respect to the memory of
the pioneers who persisted on the
shores of beautiful Bonner lake, the
Native Sons of the Golden West here
erected a monument to their men,
DRY. 1t is a beautiful monument near
the shores of the lake and right be-
side the highway. 1t is fully forty
feet high and made of bronze. 1t
represents a pioneer man, woman
and child, and their eyes are turned
toward the setting sun and Califor-
mia, the land of promise to the pio-
neers.
The history of the Bonner party
from the time its leaders started in
April. 1876. from Springfield. ILL.,, until
April, 1847, when the last survivor of
the party was rescued. is without par
allel in the annals of the pioneers of
the West. The winter of 1846-1847
was a hard one, and through its with
ering storms the members of the DON
ner party were entrapped in the
mountains. and there thirty-six per-
ished. or the party of ninety. forty
eight survived, six members dying be-
fore the mountains were reached.
The history of the Bonner party is
of peculiar interest to reno, as the
Inflated pioneers passed through this
valley and rested here three dayS ha-