“Trukee desert of sand fifty miles without…
source date: 1891
availability: public-domain

“Trukee desert of sand fifty miles without wood or water, was reached and crossed with- out accident, but it was decidedly severe on nervous men. When we reached Donner camp the cabins had been burned, but the numerous big pine stumps standing twelve feet high re- vealed the desperate situation wherein so many valuable lives were lost. On September 1, we reached Johnson’s store near Feather river. We had been living for four days exclusively on sugar and snow water. There we saw Indians exchanging gold dust for beads, pound for pound, gold worth $200, beads $1 a pound. That beats reciprocity, free silver or McKinley’s tariff all “holler.”