08/05/2025
August 11th’s guest will be Brian Wagg from the Oregon California Trails Association
“My plan is to talk in some general terms about the Overland Emigrant Trail, primarily the California Trail, and highlight some of the most well known Emigrant parties including:
- the 1st recorded one, Bartleson-Bidwell party, 1841,
- the 1844 Stephens Townsend Murphy, which is the first to come up and over Donner Pass with wagons,
- touch on the Donner Party disaster of 1846, which of course includes the “shortcut” developed by Landsford Hastings,
- and also touch on Johnson’s Ranch, which was in Wheatland and where the Donner party ended up after being rescued.
- The Nevada City Road history”