DONNER PASS

pass, in the Sierra Nevada of northern California, U.S., at an altitude of 7,085 ft (2,160 m), 35 mi (56 km) west-southwest of Reno, Nev. During the winter of 184647, George and Jacob Donner lost almost half of a party of more than 80 immigrants when they tried to cross the pass en route to the Sacramento Valley. The party was blocked by snow in the Sierra Nevada and, when their food ran out, some survived by eating the corpses of their fallen companions. The pass now represents the most important transmontane route (rail and highway) connecting San Francisco with Reno. It lies within the Tahoe National Forest, and Donner Memorial State Park is nearby.