Scope and Contents The Donner Family Collection consists of newspaper articles, artifacts, books, correspondence, photographs, articles, journals, newsletters, brochures, notes, photocopies, posters, land grants and deeds, videocassettes, cassette tapes and CD-ROMs. The material pertains to the family of George Donner, who left Sangamon County, Illinois in 1846 to emigrate to California. After a series of mishaps and delays, they and their emigrant party were trapped by heavy snow and faced starvation in the...