mination a
distinct odor of oil of hemlock was found remaining in the box.

A whetstone, or what might more properly be called an oil-stone, was
discovered at the Breen cabin. On this stone were the initials "J. F.
R.," which had evidently been cut into its surface with a knife-blade.
Mrs. V. E. Murphy and Mrs. Frank Lewis, the daughters of James F. Reed,
at once remembered this whetstone as having belonged to their father,
and fully identified it upon examination.

A great many pins have been found, most of which are the old-fashioned
round-headed ones. A strange feature in regard to these pins is
that although bright and clean, they crumble and break at almost the
slightest touch. The metal of which they are made appears to be entirely
decomposed. One of the most touching relics, in view of the sad, sad
history, is the sole of an infant's shoe. The tiny babe who wore the
shoe was probably among the number who perished of starvation.

The big rock against which the Murphy cabin stood is half hidden by
willows and by fallen tamaracks, whose branches are interlaced so as to
form a perfect net-work above the place where the cabin stood. Under the
floor of this cabin the remains of the poor victims are supposed to have
been buried. Nature appears to have made every effort to conceal the
spot. In addition to the bushes and the fallen trees there is a rank
growth of marsh grass, whose rootlets extend far down in the soil, and
firmly resist either shovel or spade. Until very late in the summer
this mournful spot is still further protected by being inundated by the
waters of Donner Creek. It is hardly necessary to remark that no relics
have ever been found under the site of the Murphy cabin. The tall stumps
which surround this rock, and the site of the Graves and Reed cabin, and
which are particularly numerous around the site of the Donner tents at
Alder Creek, are of themselves remarkable relics. Many of them were cut
by persons who stood on the top of very deep snow. They are frequently
ten, fifteen, and twenty feet in height. Time and the action of the
elements have caused them to decay until, in some instances, a child's
hand might cause them to totter and fall. In a few years more they all
will have disappeared.

End of Project Gutenberg's History of the Donner Party, by C.F. McGlashan

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE DONNER PARTY ***

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