| Title The Impact of I-80 on the Historic Donner Party Trail | |||||||||||||
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Author Ian Patrick American River College, Geography 350: Data Acquisition in GIS; Fall 2008 Contact Information (Manteca, 350-570-3587, talonfang@hotmail.com) | |||||||||||||
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Abstract The goal of this project is to determine, through data available to the public, how much impact Interstate 80 has on the Donner Party trail. Using maps found online on various webpages and images georefereneced and then place in Arcmap and measured. The results will attempt to show if the impact of the modern road greatly affected the historic route. | |||||||||||||
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Introduction This project will attempt to determine how closely a modern road follows an emigrant trail. There are many emigrant trails across the west, but this project will focus on the interaction between Interstate 80 and the Donner Party trail. Much of the data about this subject can be found on the internet, but some books provide information about routes markers and trail locations. Cultural constituents of this area are hard to locate as it is not wise or legal to allow that information to the public. After researching the subject it was determined that there is very little exact information about many of the emigrant trails. Originally the project was going to be centered on the Lassen Trail and Highway 36, but there was a lack of good data, instead the project will focus on the Donner Party Emigrant Trail and how closely it I-80 follows the same route. The two come into contact with each other and sometimes follow the same route. Proximity based on topography will be of interest in the research. A buffer of 150 ft. for each line should allow for a determination of what percent of I-80 follows the trail from Truckee down to Sacramento. To approach this subject some detailed spatial data will be needed to determine where the exact location of the Donner Party Emigrant Trail lies. I-80 is a fairly easy feature to follow as it is an interstate highway. Directly around Truckee the Donner trail location is well known, but the exact route over the mountains will be much more difficult to determine. The goal of this project will be to determine what percent of the Donner Party Emigrant Trail was followed by I-80 and what percent of the trail has been impacted by the interstate highway. This will give us an understanding of how much of the Donner Trail is disturbed or not disturbed by the major road. Using jpegs from the internet georeferenced and then measured using Arcmap will provide the data for percentages of impact. | |||||||||||||
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Background The information found on this subject was completely on the internet, and it was difficult to locate direct information useful to this study. The large majority of the information available online is about the Donner Party's entire journey. A very good data source for information and jpegs was the Donner Party Diary website. (Rosen 1996)There are some websites that contain information about various archaeological projects. (University of Montana 1999) | |||||||||||||
The afore mentioned website contains virtual digs and virtual walking tours of the Donner Park. This was very interesting but not very useful for the purposes of this study. There have been many excavations done at the different Donner camps but it appears that very little research has been done about the trail in the area around Truckee. Some of it is known (Rosen 1996) to have been covered by newer roads. The main focus of this project is Interstate 80 so we are choosing to ignore data about other roads in the area. |
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In October 1845 (Rosen 1996) the Donner party arrived in the Truckee area but were in two groups because of injuries and the group in front never in made it to what is known today as Donner summit. The closest they made it was near Donner lake but could proceed no further. The picture to the right protrays the summit and portrays a dramatized scene, as they group never made it as far as the slope to the summit. The picture appears to portray what is modern day Interstate 80 just covered in snow with horses. |
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The accounts of Cannibalism are a large reason for the popularity on the amount of research done on the Donner party. The popularity at the time it occured has led to the looting of the area by tourist/looters as early as the 1900. Very little archaeological evidence directly related to the Donner party have been available for modern researchers to determine the location of the two Donner camps. 'Cannibalism is the best known and least understood aspect of the Donner Party. Contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, there was no feeding frenzy in the mountains. The emigrants held out for as long as they could; they slaughtered their animals and ate the meat, then lived on boiled rawhide, leather scraps, and bones, whatever they could find, until there was nothing left but the bodies of the dead. About half the survivors were rescued before any cannibalism occurred, and almost all of those who ate human flesh did so for only a few days or weeks at the end of their ordeal. It's ironic that the Donner Party should be remembered, reviled, or mocked as cannibals, when their very reluctance to eat human flesh may have cost some of them their lives. If they had started eating the dead sooner, more of them might have survived.' (Johnson 1997) |
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Methods |
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| First a Delorme map jpeg from (Rosen 1996) which was georeferenced using data provided by instructor Lupo for Geography 330. Next step was to digitize Interstate 80 and the Donner trail so that some data could be generated accurately about distances of road lengths. After digitizing the linear features the measure tool was used to measure points of contact and the width of different portions of the road and trail, such as the trail width and the lengths of the road and trail. |
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Results The results indicate that very little impact is caused by Interstate 80 on the Donner trail. | |||||||||||||
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The table shows that the analyzed lengths of Interstate 80 and the Donner trail are relatively similar. These measurements were taken using Arcmap and provide a fairly accurate means of obtaining data. The only error in the data may occur in the buffer placed on the center line of the emigrant trail. It is unclear if that is the exact corridor of possible travel or if it is just graphically pleasing to have it wide. |
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Based upon the percentage of contact there is very little impact by Interstate 80 on the Donner Trail. Much of the contact is when the trail runs adjacent to he interstate. The 150 meter buffer on either side of the trail would indicate that the percentage of actual contact is much less than protrayed in the table. The actual contact is estimated at around 2-3 percent. |
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Analysis This project was very difficult to complete accurately. Very little information can be found about the Donner trail and Interstate 80. There have been a few studies in specific areas, but most websites have maps which are such a small scale they have no detail. Most of the data available pertains to the people of the Donner party and not their route. There are good pictures from Utah and Nevada of the overland routes, but they become harder to distinguish in the forest of California. The Donner trail is especially hard to locate as it was not a main route at the time but had only been used once the year before. | |||||||||||||
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This picture is an example of the majority of spatial data available to the public. There is not much detail or ability to analyze many features. (HIS 121 2008) | ||||||||||||
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Conclusions The lack of usuable metadata on historic trails was a major problem for this project. The danger of allowing the public to know detailed information about cultural resources in this area is the reason for the lack of data. It is ethical and understandable that the government does not want exact artifact locations to be given out the public in case of looting or damage. The impact of Interstate 80 on the Donner Party emigratn trail is minimal according to the information available on the internet. | |||||||||||||
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References Rosen, Daniel M. 1996 http://www.donnerpartydiary.com/ (Rosen 1996) Univerity of Montana, 1999 http://www.anthro.umt.edu/donner/o.htm (University of Montana 1999) Johnson, Kristin, 1997 http://www.xmission.com/~octa/DonnerParty/FAQ.htm#a (Johnson 1997) History 121, 2008 http://www.vw.vccs.edu/vwhansd/HIS121/Donner.html (HIS 121 2008) Sarabee, 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/57778814@N00/2689341360/ (Sarabee 2008) | |||||||||||||