Donner Summit - the most important historical square mile in California and maybe the entire Western U.S. Native Americans summered on Donner Summit for thousands of years before the arrival of European Americans. They left behind petroglyphs (see our petroglyph page), mortars, and projectile points. The first wagon train to reach California with wagons crossed Donner Summit followed by hundreds more. Donner Summit is the site of the first transcontinental railroad, the first transcontinental highway (the Lincoln Highway), the first transcontinental air route, and the first transcontinental telephone line. It has been a hive of activities including many different industries: agriculture, sawmills, forestry, mink farming, ice harvesting (See the Ice in Ice Lake), dairy cattle, railroading, highway maintenance, tourism, and the ski industry. The rescued members of the Donner Party, their rescuers and the Forlorn Hope, the first group to escape Donner Lake, all crossed Donner Summit.
