The diary of Patrick Breen was recorded between November 20, 1846 and March 1, 1847, in what is presently the Donner Pass region of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in Nevada County, California. At the time of the diary's composition, Breen and his family were part of a group of pioneers --which came to be known as the Donner Party --completing an overland journey from the Great Plains to California. After reaching Donner Lake (then Truckee Lake), the group met with relentless winter conditions which prohibited further travel. As these conditions persisted, food supplies were depleted and hunger and sickness came to prevail over the stranded party. For many, leather hides provided the only remaining sustenance. Several eventually died of starvation. Others, in desperation, resorted to consuming the flesh of those already dead. The survivors were finally rescued by a relief party led by James F. Reed --an original member of their party --and shortly thereafter reached their destination at Fort Sutter in New Helvetia. The diary begins during the early stages of the winter of 1846-47 --one of the harshest on record for the region --and proceeds to chronicle on a daily basis its increasing severity and the disastrous toll it took on the party. The last entry is recorded the day of the arrival of Reed's relief party.

Patrick Breen was born in Ireland circa 1805. In 1828 he emigrated to Canada and some time thereafter moved to Iowa territory, where he became the owner of a farm. In about 1831 he married Margaret (maiden name unknown). Breen was naturalized in 1844. Patrick and Margaret had 7 seven children --John, Edward, Patrick, Simon, Peter, James and Isabella. In the Spring of 1846, the Breen family joined a party of emigres bound for California. The party's ill-fated journey across the Sierra Nevada Mountains was partially documented in the diary Breen kept while stranded in a mountain camp at Donner (then called Truckee) Lake. After their rescue, the family arrived at Sutter's Fort, New Helvetia, in March of 1847. The Breens then lived for a short time on the Consumnes River and then in San Jose. In February of 1848 they settled in San Juan Bautista --becoming it's first non-Spanish-speaking residents --where Breen would live as a rancher for the remainder of his life. Patrick Breen died in 1868.

The bound manuscript measures 17 x 12 cm. 32 digital objects

Publication Rights Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to quote from the diary must be submitted in writing to the Curator of the Bancroft Collection of Western Americana. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Access Restricted original. Use microfilm copy only. Use of original only by permission of the Curator of the Bancroft Collection of Western Americana.