THE INDIFFERENT STARS ABOVE: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party

In April, 1846, 21-year-old Sarah Graves set out with her family on a journey to California. Seven months later, after joining a party of emigrants led by George Donner, Sarah arrived at Truckee Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains just as the first heavy snows closed the pass. Every painful step of her journey is captured here. Illus.