In 1929, the Native Sons of the Golden West created two monuments to indicate the changes to the 1846 Emigrant Trail. One of the original trail markers was located on Old Highway 40, better known as Donner Pass Road, near the end of what’s now Northwoods Boulevard.
To the right of this monument, P.M. Weddell added a wooden sign to indicate the correct direction down the mountain. The second monument was located at the entrance of Coldstream Canyon on Highway 40.
Historical Marker Inscription
The nearby monument was envisioned in 1929 by C. F. McGlashan, Truckee’s foremost resident 1872-1931 and author of the 1880 classic, The History of the Donner Party; P.M. Weddell, who placed wooden signs on the Donner Trail from Verdi, Nevada over Coldstream Pass to Lake Mary from 1924 until his death in 1951; and W.F. Knowland, U.S. Senator (1945-1959) and the chairman of The Native Sons of the Golden West’s Landmark Commission.
The three trail authorities met in McGlashan’s law office in Truckee to draw up the text for the plaque on this monument, listed as #3 on the map to the right and a companion plaque for the monument listed as #5, located one half mile to the west on old Hwy 40 and Coldstream Road.
Dedicated November 16, 2014 (6019)
By Truckee Donner Historical Society and
Chief Truckee Chapter of E Clampus Vitus
Historical Markers of the World 