765. (DONNER PARTY RELICS) A rare relic from the ill-fated Donner Party, a group of California homesteaders who in 1846 found themselves trapped by snowfall as they crossed the Sierra Nevadas into California. Having left most essential supplies in the desert before reaching the mountains, the group soon found itself faced with starvation and resorted to cannibalism for survival, still losing forty members, half the group. This relic is a small glass bottle, 2" tall with red wax seal, containing a quantity of wood remnants from the "Murphy Cabin" at Donner Lake, the main cabin in which members of the group huddled through the winter. Two printed tags dated 1893 remain, one with sworn certification of the authenticity of the relic, the second indicating that proceeds from the sale of these relics, at $1.00 each, would be put to the construction of a monument to the Donner party. Fine condition, matted and set into a small frame. $200-300