Historical Marker · No. 719
Grave of Elitha Cumi Donner Wilder
Elk Grove, Sacramento County · California
Erected by The California State Park Commission in cooperation with Liberty Parlor No. 213, Native Daughters of the Golden West, May 8, 1960
She was fourteen in the snow and ninety-one when she died, which means she lived seventy-seven years after the thing she is remembered for. Elitha Donner came down with the first relief party in 1847, orphaned. She married Perry McCoon that same year, was widowed, married Benjamin Wilder in 1853, farmed near here and raised children. Her sister Leanna outlived her. The bronze gives most of its lines to one winter and a single clause to the rest.
What the plaque says
Elitha Cumi Donner Wilder This survivor of the ill-fated Donner Party was the daughter of George and Mary Blue Donner. Born near Springfield, Illinois, in 1832, she arrived in California in December 1846 with her sister, Leanna Charity Donner, and was rescued by the first relief party to reach the tragic scene. Married to Benjamin W. Wilder in 1853, she died on July 4, 1923, survived by her sister and two children. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 719 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with Liberty Parlor No. 213, Native Daughters of the Golden West, May 8, 1960
Where it stands
38.40864, -121.38536 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Sacramento — 14 miThe Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.