CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER - BIG LIFE Connections: Snowshoe, Reception, Museum & Sierra Speaker Series

Please join us along with the Sierra State Parks Foundation for our March BIG LIFE Connections event! We'll meet at Donner Memorial State Park outside of the Visitor Center for a guided snowshoe tour led by State Park Interpreter that will include history and some historical landmarks of the Donner Party, who were stranded at Donner Lake in 1846.

The snowshoe tour will be followed by a reception in the Museum, with refreshements, socializing, and access to the museum. Finally, the Sierra State Parks Foundation's Speaker Series will host a presentation about the Grosh Brothers, who discovered the Comstock Lode but perished and then history was falsely retold without them (see more information about this fascinating tale and the upcoming history expedition trek to re-create it below). 

Please bring your own snowshoes. They can be rented at Tahoe Dave's, Tahoe Sports Hub, and other Truckee sports shops. (You'll need waterproof hiking shoes or boots.)

The cost for this event is $10, including refreshments. Please register. Space is limited for the guided snowshoe tour.

Not up for the snowshoe tour? All are invited to attend just the Museum Reception and Presentation. Suggested donation is $5 (Please note separate registration).

Schedule:  6:30 pm - Presentation Concludes

History Got it Wrong: True Discoverer of Comstock Lode and the Grosh Brothers

Imagine the discovery of a new element that increases the life of batteries 100 times. Then before documenting the findings, you and your partner encounter fate, ending your life and vanquishing your dreams prematurely. Meanwhile, the person you entrusted with your information claims it as their own, and their name becomes eternally associated with this key moment in history. Finally, imagine all that knew the truth were silenced by those who would profit from your lifelong effort and conspired with the media to bury the truth and create a narrative that what you did was fiction, a myth.

This is the story of two brothers, Ethan Allen and Hosea Ballou Grosh, who made a momentous discovery, encountered fate, and were dismissed as a fairytale, and our endeavor to discover new facts, correct the historical narrative, and honor the two brothers. On February 27th, 2023, the History Expedition Team (Bob Crowley, Tim Twietmeyer, Jennifer Hemmen, Elke Reimer, and Hal Hall) will begin a five-day expedition, retracing the fateful last steps of E. Allen Grosh from Silver City, NV to Last Chance, CA, 100 miles away. They will reunite the brothers through their trek and perhaps reveal along the way the rightful claim of the Grosh Brothers to the discovery of the world's largest concentration of silver.