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Collection: Directories and Documents

Diary of Patrick Breen - One of the Donner Party (23 pages)

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INTRODUCTION. The diary here printed came into the possession of the University of California in 1905 with the Bancroft Collection. It had been given to Mr. Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1871, by Dr. George McKinstry of San Diego, who made the following statement in regard to it: The annexed Diary was kept by Patrick Breen, who with his family viz., Patrick Breen, Margret Breen, John Breen, Edward Breen, Patrick Breen, jr., Simon Breen, James Breen, Peter Breen, Isabella Breen,—were a part of what is called the ‘‘Donner Party’’ that was detained by snows on the Sierra Nevada the winter of 1846-47, an account of their sufferings was published by me in the ‘‘California Star,’? May 22nd, 1847. I am told Mr. Breen and family are at San Juan, Monterey County, Cala., Mr. Breen gave me his Diary, on his arrival at Capt. J. A. Sutter’s Fort, New Helvetia, Cala., for the purpose of makeing out my reports to Capt. Hall, U.S.N. Sloop of War ‘‘Warren,’’ Commander No[r]thern Diset. California 1847, Gro. McKInstry, July, 1871. San Diego, Cala. George McKinstry, Jr., was sheriff of the Northern, or Sacramento district of California in 1847 and was actively interested in sending relief to the Donner party. The author of the diary, Patrick Breen, was born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1828. With his wife and seven children he started on the overland trip from Keokuk, Iowa, on April 5, 1846. The entire family lived to reach the California settlements. The diary was written upon eight small sheets of letter paper roughly trimmed and folded to make a book of thirty-two pages, 334 x 6 inches, of which twenty-nine pages were used and three remain blank. It was bound up with a title-page supplied by Mr. Bancroft. In publishing the diary the editors of the California Star stated that ‘‘owing to its length’’ they had ‘‘omitted several [271]