Donner Party Gold Chest — Great Salt Lake Desert

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Donner Party Gold Chest — Great Salt Lake Desert

Lost Treasure UT • Box Elder County County
Description
1846 Donner Party legend of George Donner burying a chest of about $15,000 in gold coins near Floating Island camp on the Hastings Cutoff across the Great Salt Lake Desert — never reclaimed after the Sierra tragedy.
Historical Notes
Before the Donner Party's Sierra Nevada disaster, leaders urged shedding weight for the desert crossing; George Donner reportedly cached his coin chest near a spring camp called Floating Island. OldWest.org places possible locations near Pilot Peak springs or the ghost town of Lucin along the desert shortcut west of the Great Salt Lake. Survivors never documented recovery; the chest remains a classic emigrant-trail treasure tale in northwestern Utah.
Status / Verification legend — Legendary or approximate

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