Researchers: Donner Party member carried Lincoln documents on journey

(CNN) Researchers have made an unexpected discovery among the items a member of the Donner Party kept in a carpetbag on the group's ill-fated journey to California: a military document with Abraham Lincoln's handwriting on it.
Donner Party member James Reed and his family carried muster rolls with Lincoln's name on them among their treasured heirlooms, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum said in a statement released Monday.
A team of librarians, historians and handwriting experts combined forces to confirm that Lincoln's writing was on one of the documents, which list Lincoln and volunteer soldiers who fought in the 1832 Black Hawk War. Continued

Image: "This is a photo of James F. and Margaret (Keyes) Reed, who were members of the Donner Party. Margaret died about 1862, and James died in 1874. The original photo is at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The photographer is unknown." (Wikipedia)