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The best land under heaven : the Donner Party in the age of Manifest Destiny / Michael Wallis.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Wallis, Michael, 1945- author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Donner Party.
- Pioneers--California--History--19th century.
- Pioneers.
- Pioneers--West (U.S.)--History--19th century.
- Overland journeys to the Pacific.
- Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.).
- Frontier and pioneer life.
- History.
- Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.)--History--19th century.
- Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.).
- California.
- United States--Sierra Nevada.
- West United States.
- Pioneers--West (U.S)--History--19th century.
- Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev)--History--19th century.
- Local Subjects:
- Overland journeys to the Pacific.
- Donner Party.
- Pioneers--California--History--19th century.
- Pioneers--West (U.S)--History--19th century.
- Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.).
- Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev)--History--19th century.
- Genre:
- History.
- Physical Description:
- xx, 455 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Other Title:
- Donner Party in the age of Manifest Destiny
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2017]
- Summary:
- An account of the 1846 Donner-Reed expedition reveals the true events surrounding the tragedy, profiling the adventurous characters who shaped the group and how various interpersonal factors led to their harrowing experiences.
- "In the eerily warm spring of 1846, George Donner placed this advertisement in a local newspaper as he and a restless caravan prepared for what they hoped would be the most rewarding journey of a lifetime. But in eagerly pursuing what would a century later become known as the "American dream," this optimistic-yet-motley crew of emigrants was met with a chilling nightmare; in the following months, their jingoistic excitement would be replaced by desperate cries for help that would fall silent in the deadly snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada. We know these early pioneers as the Donner Party, a name that has elicited horror since the late 1840s. Now, celebrated historian Michael Wallis--beloved for his myth-busting portraits of legendary American figures--continues his life's work of parsing fact from fiction to tell the true story of one of the most embroidered sagas in Western history..."--Jacket.
- Contents:
- Introduction: 1846
- Prologue: Donner Lake, June 6, 1918
- Call of the West
- A migrating people
- The best land under heaven
- Gray gold
- Snake heads
- California dreaming
- The bold plunge
- Wagons ho! April 1846
- Farewell, April 14-15, 1846
- Independence bound, April 15-May 10, 1846
- The journey
- Queen city of the trails, May 10-12, 1846
- Indian country, May 12-18, 1846
- Soldier Creek, May 19, 1846
- The others, May 20, 1846
- People of the south wind, May 21-24, 1846
- Alcove Spring, May 25-29, 1846
- The rhetoric of fear, May 30-June 2, 1846
- Ebb and flow, June 3-7, 1846
- On the Platte, June 8-10, 1846
- Life goes on, June 10-15, 1846
- A letter from Tamzene Donner, June 16, 1846
- The promised land
- Change of command, June 16-19, 1846
- Chasing mirages, June 19-25, 1846
- Sage advice, June 26-27, 1846
- A sense of urgency, June 28-July 12, 1846
- Parting of the ways, July 13-19, 1846
- The Donner party, July 20-28, 1846
- Betrayed, July 28-31, 1846
- The Hastings cutoff, August 1-22, 1846
- The fearful long drive, August 23-September 10, 1846
- Race against time, September 11-October 4, 1846
- Blood rage, October 5-20, 1846
- Perseverance, October 21-30, 1846
- Out of time
- Snowbound, November 1846
- Desperate times, desperate measures, November-December 1846
- The forlorn hope, December 1846
- Camp of death, December 1846
- The starving time, January 1847
- In dire straits, January-February 1847
- Man on a mission, January-February 1847
- To the rescue, February 1847
- The first relief
- The second relief
- The third relief
- The fourth relief
- Aftermath.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 9780871407696
- 0871407698
- OCLC:
- 978252186
- Publisher Number:
- 99972578723
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