Book Description
In the winter of 1846, the Donner Party was stranded by heavy snows in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The pioneers endured bitter hardships, and many of them died. But some survived, including 8-year-old Patty Reed, a girl filled with dignity and determination in the face of mortal danger. This is her story, as told by Dolly, the wooden doll she kept hidden in her dress.
Customer Reviews:
Should be required reading.......2007-09-30
I read this book ages ago and thought it was awesome. But, recently I bought it to read to my 9 year-old as she is beginning her living history career as "Patty Reed". What a wonderful book. It really shows what life and hardship are all about, but done in such am engaging yet non-violent way. I cannot recommend this book enough! It ought to be required reading in school.
Entertaining book.......2006-11-10
This is an excellent book that is based on fact and actually sticks very close to the true facts. It is hard to put down once you start it. Our 6 year old granddaughter loved the book, as I did also. I highly recommend it for both children and adults, even though it is written for elementary age children.
No 4th Grade Class should be without.......2002-12-07
This is a beautifully written book that captures the plight of pioneers traveling west. My fourth grade students really gain a sense of what life was like once upon a time. Great book!!...
Lingering.......2001-11-18
I read this book in 1964 as a 4th grader in Northern California learning state history. I have never forgotten Patty or her doll (which used to be on display at Sutter's Fort). When my children were small it was not in print and I am so happy to see it is again. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know about American history from a totally different perspective. That of a little wooden doll, chosen amongst many beautiful sisters, to make a rough trip in the pocket of her owner. You will never forget Patty Reed, or her doll, I know I haven't. I am buying the book to keep to read and to my grandchildren.
Patty Reed's Doll.......2000-01-09
Patty Reed's Doll is an excellent account of the Donner Party and all the other families that were part of the Donner Tragedy.The book describes the families in such detail you feel like you're traveling with them. The Reeds are one of the families that are traveling with the Donner Party. The story is an excellent way to teach elementary school children as well as adults what trailblazing was really like and the severe hardships that went with it. As an elementary school teacher I highly recommend this book. It is an asset to studying California history.
Book Description
The tragedy of the Donner party constitutes one of the most amazing stories of the American West. In 1846 eighty-seven people -- men, women, and children -- set out for California, persuaded to attempt a new overland route. After struggling across the desert, losing many oxen, and nearly dying of thirst, they reached the very summit of the Sierras, only to be trapped by blinding snow and bitter storms. Many perished; some survived by resorting to cannibalism; all were subjected to unbearable suffering. Incorporating the diaries of the survivors and other contemporary documents, George Stewart wrote the definitive history of that ill-fated band of pioneers; an astonishing account of what human beings may endure and achieve in the final press of circumstance.
Customer Reviews:
WOW.......2007-08-23
We bought this book at the Reno Nevada airport after spending a week in the Truckee area. My wife and I both went through the book in record time. It's hard to put down once you start.
Timeless Story.......2007-07-17
Written over 70 years ago, this account of the Donner Party is still captivating and contemporary. Stewart was a fastidious historiographer as well as a gifted storyteller. This fascinating drama unfolds crisply and frankly. Despite the gruesome details, or perhaps because of them, one becomes engrossed and enticed to keep turning the pages to learn what happened next.
The 1960 supplement was interesting but drier than the original 1936 text. The diary entries and letter from three of the survivors provide a unique view into the ordeal, and the reference summaries are useful aids for keeping the characters and itinerary straight.
Cliched but true: "A harrowing tale" .......2007-02-03
All of the words I want to apply to this book have been so overused they no longer have much real value, but in the case of the Donner-Reed story, they are apt: Harrowing, horrific, astounding, gripping, heroic.
On numerous occasions as I read the story, I couldn't help but think in another cliche: "Just when I thought things couldn't get worse ... they did."
Stewart had a fine way with words, which added another layer to my reading experience. I also appreciated how he let the readers know what became of the survivors, the rescuers, and of the man who'd promoted the new trail. With compassion and respect, Stewart tried to present the individuals to us as the multi-dimensional humans they were.
You'll Hunger For More!.......2006-12-04
This is one of those books that is very hard to put down once you begin. It details the tragic overland expedition undertaken by the Donner-Reed party in 1846. The group made a very bad decision in taking the infamous "Hasting's Cutoff" trail - which they had heard would shave time off their trip to California, but in actuality caused them to lose valuable time due to having to traverse extremely treacherous terrain. The consquence was that they were unable to make it over the Sierra Nevada mountains before a powerful snowstorm hit, trapping them in the mountains for the winter, and resulting in the death of many of the emigrants from starvation. And, of course, the living then survived off the dead - the most infamous part of the story. And there are even more adventures than that as various men take off to find Sacramento and get help for their families, only to end up dying of exposure or falling prey to injuries along the way. Compelling stuff.
AN AMERICAN SURVIVAL STORY..........2005-01-01
This book presents an account of the Donner Party, a wagon train of about eighty-seven people who in July 1846 started off for California via a new, untried route through the Sierras. Unfortunately, this particular wagon train of pioneers would go down in history due to the horror and tragedy that it was to meet along its way. Stranded in the Sierras amidst its harshest winter in years, with unparalleled snowfall and frigid temperatures, only little more than half, mostly women and children, were to survive their unbelievable deprivation and suffering.
This wagon train was a loose confederation of strangers who originally were part of another wagon train, but who collectively branched off by consensus to try a new, though untried and unproven, overland route through the Sierras that was alleged to be shorter. Their decision to take this new route was one that would haunt them for the rest of their journey, as it was not what it was purported to be. The inexperience of these travelers, the poor decisions that were sometimes made, and their seeming inability to truly unify as one entity contributed to their ultimate debacle. They were, after all, representative of humanity at large. Some of them were good, brave, and unselfish. Some were people with whom one would not wish to shake hands.
Beleaguered by thirst as they trekked across a desert, marauded by Indians along the way, plagued by the loss of necessary oxen and cattle, beset by accidents and personal squabbles that would sometimes turn deadly, they would finally reach the Sierras and begin their perilous crossing, only to find themselves snowbound at the summit while within sight of the pass that they needed to cross to be home free. Trapped by the weather in early November, they would set up a make-shift camp, never thinking about just how long their encampment would last. With minimal food supplies at their disposal, these intrepid, westward-ho emigrants would find themselves trapped for months, facing incredible hardships that would tax them beyond human endurance. Some would resort to cannibalism in order to survive.
This is a riveting story about survival of the fittest, about personal sacrifice, and human foibles. It is a story not only of those ill-fated pioneers but of those who would attempt to rescue them, often at great personal cost. It is a story that reflects the human spirit, both good and bad, in time of crisis. It is a story of often selfless heroism. It is also a story of greed and craven opportunism. While some of the book is politically incorrect, it is reflective of the times in which these pioneers lived, as well as that of when this book was first written.
It is, however, remiss that the maps included in this book do little to illustrate the deadly journey undertaken by these pioneers. Still, the lack of comprehensive maps does not unduly detract from the powerful impact that this story has on the reader. Moreover, although the book was published in 1936, the author, a trained historian, added a supplement in 1960, which is included in this edition of his book. This supplement serves to correct errors, as well as incorporate additional relevant material not available at the time of original publication.
Those who enjoy tales of survival will, undoubtedly, find this gripping tale well worth reading.
Book Description
On April 14, 1846, the Donner Party set out from Springfield, Illinois, in search of a better life in the largely unsettled California territory. The trip started well but eventually questionable choices and infighting delayed pioneers' attempt to cross the Sierra Nevada until winter. As the impassable snows closed in and their supplies dwindled to nothing, the group faced an almost hopeless struggle for survival that would push some toward the final taboo of cannibalism. Nearly half the members of the Donner Party were children. This account, filled with selections from the survivors' letters and diaries, focuses on the children's experiences, making it uniquely compelling and accessible to young readers. Index, bibliography, chronology, group rosters, suggestions for further research.
Customer Reviews:
Wow! Great book!.......2006-12-10
I think this book is very good. I only knew that The Donner Party could not get to California. I learned soooooo much from reading this book. Now I want to find out more about the Donner Party.I would Highly recomend This book. It was very interesting,and I really enjoyed it.
The Perilous Journey of The Donner Party review.......2005-03-21
I thought that the Donner Party was a very interesting book. It's one of those books that you can't put down because you keep wanting to see what is going to happen next. The author, Marian Calabro, was very descriptive and made the book which could have been very boring, was actually very interesting and exciting to read. I know that when I read it I felt like I was there with Virgina Reed and the rest of the Donner Party. I believe that even if you aren't that interested in pioneers and such you will enjoy this book. However I will have to admit it was depressing in parts and it is definetly not an uplifting book. How ever it also will make you admire the strenght the Donner Party had to get throught there hardships and struggles they had to endure. The book also has lots of extra information in the back and it has special features like Virgina Reed's diary and The chronilogical order of how the events took place.
Rebecca P.
The Donner Party.......2004-03-28
This book was amazing! There was so much information inlcuding speech from a survivor Virgina Reed. I really enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down. The detail and everything was incredible and it made me want to learn more! A great 'reed'!
Matt:Hungry for Adventure?.......2002-12-05
The Donner Party is a story about a group heading to California in April, 1846. However, bad decisions and trickery lead them to the point of starvation. To survive, they must eat those that have died along the way.
The Donner Party is the most exciting nonfiction book I've rea, written not as a documentary or research thing, but as an adventure story. It is, however, hard to imagine this actually happening because it seams so much like fiction. It is also written in a way that all the families, excluding the main family, the Reeds, are shoved way into the backround and seem to barely exist.
I recommend this book to those that don't mind lengthy stories and the overall concept of the book. It may also work well as something to help a report or something, having all the information right there in an easier-to-read way than most forms of research. I'd recommend this book for ages 12 and higher, because of the way it is written and it's length.
Excellent Reading!!.......2002-11-26
I'm not much of a history buff, but I have to teach my kids CA history this year. Once I started reading this book it was hard to put down. The thing that surprised me the most was how thoroughly readable it is. I didn't feel like I was reading a history textbook. The prose is well done, there are ample photos of the people involved and artifacts etc.,.. The only thing I would improve would be to include maybe one more map. But that isn't even worth complaining about. This book covers a gruesome and sad event in American history without being overly maudlin, grotesque or judgemental. Despite the elementary looking artwork on the front, it's not a book for children.
Amazon.com
Snow Mountain Passage is a novel about the Donner Party. Still reading? Never fear, this is no corpse fest along the lines of Piers Paul Read's Alive, and its concerns are anything but prurient. For James Houston, who has written movingly about California in the past, the Donner Party's experiences exemplify the ambition, the courage, and the sheer hubris of those who ventured into territory as unfamiliar to them as the moon. His book is not just a blow-by-blow account of what went wrong and who ate whom, it's a searing portrait of both the promises and the perils of the American dream.
Houston follows the events of 1847 through the eyes of James Reed and his daughter Patty. Exiled from the party after he accidentally killed one of its members, Reed made it over the Sierras before snow locked what is now called Donner Pass. His family, however, did not. Along with more than 80 other stranded emigrants, they erected crude cabins below the summit and settled in for a long winter of hunger, cold, madness, and cannibalism, chronicled by Patty Reed in prose of uncommon urgency and even beauty. Here, for instance, she watches as her mother walks away with the first rescue party, leaving her by the shores of Truckee Lake:
My body was like an empty bottle sitting on a dark shelf in an empty cupboard. A cold sun was shining. While we stood there the wind came up, rushing through the pines with a sound like surf, a gushing roar like water on the rise, as if an ocean of ice water had begun to pour across the world.
In contrast, the book lags while James Reed crisscrosses California, attempting to scare up a rescue party for his family. And the author spends far too much time describing the landscape. This reader found at least half her attention back at Truckee Lake with the starving emigrants, wondering guiltily, "Have they eaten anyone yet?" Still, the book generally moves along at a terrific clip, its characters sketched with swift, sure strokes, and their disastrous decisions depicted without excuses or blame. "You couldn't have stopped him," Patty thinks about her father, who persuaded his traveling companions to take the fatal route. "Or stopped any of it." The Donner Party's fate, Houston implies, was as inevitable as America's great westward expansion. But like that epic movement, Snow Mountain Passage highlights both the best and the worst in human nature. --Mary Park
Book Description
Snow Mountain Passage is a powerful retelling of our most dramatic pioneer story--the ordeal of the Donner Party. Through the eyes of James Frazier Reed, one of the group's leaders, and the imagined "Trail Notes" of his daughter Patty, we journey along with the ill-fated group determined, at all costs, to make it to the California territory.
James Reed is a proud, headstrong, yet devoted husband and father. As he and his family travel in the "Palace Car," a huge, specially built--and ultimately cumbersome--covered wagon, they thrill to new sights and cope with conflict and constant danger. Yet when a fight between Reed and another driver ends in death, Reed is exiled from the group and heads over the mountains alone. The fate of the other families, including Reed's wife and four children, is sealed when they set out across a new, untested route through the Sierra--their final mountain pass. Arriving at the foothills just as the snows start to fall, they are left stranded for months--starving, freezing, and battling to survive--while Reed journeys across northern California, trying desperately to find means and men for a rescue party.
An extraordinary tale of pride and redemption, Snow Mountain Passage is a brilliantly imagined and grippingly told story straight from American history.
*National Bestseller
Customer Reviews:
Mixed feelings.......2007-07-16
I admit to being a bit disappointed, as this book turned out to be more about Jim Reed and less about the Donner party. The first part of the book was very entertaining as it dealt with the Donner/Reed group on the trail to California. A disagreement arises between Reed and another leading to a fight and Reed has to leave the wagon train and strike out on his own towards California on horse ahead of the others. Once the wagon train reaches Truckee and snow hits and they realize they can go no further, the story leaves them and the middle third of the book is about Reed's travels on the other side of the Sierras. I found this part to be quite boring and I was literally skimming and skipping chapters. I just wasn't interested (nor expecting) to read about the US/Mexican war in California nor Reed's involvement with same.
Interspered with the author's writings of Reed's story are Notes from the Trail by his daughter Patty that were written when Patty was much older. Those were the chapters that held my interest, especially the story of the rescue and getting the survivors out of their winter camp and over the mountains to safety.
All in all a reasonably interesting read, but I'm glad I got it from the library as it's one I'm not likely to want to read again. Four stars for Patty's Notes from the Trail, two stars for the story of Jim Reed and the US/Mexican war.
One of the finest books ever written about the West.......2007-05-13
This is simply an awesome display of storytelling, combining historical "fiction" with non-fiction (the latter derived from the actual notes and writings of a real survivor of the incident), and illustrating the incredible power of James D. Houston's mind and writing talent!
If you want to actually imagine and feel and understand what it was like, to cross the western half of this country in an immigrant wagon train, including experiencing the vast power of winter in the California Sierra, then read this book! It is much more historical fact than historical fiction, but beyond this, it is highly "real", and says more about the discovery of the American West than any other book I've ever read (and I've read a lot about this topic).
Snow Mountain Passage.......2007-01-06
Excellent book centered around the recollections of one of the Donner Party. Author did a terrific job of integrating the actual events with the very lucid memoirs of one of the Reed daughters.
Very good read!.......2006-11-03
The book starts out in Santa Cruz California with Patty Reed recalling her memoies of the "Ordeal by Hunger" (another book) Many times I had to remind myself that Patty herself did not write the words I was reading - it is so good. If you like Historical novels or if you are from the Bay Area (or both) this book is for you. Fast read. I couldn't put it down.
Hunger has no boundaries.......2005-10-09
An historical novel about the Donner Party is of interest. Tales of cannibalism and other kinds of deprivation make the rest of us grateful to be living in the modern era. Lewis Keseberg has Sioux burial robes. He is told by George Donner to give them back. It is feared the Indians will demand retribution. Keseberg has imperiled the safety of everyone.
Jim Reed does not remember Ireland at all, but he remembers crossing the Atlantic. Jim and his wife read about California and it sounded too good to be true. Game is scarcer the higher the party climbs. Tempers are tested. Reed kills Snyder and suffers banishment from the group. Reed is given a young man as a companion to cross the desert.
Fort Laramie is a sort of outpost of civilization. Where Laramie Creek spills into the Platte it looks like a park. Half way across the Rockies the Donner Party takes the southern route. Near the Humboldt Sink the Reed draft animals give way to exhaustion. The Reed provisions are loaded into the Graves family wagons.
Except for berries and wild onions, Jim Reed and his companion, Walter, are out of food when they set out from Truckee Meadows. Walter wants to shoot a horse. (Snyder was killed because Reed was furious with him for abusing animals.) Charlie Stanton and McCutcheon find them. Walter is too sick to travel. He is taken in by an Illinois family. Jim goes off with two traveling men. It has been ten weeks since Jim left Fort Bridger.
Coming overland the Johnson cabin is the first stop. Land costs less than a penny an acre. Jim arrives at Captain John Sutter's place. He explains that his wife and children are suffering in the mountains. Supplies have run low. McCutcheon arives.
The Donner Party, traveling, is isolated. The party has turned into a scattering of wagons and there is the snow. The Summit Trail is too deep in snow for the oxen. Jim and others start out on a rescue mission. They have to turn back. Sutter is moved by the gall and the plight of the two men, Reed and McCutcheon, the husbands. McCutcheon sets out for Sonoma to seek the help of ranchers there. It is known in the area that the Donner Party was the last group to set out that year.
The Donner Party reached the Summit Trail twenty four hours too late. People in the party moved into cabins. When snow went up to the roofs there was not more hunting and there was no more game to eat. There was no leader because George Donner was five miles back. A snowshoed party of fourteen people left Donner Lake to try to get through the pass. Hunger has no boundaries. The Reed party at the lake suffered hunger.
Belatedly four rescue teams arrived at the behest of Jim Reed and Bill McCutcheon. The Reed family survived the ordeal entire, an unusual result. This is a good retelling of the Donner Party tragedy.
Average customer rating:
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The Ungodly: A Novel of the Donner Party (Stanford General Books)
Richard Rhodes
Manufacturer: Stanford General Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0804756414
Release Date: 2007-03-15 |
Book Description
In 1846 several hundred wagons set out from Independence, Missouri, to follow the California Trail nearly 2,000 miles across unpopulated prairies, up sluggish and seemingly endless rivers, and through the Rocky Mountains over the Continental Divide. There, where the water flowed west to the far Pacific, the more prudent emigrants swung north through present-day Idaho, though that was the longer way west. One group, the Donner Party, braver or more foolhardy than the rest, chose an untried route that would shorten the distance.
It did. It also subjected them to obstacles so formidable that it cost many of them their lives. Yet it preserved their names and the story of their travail down through history-crowded years. No work of fiction has rendered this remarkable epic of ordeal with more vividness and power than Richard Rhodes’s novel of the Donner Party, The Ungodly.
Upon its initial printing in 1973, Rhodes’s masterful tale was praised for its realistic and gripping depiction of the struggles faced by that ill-fated group of men, women, and children. Now, more than thirty years later, Stanford University Press has reissued this harrowing and haunting novel. The Ungodly is an unforgettable story of terrible hardship and awesome courage—a story that increases our understanding of what kind of people made this nation and what a full and immeasurable price they paid.
Book Description
Chapter-by-chapter unit study for the novel "Patty Reed's Doll: The Story of the Donner Party." Vocabulary and comprehension work sheets (ready to photocopy), answer keys, instructions for related math, science, and art projects. Extensive resource list.
Customer Reviews:
Patty Reed's Doll.......2007-01-16
I used this is in my classroom, and it was very
helpful, especially all the different vocabulary
exercises. It increased their understanding
as we read through. Thank you very much
Donner be missing out on this!.......2005-07-11
Everyone likes a kebab after a night out on the sauce. Patty Reed liked them more than other people. "The Story of the Donner Party" is the latest offering from the much-maligned Louise Baldwin, and is a riotous romp of Dickensianesque farce, set as it is in turn-of-the-19th-century California. With her flowery prose and powerful metaphors, Baldwin takes us on a warts-and-all ride through an eventful evening in Ms Reed's life. There's murder, intrigue and suspense. Gasp for breath as Ms Reeds loyal friend Lauren chokes to death on some of that white stuff you sometimes find in the mixed salad you get at 'bab shops. Is it cabbage? I think it's cabbage. It might be cabbage but I'm not sure. Where I live, it'd be kohl-rabi. Anyway. Cry fat, sympathetic tears of white-hot laughter as Derek drunkenly says "yes" and ends up with chili sauce on his kebab, but smiles gamely as he forces himself to eat it to win honour amongst his gnarled gold-digger compatriots. Twitch with suspicion as Patty finds "mint sauce" on the collar of her husbands shirt collar. Is it mint sauce, or toothpaste? Or something more sinister?
You'll find out when you buy this whirlwind adventure romance novel book. Patty Reed's Doll: The Story of the Donner Party contains small parts and may have been assembled in a factory where nuts are processed.
A rip-roaring read. Top marks!
A "Must" in any 4th grade classroom in California!.......2000-05-22
I am a Liberal Studies student at the Calif State Univ. at Stanislaus. Approaching graduation, I am searching for useful tools for my future fourth grade classroom. On a recent field study of the Calif. Gold Rush of 1849, I stumbled across this book at a museum in Coloma, Ca. After reading it and showing it to many of my professors, we agree that there should not be a fourth grade classroom in Calif without one of these guide books. It has an endless supply of activity sheets ready to be reproduced. Many great art, science, language arts, and even math activities so that one may teach their students the life and times of those so brave to attempt the journey west.
Book Description
The tragic saga of the Donner Party has inspired both legend and scholarship ever since the survivors were rescued from the High Sierra snows in the spring of 1847. When archaeologist Donald L. Hardesty and four colleagues—a historian and three other archaeologists--turned their collective attention to the ordeal of the Donner Party, the result was an original and sometimes surprising new study of this pioneer group and their place in the history of overland migration.
Now available for the first time in paperback, The Archaeology of the Donner Party combines the fruits of meticulous investigation of the Sierra Nevada sites with scientific analysis of artifacts discovered there and interpretation of the documents of the party and the memoirs of survivors. Through this interdisciplinary approach, Hardesty and his colleagues offer new insight into the ordeal of these ill-fated emigrants and demonstrate the vital role that archaeology can play in illuminating and expanding our understanding of historical events.
Contributions by Michael Brodhead, Donald K. Grayson, Susan Lindstrom, and George L. Miller.
Customer Reviews:
An extensively researched history of an ill-fated expedition to California in the winter of 1846-1847.......2006-05-03
Professor of Historic Preservation and Anthropology Donald Hardesty presents The Archaeology Of The Donner Party, an extensively researched history of an ill-fated expedition to California in the winter of 1846-1847. Trapped by snow in the uppermost reaches of the Sierra Nevada, half of the Donner Party perished from starvation; the remaining half had to cannibalize their dead to survive. The tragedy became fuel for legends, folklore, and stories about westward expansion; but what truly happened? The Archaeology Of The Donner Party turns to the science of archaeology to unravel long-standing mysteries. Contributions by Michael Brodhead, Donald Grayson, Susan Lindstrom, and George Miller aid the author in gathering as much raw data as possible, some of which is offered in the form of charts for the reader's perusal; the result is an astute cross-examination of the telltale footprints of history. A handful of black-and-white The Archaeology Of The Donner Party is welcome not only for its meticulous reconstruction of a devastating tragedy, but also as an example of how archaeology can aid in the study of relatively recent history as surely as the history of civilizations from thousands of years ago.
Stunning history!.......2000-10-20
Read this book after reading "Frozen in Time" (about the Franklin expedition lost in the arctic) and "Alive" (about a 1972 plane crash in the Andes), both terrible and true tales of people forced to fight death and starvation.
This book is as stunning as the other two!
The book is well researched. Dramatic. Brings to light details and hypothesis of how these people coped in the face of death.
It is interesting seeing this team piece together the Donner party's activities.
Fantastic read if your into human adventure & spirit!
Book Description
An amazing story that includes the Mexican Regime; the Gold rush days; and statehood. The Irish and Irish-Americans came from New York, Boston, Canada, Missouri, and the south. Many rode the California and Oregon Trail by land. Some sailed 14,000 miles around Cape Horn, others came via Panama. They had reached the end of the rainbow. The first Irishman is found in the 1700's under the Mexican regime. Soon came the bear flag revolution, the discovery of gold and U.S. statehood. Over 2000 entries are made altogether.
This is the amazing 'rest of the story' of the Irish in America. The Irish who continued to move west to the end of the rainbow. See who made it to the gold rush, and what they became. A must for any genealogy or research library.
The whole story is here: governors; rogues; 49rs; pioneers; Mormons and millionaires. The untold story of the Irish in the Donner Party; the two early Murphy Families; Lola Montez; Mountain Charley McKeirnan and Brannan the Irish Morman who began the first newspaper in San Francisco before the gold rush.
A Limited edition printing by the Irish Genealogical Foundation, from the IGF Archives. Some pages are taken directly from 19th century sources and will appear aged as in the originals. Heavier cover stock, acid free archival paper used on interior pages. 19th century subscribers list included. Surname index; 108 p.; full size 8 1/2 x 11; well illustrated with over 30 early photos and sketches; spiral bound; many names, dates, and locations are included along with historical and genealogical notes.
Customer Reviews:
A great story, but difficult to read.......2006-02-05
A huge wagon train split up at the western end of the great salt lake. Most of the emigrants took the traditional route to California. Some of them decided to go through Hasting's cutoff. Hasting had gone to California on the regular route. He wrote The Emigrant's Guide To California. Inside the book, there was a new route, a route which Hastings thought up. He had never actually tried it out when the Donner Party came. It turned out to be much rougher, and even longer than the regular route. 3 people died before they even reached Donner Lake. At Donner Lake, the party was trapped in the snow. They built several cabins, but the Donners themselves never got to the lake. They put up several tents on Alder Creek. They ran out of food, and sent several small, unsuccessful parties to California. They became desperate, and sent out one last party, "The Forlorn Hope." Those who were strong enough, set out for California. There were 15 people in the Forlorn Hope. The first to die of hunger and cold was a 13 year old, Lemuel. His sister couldn't watch as the rest of the Forlorn Hope ate Lemuel. More people died, but eventually, the remaining seven, reached Sutter's fort. Meanwhile, James F. Reed, who had been banished from the party, assembled a rescue party. The first try to reach the people at the lake was unsuccessful. Eventually they get to the lake, and rescue the people they could. This is a great book about the Donner Party. It was written in a way that makes it hard to read for anyone under 12, but it captured the drama perfectly.
Keep a paper bag handy........2002-10-05
Maudlin, hypersentimental tripe, worthless as either a history or a scientific inquiry into the events surrounding its subject. A wandering bard's laments with a street organ would be more valuable as a historical source than this piece of sycophancy, a purported "history" bursting at the seams with errors and largely devoid of accurate facts, chronology or topography.
McGlashan befriended Donner party survivors during compiling his material and what he eventually thrusts on the world as a "history" is a ludicrous, simpering ode to both the living and the dead concerned with no regard for the truth, a pathetically transparent attempt at fanning his new-found "friends" raw sensibilities on the subject (no pun intended), and appeasing his own quixotic knights-on-white-steeds world-view.
Bancroft, talking about the Donner party incident in his "History of California", says "C.F. McGlashan published a volume on the subject in 1879, treating it in a manner that has left little or nothing to be desired". Was Bancroft under the gun or under the influence when he wrote those words? We shall never know. What we do know is that such irresponsible eulogizing by his peers catapulted McGlashan's ham-handed, lopsided "history" to undeserved posterity.
If you want to read a real history of the Donner party incident, George Stewart's "Ordeal by Hunger" would be a good place to start. In comparison, McGlashan's composition is good for entertainment. His flowery language frequently elicits chuckles, not a minor achievement considering the extreme grimness of the subject matter.
Had McGlashan, obese with flowery prose and sentimental rambling stumbled onto a certain grizzled gathering at the shores of Lake Truckee in the winter of 1846, the questionable gourmets present may have appreciated him far better than the modern student of history....
Keep a paper bag handy........2002-10-05
Maudlin, hypersentimental tripe, worthless as either a history or a scientific inquiry into the events surrounding its subject. A wandering bard's laments with a street organ would be more valuable as a historical source than this piece of sycophancy, a purported "history" bursting at the seams with errors and largely devoid of accurate facts, chronology or topography.
McGlashan befriended Donner party survivors during compiling his material and what he eventually thrusts on the world as a "history" is a ludicrous, simpering ode to both the living and the dead concerned with no regard for the truth, a pathetically transparent attempt at fanning his new-found "friends" raw sensibilities on the subject (no pun intended), and appeasing his own quixotic knights-on-white-steeds world-view.
Bancroft, talking about the Donner party incident in his "History of California", says "C.F. McGlashan published a volume on the subject in 1879, treating it in a manner that has left little or nothing to be desired". Was Bancroft under the gun or under the influence when he wrote those words? We shall never know. What we do know is that such irresponsible eulogizing by his peers catapulted McGlashan's ham-handed, lopsided "history" to undeserved posterity.
If you want to read a real history of the Donner party incident, George Stewart's "Ordeal by Hunger" would be a good place to start. In comparison, McGlashan's composition is good for entertainment. His flowery language frequently elicits chuckles, not a minor achievement considering the extreme grimness of the subject matter.
Had McGlashan, obese with flowery prose and sentimental rambling stumbled onto a certain grizzled gathering at the shores of Lake Truckee in the winter of 1846, the questionable gourmets present may have appreciated him far better than the modern student of history....
Book is riveting, hard to put down, and incredible........1998-11-06
It's hard to believe that what is written down in this book ir real. But, real it is. Once you start reading it you can't put it down. It holds you spellbound. Pulls at your heartstrings as you read what this party had to go through. It would be impossible today for people to stand up to what these people did. This book is well worth the reading. These people had the strength, fortitude that is seldom found today.
McGlashan's Work Valuable, But Flawed.......1997-09-11
While certainly a worthwile book on the tragedy of the Donner Party, the book does have its weaknesses. Specifically, McGlashan's research is less than objective. As George Stewart points out in his better book on the subject, "Ordeal By Hunger," McGlashan was very sloppy with his facts. His personal friendship with a few of the Donner Party survivors also biases his writing. Still, the book is a very important read for those interested in this historic tragedy. For the money, though, Stewart's book is the better choice
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