The best land under heaven the Donner Party in the age of Manifest Destiny

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 o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wallis, Michael, 1945- (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2017]
Edition:First edition.
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Summary: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.
Physical Description:xx, 455 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9780871407696
0871407698
Author Notes:Michael Wallis , the best-selling author of Route 66 and Billy the Kid, has published eighteen books and won numerous honors and awards. He is a popular public speaker and a highly acclaimed voice actor. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.