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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,&qu...

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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.
Subjects:
Donner Party.
Pioneers > California > History > 19th century.
Pioneers > West (U.S.) > History > 19th century.
Overland journeys to the Pacific.
Frontier and pioneer life > West (U.S.)
Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.) > History > 19th century.
Table of 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.

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