"WESTWARD HO! FOR OREGON AND CALIFORNIA!" 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. Wallis begins the story in
1846, a momentous "year of decision" for the nation, when
incredible territorial strides were being made in Texas, New
Mexico, and California. Against this dramatic backdrop, an unlikely
band of travelers appeared, stratified in age, wealth, education
and ethnicity. At the forefront were the Donners: brothers George
and Jacob, true sons of the soil determined to tame the wild land
of California; and the Reeds, headed by adventurous, business-savvy
patriarch James. In total, the Donner-Reed group would reach
eighty-seven men, women, and children, and though personal motives
varied-bachelors thirsting for adventure, parents wanting greater
futures for their children-everyone was linked by the same
unwavering belief that California was theirs for the taking.
Skeptical of previous accounts of how the group ended up in peril,
Wallis has spent years retracing its ill-fated journey, uncovering
hundreds of new documents that illuminate how a combination of
greed, backbiting, and recklessness led the group to become
hopelessly snowbound at the infamous Donner Pass in present-day
California. Climaxing with the grim stories of how the party's
paltry rations soon gave way to unimaginable hunger, Wallis not
only details the cannibalism that has in perpetuity haunted their
legacy but also the heroic rescue parties that managed to reach the
stranded, only to discover that just forty-eight had survived the
ordeal. An unflinching and historically invaluable account of the
darkest side of Manifest Destiny, The Best Land Under Heaven offers
a brilliant, revisionist examination of one of America's most
calamitous and sensationalized catastrophes.
General
| Imprint: |
Liveright Publishing Corporation
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Release date: |
May 2017 |
| Authors: |
Michael Wallis
|
| Dimensions: |
244 x 165 x 41mm (L x W x T) |
| Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
| Pages: |
496 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-0-87140-769-6 |
| Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
| LSN: |
0-87140-769-8 |
| Barcode: |
9780871407696 |
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