History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the Sierra
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Fleeting excerpt: The scenes of horror and despair which transpired in the snowy Sierra in the winter of 1846-7 need no exaggeration no embellishment.
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Maudlin, hypersentimental tripe, worthless as either a history or a scientific inquiry into the events surrounding its theme. A wandering bard’s laments with a street organ would be more valuable as a past source than this piece of sycophancy, a alleged “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 touchingly transparent attempt at fanning his new-establish “friends” raw sensibilities on the theme (no pun proposed), 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 theme in 1879, treating it in a manner that has left small or nothing to be desired”. Was Bancroft under the gun or under the influence when he wrote persons 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 “Suffering by Hunger” would be a excellent place to start. In comparison, McGlashan’s composition is excellent for entertainment. His flowery language frequently elicits chuckles, not a minor achievement considering the extreme grimness of the theme 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….
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Maudlin, hypersentimental tripe, worthless as either a history or a scientific inquiry into the events surrounding its theme. A wandering bard’s laments with a street organ would be more valuable as a past source than this piece of sycophancy, a alleged “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 touchingly transparent attempt at fanning his new-establish “friends” raw sensibilities on the theme (no pun proposed), 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 theme in 1879, treating it in a manner that has left small or nothing to be desired”. Was Bancroft under the gun or under the influence when he wrote persons 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 “Suffering by Hunger” would be a excellent place to start. In comparison, McGlashan’s composition is excellent for entertainment. His flowery language frequently elicits chuckles, not a minor achievement considering the extreme grimness of the theme 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….
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I’ve read a few books on the Donner Party and have establish the cast of characters daunting and the number of rescue missions hard to sort out. Charles Fayette McGlashan lays out the all-purpose travel of the Donner party most clearly and provides the best overview.
McGlashan at times writes in a very melodramatic fashion, sometimes peppered with exclamation inscription to drive home the plight of the travelers. At one point, he defends the need for the Donner Party to kill some Indian guides for food. Not politically right for today, it sheds light on the attitude towards Indians at the time.
Included are excerpts from letters and diaries written on the trail, and interviews made afterward. I establish the interview with Lewis Keseberg most fascinating. He is so regularly characterized as a willing cannibal. I have never read his account of the tale before and it is well worth downloading this book just to read his interview.
The last part of the book recounts a fleeting biography of John A. Sutter, who helped supply the rescue operations, and also the fate of each survivor. Some might find that appealing, but the cast of characters is so huge that I establish it time consuming and a bit of a drag.
The Kindle version does not sport a clickable table of contents. The chapters are numbered, followed by a curious string of words which look like they could be a mass of titles in a state together in a paragraph. For instance, the first chapter starts with, “Donner Lake A legendary Tourist Resort Building the Central Pacific California’s Skating Park The Pioneers The Organization of the Donner Party Ho! for California! A mammoth Train The Dangers by the Way . . . .” It went on for another five lines. I made sure to skip it but establish it distracting.
Altogether, it was a excellent read with some distractions. For a more personal tale of the Donner party, I recommend The Indifferent Stars Above: The Upsetting Saga of a Donner Party Bride
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
A huge wagon train split up at the western end of the fantastic salt lake. Most of the emigrants took the traditional route to California. Some of them chose 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 really 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 place up several tents on Alder Creek. They ran out of food, and sent several tiny, unsuccessful parties to California. They became desperate, and sent out one last party, “The Forlorn Hope.” Persons 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 ancient, 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 fantastic 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.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
It’s hard to judge that what is written down in this book ir real. But, real it is. Once you start reading it you can’t place 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 might, fortitude that is seldom establish today.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5