The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny

by Michael Wallis

Overview

“A book so gripping it can scarcely be put down. . . . Superb.”— New York Times Book Review"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. With The Best Land Under Heaven, Wallis has penned what critics agree is “destined to become the standard account” (Washington Post) of the notorious saga. Cutting through 160 years of myth-making, the “expert storyteller” (True West) compellingly recounts how the unlikely band of early pioneers met their fate. Interweaving information from hundreds of newly uncovered documents, Wallis illuminates how a combination of greed and recklessness led to one of America’s most calamitous and sensationalized catastrophes. The result is a “fascinating, horrifying, and inspiring” (Oklahoman) examination of the darkest side of Manifest Destiny.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631494000
Publisher:	Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publication date:	05/29/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	101,151
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

Author's Note xiii

Introduction: 1846 xv

Prologue: Dormer Lake, June 6, 1918 xix

1 Call of the West

1 A Migrating People 5

2 The Best Land Under Heaven 8

3 Gray Gold 16

4 Snake Heads 22

5 California Dreaming 27

6 The Bold Plunge 33

7 Wagons Ho! April 1846 39

8 Farewell, April 14-15, 1846 42

9 Independence Bound, April 15-May 10, 1846 48

2 The Journey

10 Queen City of the Trails, May 10-12, 1846 55

11 Indian Country, May 12-18, 1846 60

12 Soldier Creek, May 19, 1846 65

13 The Others, May 20, 1846 70

14 People of the South Wind, May 21-24, 1846 75

15 Alcove Spring, May 25-29, 1846 82

16 The Rhetoric of Fear, May 30-June 2, 1846 89

17 Ebb and Flow, June 3-7, 1846 95

18 On the Platte, June 8-10, 1846 100

19 Life Goes On, June 10-15, 1846 103

20 A Letter from Tamzene Donner, June 16, 1846 112

3 The Promised Land

21 Change of Command, June 16-19, 1846 117

22 Chasing Mirages, June 10-25, 1846 122

23 Sage Advice, June 26-27, 1846 126

24 A Sense of Urgency, June 28-July 12, 1846 133

25 Parting of the Ways, July 13-19, 1846 141

26 The Donner Party, July 20-28, 1846 147

27 Betrayed, July 28-31, 1846 150

28 The Hastings Cutoff, August 1-22, 1846 157

29 The Fearful Long Drive, August 23-September 10, 1846 164

30 Race against Time, September 11-October 4, 1846 175

31 Blood Rage, October 5-20, 1846 181

32 Perseverance, October 21-30, 1846 194

4 Out of Time

33 Snowbound, November 1846 205

34 Desperate Times, Desperate Measures, November-December 1846 217

35 The Forlorn Hope, December 1846 230

36 Camp of Death, December 1846 240

37 The Starving Time, January 1847 250

38 In Dire Straits, January-February 1847 262

39 Man on a Mission January-February-1847 269

40 To the Rescue, February 1847 278

41 The First Relief 282

42 The Second Relief 292

43 The Third Relief 339

44 The Fourth Relief 351

Aftermath 355

Appendix 1 Donner Party Members and Affiliation with Group 359

Appendix 2 Relief Teams and Donner Party Survivors/Deaths 371

Acknowledgments 375

Notes 379

Bibliography 427

Index 437

Editorial Reviews

Certain stories in American history carry archetypal power, and the dark majesty of the Donner catastrophe is one of them…Wallis has delved into an extraordinary mass of original material, documents, diaries, accounts and letters, as well as new sources apparently not available to previous authors, and produced not only a definitive account of the Donner tragedy, but also a book so gripping it can scarcely be put down. Wallis knows how to tell a story, but he also knows when to step back and let the participants speak for themselves, often with eloquence…With a keen eye for the particulars, Wallis has done a superb job sifting through lurid tabloid moralizing and unreliable accounts to explore the complex truths of human beings pushed to the absolute limits of existence. The tale did indeed have its heroes and villains, but even so, as Wallis notes, "there were no shades of black and white, but only gray."

The New York Times Book Review - Douglas Preston

★ 02/13/2017
Adopting an empathetic approach bolstered by studious research and geographical contextualization, biographer Wallis (David Crockett) reclaims the horrific story of the infamously ill-fated wagon train from the annals of sensationalism. Though nearly synonymous with cannibalism in pop culture lore, the Donner Party's 1846–1847 journey receives from Wallis a balanced treatment, showing that the surviving members who chose cannibalism did so as a last resort—and largely because saving their starving children was their priority. Wallis effectively mixes survivors' accounts, trip diaries, and other contemporary sources, delving deep into the backgrounds and dynamics of the multiple families involved in the four-months-long winter wilderness encampment. For example, Tamzene Donner transformed from a botanist who planned to open a school into a resilient mother and wife who fed her children human flesh and refused to leave her desperately ill husband during three different rescue efforts. Wallis explains that the caravan suffered multiple setbacks, including livestock thefts by Native Americans and an unusually long and harsh winter. The leaders also routinely made bad decisions, such as trusting an untested "shortcut" promoted by an armchair guidebook author. The Donner Party's struggles and determination continue to fascinate, and Wallis's comprehensive account of bravery, luck, and failure illuminates the realities of westward expansion. (June)

Publishers Weekly

You cannot understand the settlement of the American West without understanding the facts and—tellingly—the myths of the tragic Donner Party of 1846. Michael Wallis has done a superb job sifting through the grumblings, resentments, and fatal delays of the wagon train that came to symbolize both the folly and grit of our westward expansion. Once I started, I could not put this account down.

Rinker Buck

Mr. Wallis has succeeded for the first time in compiling all available pertinent historical facts into this book. It is a must-have for everyone wanting the true story of the most epic saga of survival during the westward movement.

William A. "Bill" Springer

Nobody tells the stories of American history better than Michael Wallis. He’s done it again with this superbly researched and written account of the Donner Party trip west toward glory and riches that ended in bizarre catastrophe. The Best Land Under Heaven will clarify the facts of that infamous event as well as captivate and entertain. There are few better reads than this.”

Jim Lehrer

The Best Land Under Heaven is the ultimate tale of courage and cowardice, from one of our greatest raconteurs of the American West. This haunting, unforgettable adventure will leave you breathless.”

Winston Groom

Wallis has delved into an extraordinary mass of original material, documents, diaries, accounts and letters, as well as new sources apparently not available to previous authors, and produced not only a definitive account of the Donner tragedy, but also a book so gripping it can scarcely be put down. . . . Wallis has done a superb job sifting through lurid tabloid moralizing and unreliable accounts to explore the complex truths of human beings pushed to the absolute limits of existence.

Douglas Preston - New York Times Book Review

An even-handed, briskly written history of the party, destined to become the standard account of this horrid chapter of American history.

Timothy R. Smith - Washington Post

Michael Wallis has outdone himself in The Best Land Under Heaven by revisiting the sad wanderings of the doomed Donner Party. In elegant prose, Wallis reveals how the death song of Manifest Destiny had lured so many to irretrievably, and often tragically, alter not only the course of their own lives but that of America, too.”

Larry McMurtry

Best-selling Wallis’ (David Crockett, 2011) account of their tragic and thoroughly avoidable trek is well-researched, detailed, and well-written. . . . Wallis recounts their bad decisions and sufferings as well as the heroic efforts to rescue them with sympathy and eloquence while placing them within the broader context of the pursuit of the ‘Manifest Destiny’ to expand across the continent. This is an excellent reexamination of an infamous saga.”

Jay Freeman - Booklist

Michael Wallis takes readers on an adventure full of excitement, intrigue and harrowing results. . . Referencing myriad documents and histories, Wallis presents a well-written and interesting account of this terrible tragedy.

Mike Whitmer - Deseret News

If you want the full, unvarnished, exceptionally researched and documented, day-by-day description of what happened, look no further . . . [Wallis] provides a study of the times and circumstances and pioneer mindset that it took for farmers and businessmen to decide to sell off their property, pack up their families and set off in search of something better beyond the next hill, over the horizon, past where the sun was last seen setting. . . . Fascinating, and horrifying, and inspiring.

Glen Seeber - The Oklahoman

The saga of the Donner Party is one of the most horrific and fascinating events in the history of the American West. A cautionary tale at the time, it becomes in Michael Wallis’s thorough and persuasive new telling, The Best Land Under Heaven, emblematic of the more shadowy aspects of Manifest Destiny. . . . [A] welcome update of a nightmarish tale.”

Buzzy Jackson - Boston Globe

[An] engaging account of the doomed journey . . . . Mr. Wallis tells the story well and paints interesting portraits of the characters.

David A. Price - Wall Street Journal

★ 04/15/2017
Wallis (Billy the Kid) offers a vivid, new look at the ill-fated Donner Party. The 89 members of this group were a cross-section of American socioeconomic classes in 1846. Heeding the call of Manifest Destiny to conquer lands west of the Mississippi River, the settlers all had a common goal: wealth and prosperity with new lives in California. The Donner and Reed families dominated the group, often vying for leadership, and were greatly influenced by an emigrant guidebook written by Lansford Hastings, which advocated taking a shortcut from Fort Bridger, WY, around Utah's Great Salt Lake, and on to California. Their journey was plagued by bad decisions, poor advice, greed, and an early winter that trapped them in the Sierra Nevada. Wallis recounts the efforts of the four rescue parties that brought 46 people out of the mountains. The emigrants had survived months of harsh weather and with little food; some resorting to cannibalizing their dead compatriots. VERDICT Wallis's use of primary sources, together with his dynamic writing style, turns a familiar retelling into a real page-turner. A welcome addition to all history collections. [See Prepub Alert, 10/17/16.]—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly at Illinois Eastern Community College, Mt. Carmel

Library Journal

2017-03-07
Prolific popular writer Wallis (David Crockett: Lion of the West, 2011, etc.) brings his storytelling skills to an unusual episode in American westward expansion.Within the grand story of Manifest Destiny, the quest for land and settlement from coast to coast, lies the ill-fated saga of two diverse families that set out by wagon train from Springfield, Illinois, and then to the traditional jumping-off point of Independence, Missouri, en route to California. When they began their trek in early 1846, the extended Donner and Reed families had already been part of the great wave of immigration from Europe as well as Southern, border, and Midwestern states. Initially part of a larger convoy, they and their employees—eventually nearly 90 people in all—chose to break off and pursue a separate, nontraditional route. That proved to be a disastrous mistake, both because of their relative inexperience and the string of obstacles that confronted them. Internal dissension, wagon breakdowns, the loss of livestock, difficult terrain, and extreme weather dogged the travelers. But looming ahead was the most difficult challenge: the impending winter in the Sierra Nevada. As Wallis recounts in his fluid narrative, heavy snow brought widespread starvation and death. Nearly half the party perished, and after four relief efforts, the most shocking aspect of the expedition was discovered: some survivors had resorted to cannibalism. Although the Donner Party has attracted attention over the years and has achieved a certain macabre fascination in Western lore, Wallis succeeds in offering new documentary evidence as well as an absorbing narrative. He provides valuable insight into a 19th-century phenomenon in which thousands of pioneers sought land, new opportunities, and adventure in support of American exceptionalism. Solid Western history that enhances the understanding of a tragic tale by highlighting the strong human dimension through the accounts of participants before, during, and after the expedition.

Kirkus Reviews