"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.
