The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate

by Eliza P. Donner Houghton, Eliza Poor Donner Houghton, Houghton, Eliza Poor Donner,

Book Overview

George and Tamsen Donner and their children, among the very first to leave from Illinois, joined emigrants headed to California in the spring of 1846. Beyond Fort Bridger, Captain Donner led a large party through a much-advertised shortcut. Delays and difficulties caused them to be snowbound in the High Sierras, facing the grim specter of starvation and extreme suffering. Though only four years old at the time of the expedition, the captain's youngest daughter, Eliza Donner, would never forget the excitement of crossing the prairies--or the horror of that winter. Details impressed on her young mind were later substantiated by the recollections of her older sisters and other survivors. Her book, originally published in 1911, is an intimate and authoritative account of the Donner disaster. George and Tamsen Donner and those who shared their fate are fully humanized in the telling. Eliza also relates what happened to her and a sister after being rescued and what it was like to grow up in a world that turned the Donners into a grisly legend.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803273045
• ISBN13: 9780803273047
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 425 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

good book

This book not only gives an account of the Donner party but what it was like in early California. Interesting reading.

Fascinating read for the snowbound

I found this story captivating and especially appreciated this version for its insight and depth. As a Virginia resident currently coping with record-breaking snow and pretty much snowbound myself, I was drawn to this story after seeing a PBS program. Reading this book sure minimized my whining about any personal hardships in the light of what this party experienced. Here's where a Kindle is worth its weight in gold--I can't get to a bookstore and the UPS man can't get to me, so being able to download the book was more than just a casual convenience. I gravitated toward this particular version of the story because the author had actually been there. She did a great job of presenting how things appeared from the eyes of a child who had no preconceived notion of how things ought to be. It focused on what is important to a child without judgment and how she personally experienced the trip from preparation to the harsh winter of confinement and then her life in California after rescue where she grew up without her parents who didn't survive. The story of California as it evolved from its earliest days of settlement by pioneers turned out to be as fascinating as the trip to get there. Mrs. Houghton's research to add appropriate information and a framework to her remembrances built a highly readable story in context to the times. I particularly enjoyed reading of the events in the language of the period, which made it come alive to me. The free Kindle version does not include the pictures as I've found with other free downloads and I want to see those so intend to head to the library when I'm able to look at them. It didn't stop me from really enjoying the story, however. It is a story that is completely true and well documented, but reads with all the drama of well-conceived and well-written fiction. Truth is sometimes more interesting than fiction and this is a great example. While the story was greatly sensationalized at the time and since, this version has a depth of honesty without pretense that made it a winner for me. Highly recommended.

Respectful and tender

I loved this book! While I understand that there was a bias coming from Eliza Donner in her effort to clear her family name - the book still is a reflection of the time in it's prose and in it's descriptions of life. Originally, I picked the book up to read about the Donner tragedy. But in the end I found myself facinated by the 2nd half of the book. In this half little Eliza describes life in early California as an orphan. Because of her unique position, she was able to experience a variety of cultures that existed in California in the mid 1800s. This was a time when Indians, Mexicans, and European Americans mingled in small towns. There are so many books that deal with the large issues of men's conflicts. Conversely, if you are curious about a woman's perspective of the small details and the day to day life of new settlers in California this book is absolutely a must read. Learn about some of the details of farm life, of the responsibility of children, and the harsh realities of a life where community, family, and traditions were bound with love, respect, and survival. Ms. Donner Houghton has a real skill in writing and was able to write the book from the perspective of a child growing up in early California. As I read the book, I found myself loving little Eliza for her courage, honesty, and effort. For me, it was window into the cultural mindset of people of that era. I remember a remark about a visitor coming into Sacramento that excited the women so much that they 'forgot to roll down their sleeves before they came outside'. Yes, the dress code was very strict - but only little Eliza, a person of that time, would notice. I also liked the details of how the people of the early towns worked together to help make a community. For example, when the sick came back from the gold mines, the German household that Eliza lived in became a makeshift hospital for the men. If you are from Northern California or just like pioneer history, little Eliza has a story to tell you.

A DONNER PARTY SURVIVOR SPEAKS OUT...

The author of this book, which was first published in 1911, was a survivor of the Donner Party, that hapless group of eighty-seven pioneers who in 1846, while navigating a supposedly new route to California, found themselves trapped high in the Sierra Mountains. Immobilized by snow and frigid weather, little more than half, mostly women and children, of this hardy band of westward-ho pioneers would survive the deprivation and great human suffering. One of those survivors was Eliza P. Donner, then a child just under four years of age. She would live on, hearing of lurid tales of cannibalism, which were to mar her survival. A little less than half of this book is devoted to the doomed expedition itself. Of course, even though the author was one of its survivors, given her tender age, most of the information about the expedition is based upon the recollections of other survivors, including those of her older sisters. She paints a fairly intimate and poignant portrait of her family, but the account of their tragic journey seems to be subjectively sanitized, as if to offset the grisly details that had become an integral part of the Donner Party legend. The details of the Donner Party tragedy are best told by historian, George Stewart, in his book, "Ordeal by Hunger." Still, this book provides an interesting look at the aftermath of the Donner Party debacle. It looks at early pioneer life in California, through the author's eyes, recounting what became of her and her surviving sisters after their incredible rescue. This makes for an eye-opening, first hand account of what life was actually like in those early pioneering days. The author, an apparently hearty soul, would go on to have quite a full and interesting life. Written in an easy, conversational tone, this book will capture the interest of those who enjoy memoirs, books on pioneer life, or books on the Donner Party.