He knows that I love history, especially pioneer related stories, and strange ones. Well, as I am sure you know, the Donner Party's story fits that bill for sure!
AND, I was about to visit Springfield Illinois again for the FOURTH time.... Springfield has a TON of history (the names Lincoln and Obama come to mind) but the town was also the starting point for the Donner Expedition. There is a marker right by the old Court House about this, and the members of the party camped out there at the beginning of their sad adventure out west.
The Donner story has been told a million times, and I think most of us know the main details.... but, I think many people forget that this was a brave group who was willing to risk everything for a new start in the west. This was, in many ways a moving town with rules, leaders and norms. Good things happened, and so did bad things.
This book is the telling of the story told by the daughter of Jack Donner, who was part of the Expedition, as a three year old. Much of what she tells is second hand information given to her years later. She does discuss crime among the party members. She talks about a mother "trading" out the young Donners clothes to benefit her own daughters. She talks of her being abandoned by mem paid to help get her to safety. And she talks openly about finding an adopted family that helps her after the death of her own parents.
Yes, we all know about the cannibalism in the Donner story (the author, surely for self protection mentally, accepts a story that contradicts most of the known facts)- but this book is a real, personal tale of what could go wrong to those early pioneers.
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