First published 2007
The wagon train rolls west from Independence, Missouri in 1846. Families pack their lives into canvas-covered wagons and point toward California. George Donner leads his group along an untested shortcut that promises to cut miles from the grueling journey. The decision proves catastrophic. Instead of saving time, the alternate route traps them in brutal terrain. Winter arrives early in the Sierra Nevada. Snow blocks the mountain passes. Food runs out. The travelers face a choice between starvation and unthinkable acts of survival. Men, women, and children who dreamed of California gold must now fight simply to see another dawn. Rhodes places readers inside the wagons and shelters, showing how ordinary people respond when civilization strips away and only survival remains.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: survival, winter
Setting: California, Independence, Missouri, Sierra Nevada
Period: 1846
384 pages · Paperback · Stanford General Books
Content warnings: death