The Donner Party Essays (1219 words) - Donner Party, Donner

The Donner Party Winter of Entrapment A New Look At The Donner Party Joseph A. King King, Joseph. Winter of Entrapment: A New Look at the Donner Party. P.D Meany Publishers, 1992 Winter of Entrapment tells the story of the Donner Party in a way that it has never been told before. Unlike many other books written on this story of hardships, cannibalism, and survival, it is written mostly in regards to the experiences of the Breens, a large family that was part of the Donner Party. The author of this book, Joseph A. King, wanted to write the story as accurately as possible without bias or fictitious legends. Many of the books written previously on the events of the Donner Party have been heavily biased and had unreliable sources. Many people associated with the Donner Party have been harshly judged in articles and books, of which were largely based on testimonies of one survivor who had a reputation for boasting and lying. The book begins with a history of the Breen family and their journey from Ireland to Canada, and eventually to Independence, Missouri. From there they decided it best to move their family to California, for what reasons have not or cannot be v erified--only speculated. Winter of Entrapment then goes on to tell the ordeals of the journey from Missouri to California in great detail. The journey began on April 5, 1846 in Missouri. The story of the Donner Party has many geographic locations, including: Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Utah, Nevada, and finally California. The bulk of the story took place in the Sierra Nevada, where the Donner Party was trapped with little food and supplies. The Breen family, along with the Graves children and Mary Donner were rescued on March 12, 1847. Relief parties rescued other members of the Donner Party before that date, but the Breen family was not yet capable of surviving the last leg of the journey at that time. Winter of Entrapment tells the story of the Donner Party in chronological order. A few times in the book, King will forewarn to indicate what happens next, but will wait to tell the incident in its entirety until it fits into the story in chronological order. For example, when James Reed is banished from the Donner Party for murdering John Snyder, King went on to say, Reeds wife and four children remained with the company. Reed caught up with the Donners, where his teamsters, Walter Herron joined him. They went on to reach the California settlements, and that story will be told in its place. To assist illuminate the story of the Donner Party, many illustrations have been used in this book. There are maps of specific locations the Donner Party traveled through, photocopies of journal entries, illustrations and pictures of many of the key players in the Donner Party. Also, there are recent photographs of where the Donner Party camped in the Sierra Nevada. The thesis of Winter of Entrapment was difficult to determine for the reason that it tells a story of the Donner Party as it happened through chronological order using as much fact as possible. It is obvious though that King was trying to indicate the bravery and commitment the Breen family had to endure to survive. Using Patrick Breens diary and interviews, King tells the story of the Breens involvement with the Donner Party. In almost all other books written of the Donner Party the Breens, mostly Patrick and Margaret, were regarded unkindly as is suggested by William Eddy, one of the members of the search party. He stated that when he found the campsite where the Breens were located what he saw was shocking indeed. And yet Patrick Brinn [sic] and his wife seemed not in any degree to realize the extent of their peril, or that they were in peril at all. Eddy went on to say that they were found sunning themselves with the bodies of two of the Donners children and Mrs. Graves. He said that the child of Graves was a helpless and innocent lamb among the wolves of the wilderness. And the child was seen sitting next to her mangled mother. King went on to disprove the statements Eddy made by