I am rather surprised that the aftermath histories were given such short shrift in this latest tome; especially in context of the mega flood of 1861-62 in the California central valley. But I guess when you're writing an agenda piece, actual interesting history is secondary to pushing the agenda.
Not an easy read at all. Gratuitously morbid , all the moreso with the author’s tendency to crack puns and ghoulish little jokes throughout his article. I can see Vincent Price smiling
creepily. I can hear his manic, cackling laugh as it echoes in the dark.
This is like something Steven King would have written early in his career, minus the trademark excesses of Steven King violence.
If I had been holding this book in a bookstore flipping pages, I would have the urge to wash my hands with bleach and pumice soap afterward.
Focus on nature and the exploration of distant regions has given way to social engineering and angst...........
No mention that the local Indians tormented them by killing their cattle as they chased them into the mountains? The Indians knew survival would be very difficult that winter without the cattle. And no, I am not blaming the Indians for their demise, the Donnor Party made many mistake on their own.
Was the Donner Party the first American “frozen dinner”? Historians really don’t want to know.
At least they didn’t have to deal with some stupid highway patrol guy making them put tire chains on (or wagon chains, or whatever they called them in those days).
I am sitting about 35 miles from where the Donner Party wintered. Yes the results of their ordeal is the “big” story. However, if one looks back to the origins of how they wound up in that situation there was a series of poor decisions that almost guaranteed that they were headed for disaster. Modern day preppers should study what lead to them being stranded. Even down to the people chosen to be part of the group.
Ok read until the last paragraph - “The story of the Donner Party, which looms so large in America’s folklore, is not only a metaphor for Manifest Destiny, but also a microcosm of the U.S. Recently, that deadly combination from the past has reared its head again. The two words that come to mind to describe the present are ignorance and arrogance. So my hope is that this story has relevancy for today”.
Yeah, we’re ignorant and arrogant with Trump as president. F@ck you leftist historian. Why do you have to let your leftism and bias creep into everything.? It’s like the main stream news!
bit of unrelated sentences got posted
It seems there is no segment of mainstream media communication outlets today that aren’t polluted through and through with “cultural Marxism”. I’ve developed my own methods of filtering out all of the dreck to try and get at any fact that may be revealed amidst the crap, but it’s getting harder to do. I have no idea how young people can be expected to do the same, since they have no reference point that predates the liberal leftist s**tstorm that has plagued this country for so many years.
I grow weary of uneducated tripe such as this. The author has obviously never worked the land. Property rights and land ownership is premised upon the idea of man's labor being expended on the land for a prevailing property right.
The settlers were not "gobbling up nations".
So Trump and his ilk are the cause of misery.
Fairly interesting article until it ended w/that.
Even if I had been interested in reading that book, knowing that it's just another communist cause in disguise eliminates all interest.
Incidentally, a lot of younger folks don't know about Donner. If you make a reservation at a restaurant for Donner, when they call out your table, the laughs are fewer and fewer.
“’What are you working on now?’ ... The long answer was, ‘A book about the folly and arrogance of Manifest Destiny, as told through the eyes of its foot soldiers.’”
The self hatred of America is strong in this one. How was Manifest Destiny “folly” or “arrogant”? It was bold, successful and created the most powerful, free and prosperous nation in history (until liberals got hold of it). Was it folly because some pioneers didn’t successfully make the trip? The left HATES AMERICA and everything that happened here starting from the voyage of Columbus to the present.
It is important to read history and understand the context.
It is dangerous to apply the morality of this era with that of a past one. It is stupid to judge them based on our context.
What a sicko, leftwing view.
The Donner Party was from Illinois. Go figure.
What nauseating leftist drivel.
Americans who are stupid enough to follow them into predictable disaster will deserve the predictable consequences.
It is up to us--the truthful, lucid, and wise--to protect America and her children--as well as ourselves--from this "Liberal" disaster as much as possible--and to convince the less intelligent and easily led not to follow them.