I don’t recall when I first learned about the Donner Party — those ill-fated pioneers who set out from Illinois in covered wagons for California in 1846, only to become snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains without adequate provisions. It could have been in junior high history class, or I could have read about the group on my own. Perhaps the Donners were a prerequisite for growing up in California. You didn’t exactly know where you learned about them, you just sort of knew. And theirs was a story you didn’t really forget.
Over the decades, so many books have been written about the Donner Party, both nonfiction and fiction alike — it’s definitely been the Titanic of pioneer stories. Quite a few years ago, I read James D. Houston’s novel “Snow Mountain Passage,” which enlivened aspects of the Donners’ story for me but perhaps didn’t give me the complete picture. Thus, when I was recently offered an opportunity to review Daniel James Brown’s nonfiction book “The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party,” I pretty much jumped at the chance.
For one thing, I’ve always been keen on reading about epic, real-life survival tales. Thanks to books, I’ve been to the Antarctic with Shackleton a number of times; ditto the South Pole with Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott; I’ve been on the Titanic trying to figure out exactly what happened and when; I’ve been “Into the Wild” and “Into Thin Air”; and somewhere in my stack of books to read, I’m going to go underground with the 33 Chilean miners. So it wasn’t a stretch that I would also want to climb aboard the most infamous pioneers’ wagon train to figure out exactly what went so horribly wrong. Sure they were to cross sixteen hundred miles through rough foreign territory with old weapons and equipment to move to a place they’d only recently heard about, but they were among a large wagon train and they were well stocked for the five or six month journey. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, or was it?
The book “The Indifferent Stars Above” also appealed to me because like many others, I didn’t realize that Daniel James Brown — the same author of the bestselling “The Boys in the Boat” — had written about the Donner Party before the boat book. Perhaps who better to reawaken the Donners’ daunting journey. Renown for his narrative nonfiction style, I figured Brown would be a perfect match for capturing what the pioneers went through in a well-researched, page-turning way, and as I assumed, the book did not disappoint.
I was lured into “The Indifferent Stars Above” pretty much from the start. The book focuses on the Graves family, particularly Sarah Graves, the 21-year-old, eldest daughter of Elizabeth and Franklin Graves whose eight other young children were traveling with them as well. Sarah, pictured at left, had just become married when they had set off on their journey and she had her new husband by her side. By all accounts, Sarah and the Graves family were in high spirits as they stopped in Missouri for supplies and joined a much larger wagon train headed west, led by the Donner and Reed parties.
It wasn’t long before I latched on to Sarah’s wagon as the book traces the journey with her family and others across the Plains, through the Nevada desert, and into the mountains. Like her parents, Sarah seemed well liked and hardy, devoted to helping her younger siblings along the way. On the whole, I was pretty amazed by all the young children and babies the pioneers were traveling with on foot and in their wagons. Good grief, the parents didn’t seem to think twice about moving their young brood so far from home despite the harsh conditions.
“The Indifferent Stars Above” does well in giving significant insight into the social and historical context of the times. It talks about the illnesses of the day, the threat they feared from Indians, how war in California was going on with Mexico, and how the pioneers lived without much in the way of toothbrushes (they hadn’t been invented yet), baths, or laundry, while battling such pests as lice, bedbugs, and fleas. The pioneers seemed a much tougher group than we are today, and I wouldn’t have worried about them so much if I hadn’t already known of their journey’s tragic outcome.
But as the book explores, multiple factors doomed the Donner wagon train. They took an untested route and arrived at the Sierra Nevada Mountains exhausted and too late in the season. Like “Into Thin Air,” they were too late to their destination, and a blizzard had already begun to blow. Oh how I wish in my reading, I could have changed their outcome! Their story was like a darkening vortex that I knew I’d have to go through. Sarah Graves and her family became stuck with the other families, snowbound and hungry, at the base of a mountain lake, well below the pass they needed to get over to get into California. Most of them tried to survive by staying in make-shift cabins at the lake, while others went for help. But eventually only half of the 87 pioneers in their wagon train would survive.
Sarah Graves was one of 15 snowshoers who scaled the snowy pass to go for help. They were trying to get to an outpost across the mountains that was more than 60 miles away, but they didn’t even have a compass. (I’m reminded a bit of Shackleton’s epic escape in the Antarctic some 70 years later.) “The Indifferent Stars Above” details the snowshoers’ harrowing journey through blizzard conditions as well as those who stayed behind at the lake camp, snowbound for four months. The story includes some of the worst suffering from starvation and hypothermia that I’ve ever read. It’s heart-wrenching agony, and yet all I could do was read on and hope the snow would abate for once and that those who went for help would make it through.
It’s a survival tale that’s undoubtedly hair-raising, and Brown’s narrative of it is quite riveting. I felt like I was on the mountain, trying the best I could to help them escape. Along the way, the book also includes some insightful scientific research from today about hypothermia, snow blindness, and caloric intake and what the pioneers likely faced both physically and psychologically. It also talks about the high snow levels from the winter of 1846-1847, a winter that was also unkind to the men of British explorer Sir John Franklin’s expedition who were attempting to find a Northwest Passage.
Much has been written about the Donner Party and the cannibalism that a number of the pioneers resorted to for survival after others had passed away. In history books, the group is often seen not as heroic but as a group to be disdained or shunned completely. Not many want to think about the Donner Party for that reason. While Brown’s book “The Indifferent Stars Above” doesn’t ignore their cannibalism, it attempts to focus the saga more on it as a survival story since half of the pioneers got out alive. The book does include quite a bit of the gory details, and a few times, I felt like I was going to be sick. You definitely get the full picture of their struggles, along with the cannibalism, and yet Brown’s narrative gives the pioneers such as Sarah Graves a humanity perhaps they aren’t often credited with.
I have to praise the author and his book “The Indifferent Stars Above” for opening my eyes a bit and not demonizing the families who were there. Sarah Graves seemed an ordinary girl for her times, and yet was able to pull off an extraordinary feat, one that others died trying. You’ll want to stick around at the end to hear what became of her life in California and others long after that gruesome winter in 1846-47.
Thanks to Trish Collins at TLC Book Tours and William Morrow Paperbacks for providing me with a copy of the book to review.
What about you — have you read about the Donner Party before — or are you interested in “The Indifferent Stars Above”?
Well, cannibalism isn’t something people resort lightly. After reading your review I understand they had no other recourse but to resort to it, and that probably haunted the survivors for the rest of their lives.
This is the first time I’ve heard of the Donner Party. I’m not into survival stories in literature (though I seem to like them in movies) but after your review I want to read this book.
Thanks Carmen. Yeah the cannibalism definitely haunted them for the rest of their lives. I think many of the survivors didn’t want to talk about what happened — it was so traumatic.
Seems like that is Brown’s MO… to focus on the journey more than the end result. He did that with The Boys in the Boat too. I suppose we don’t need to know the details behind the cannibalism. I mean, we know how they came to it so perhaps it’s a wise decision on his part.
Yeah Ti : Brown definitely gets in to their cannibalism in the book (be forewarned!), but he also talks about all the factors that likely contributed to it.
This is a great review! If I hadn’t just read the book, I would totally read it now. You are so right that it is easy to demonize people for their action when you don’t stop to think about the circumstances that might have brought them to it. The entire time I was reading, I had one of the very first sentences of the book stuck in my head… that Sarah’s sister would start crying without apparent reason for years after. Somehow, knowing that detail made reading the actual book much more personal.
Thanks TJ. Yeah the sentence about Sarah’s sister crying is haunting. I can see how that one detail can bring it all home. Details like these make the story so heart-wrenching! Ugh. it killed me — their agony.
I love nonfiction. Thank you for this excellent review.
Thanks Deb. This one is a historical page-turner!
Great review Susan.
A few years ago I read Ordeal by Hunger by George Stewart which was also about the Donner Party. I found that book to be excellent and harrowing.
I think that folks have become fascinated with the cannibalism aspect of this story. But the story is an incredible tale of desperation and survival in its own right.
Thanks Brian! Yeah the Stewart book sounds excellent as well. Yeah I find all people (really) know about the story is the cannibalism part — which is really too bad. The Graves came across as interesting and hardy individuals but not sure anyone remembers they were people!
Excellent review, Susan! The Boys in the Boat was a favorite of mine and this sounds fascinating, too. Another one for my wish list…
Yeah JoAnn, it’s a page-turner! Brown really adds fascinating aspects about their journey.
I’ve heard of the Danner party but don’t know much about them. I love The Boys in the Boat so I’m anxious to read this. It sounds fantastic to me!
I think you would like it Kathy. It’s pretty gut-wrenching but worth the journey.
Pingback: Daniel James Brown, author of The Indifferent Stars Above, on tour September/October 2015 | TLC Book Tours
I love books like this that let me put myself in the shoes of real people, imagining how I might have reacted in their circumstances. I’m glad to see you can recommend this book so highly!
Thanks for being a part of the tour.
Thanks Heather. Glad to be a part of the tour.
Living in Australia, I haven’t heard of the Donner saga before, but it certainly sounds like a harrowing experience and a fascinating opportunity to study the human condition and what one might resort to in extreme life or death situations.
Great review
Thanks Brona. Yeah just thinking of the Donner excursion makes me cold and tired. Those pioneers were a bit crazy.
It is a remarkable story, even more so because it’s true. I have a hard enough time reading about cannibalism in a novel so I don’t think I could read it as nonfiction. A fine review!
Thanks Sarah. Yeah it might be better to steer clear — it does get pretty scary in that regard. Rougher than most apocalyptic novels.
Thanks for the warning.
I want to read this book! I enjoyed BOYS IN THE BOAT so much. Brown’s writing is fantastic.
My Sunday Salon
I think you’d like this book Anne. I still need to read Boys in the Boat!
I am glad to hear this as riveting as The Boys in the Boat. I was on the fence whether to read it or not (I do know the basic outline of the Donner Party story) but if it’s as gripping as his later work, I definitely should pick it up.
Yes Kristen — I think you’d find it pretty gripping. I thought I knew about the Donner Party but I’m glad to read this book because it gave details that I didn’t remember.
After reading your review, I now want to read this book. I have heard about the donnor party superficially but not in depth.
Yeah Hillary — this book is pretty in depth for sure and is gripping. I say go for it!
Yes, the Donner party saga is the Titanic of immigration stories! This sounds like a terrific book–I know the bare details of the story, and visited the site of tragedy, but I would like to learn more about the actual members of the party.
Great review–well done.
Oh thanks Jane. Yeah once you go to their cabin site or near there — you feel the need to know more. I’m glad I read this book because it filled in the gaps for me about them that I didn’t know.
I skimmed your review because I am actually listening to this one right now. You had mentioned you were reading it and gave me the title. It turns out it was on my Audible wish list, and I had plenty of credits waiting to be used. So it was perfect. I am really enjoying it and even looking forward to going to work tomorrow to continue listening!
That’s terrific Michelle. I hope you enjoy it. I’m curious to hear who reads the audio? I will stop by your site soon to find out your reaction to the book.
Living fairly close to the area that the Donner party passed through, I’ve been fascinated by their journey, though thinking about what they actually went through (their fear, anger, uncertainty, worry, stress, etc) makes me not look too much into the story. The idea of what starvation and hypothermia would do to their brains is something I never thought of. It’s really amazing what humans can survive!
I agree Trish. And apparently the women in the group overwhelmingly survived over the men, which is discussed in the book. They were tough back then; I’m sure I’d have been curtains in those temps. Thanks for stopping by.
Haha, I can’t believe I didn’t join the tour for this one! The more I hear about it, the more I want to pick it up. Great review!
Thanks Katie. Yeah I’m surprised you didn’t join the tour. It’s a nonfiction book that’s pretty gripping — right up your alley.
I’ve always been curious about the details of The Donner Party, having only really heard about the cannibalism. This sounds so good! I’m putting it one my TBR list for sure.
Yeah Rachel I think you would like this one — there’s so much more to the story of the Donner Party which I found out in this book
I read this one recently also and found it fascinating. One of the things that stuck with me was the scene where a father realised he would die before morning. Sitting around the fire with his daughters, he made them promise they would use his body for food. That is a conversation that is so hard to imagine having.
I just found your blog and it is glorious! I subscribed as I don’t want to miss any of your reviews. It appears we have a lot of common reading interests.
Thanks Sandie, that’s so nice of you. I will be checking out your site as well. Glad you got to read The Donner Party book — I still get quesy about quite a bit of it. But I would have vanished in those circumstances!