In May 1846, a large wagon train of settlers left Independence, Missouri, heading West. Many Easterners were on the trails at that time, looking for land, business opportunities, and better lives. They traveled across the country in wagon trains to California and Oregon. But the people who headed for California on May 12, 1846, under the leadership of George Donner, did not arrive at their destination safely. Instead, they headed into history.

To readers, the name "The Donner Party" = cannibals. Beset with bad leadership, bad luck, bad timing, and bad decisions, the tragic Donner Party suffered unbelievable hardships. Trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during a bitter winter, only 60 miles from their destination, the survivors began eating the bodies of those who had died.

THE JOURNAL OF DOUGLAS ALLEN DEEDS tells the story of The Donner Party through the eyes of a boy. Douglas is a 15-year-old orphan moving West to build a life for himself and become somebody. All he has is his horse. Without a wagon or any money to buy one, Douglas is grateful that Mr. Donner lets him hitch his dreams to the wagon train. He can shoot well, and he shares whatever. He becomes good friends with Edward Breen, whose generous family takes him in and makes him feel loved and needed. Douglas and Edward share their plans for making their fortunes when they get to California.

But the settlers don't make good time. They travel only a few miles a day. Months go by, during which other wagon trains arrive at their destinations, but The Donner Party just keeps slogging along the trail. All of them are greenhorns, even the leaders. And they are following the advice in a book written by Mr. Lansford Hastings. Everybody on the wagon train believes Mr. Hastings' book as if it were the Bible. Following his trails and his shortcuts, they ignore the advice of a mountain man who tells them that the trails Hastings took on horseback can't be followed by wagons and oxen. The settlers in the Donner Party believe that it's the mountain man who's lying, and that Mr. Hastings will meet them at Fort Bridger, just as he promised he would, and lead them to California. In fact, they believe Mr. Hastings all the way to their entrapment in the Sierra Nevadas.

In this book, you will meet every kind of human being there is --- the gullible, the boastful, the self-sacrificing, and the stingy. There are those who give their lives so others can live, and those who refuse to share their food with people who are starving to death. There are those who reduce themselves to cannibalism, and those who refuse to justify such acts. Who survives? At what cost? Reading this book will make you think about what's really most important in life.

   --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny