An Archaeology of Desperation: Exploring the Donner Party’s Alder Creek Camp

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-366) and index. Table of Contents: List of Illustrations -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction / Shannon A. Novak, Kelly J. Dixon -- Part I. Locating -- 1. Sufferers in the Mountains: The Donner Party Disaster / Kristin Johnson -- 2. The Aftermath of Tragedy: The Donner Camps in Later Years / Kristin Johnson -- Part II. Lingering -- 3. Historical Perspectives on the Archaeology of the Donner Party / Donald L. Hardesty -- 4. An Archaeology of Despair / Kelly J. Dixon -- 5. A Family in Crisis: Archaeology of a Survival Camp / Julie M. Schablitsky -- Part III. Consuming -- 6. What Remains: Species Identification and Bone Histology / Gwen Robbins Schug, Kelsey Gray contributions by Guy L. Tasa Ryne Danielson Matt Irish 7. [Wo]man and Beast: Skeletal Signatures of a Starvation Diet / Shannon A. Novak -- 8. The Delicate Question: Cannibalism in Prehistoric and Historic Times / G. Richard Scott, Sean McMurry -- Part IV. Narrating -- 9. Under Watchful Eyes: Washoe Narratives of the Donner Party / Jo Ann Nevers, Penny Rucks contributions by Lana Hicks Steven James Melba Rakow 10. All Remember the Fate of the Donner Party: History and the Disaster at Cannibal Camp / Will Bagley, Kristin Johnson -- 11. Concluding Thoughts / Kelly J. Dixon, Julie M. Schablitsky -- Bibliography -- List of Contributors -- Index. Publisher Marketing: The Donner Party is almost inextricably linked with cannibalism. In truth, we know remarkably little about what actually happened to the starving travelers stranded in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846-47. Combining the approaches of history, ethnohistory, archaeology, bioarchaeology, and social anthropology, this innovative look at the Donner Party's experience at the Alder Creek Camp offers insights into many long-unsolved mysteries. Centered on archaeological investigations in the summers of 2003 and 2004 near Truckee, California, the book includes detailed analyses of artifacts and bones that suggest what life was like in this survival camp. Microscopic investigations of tiny bone fragments reveal butchery scars and microstructure that illuminate what the Donner families may have eaten before the final days of desperation, how they prepared what served as food, and whether they actually butchered and ate their deceased companions. The contributors reassess old data with new analytic techniques and, by examining both physical evidence and oral testimony from observers and survivors, add new dimensions to the historical narrative. The authors' integration of a variety of approaches--including narratives of the Washoe Indians who observed the Donner Party--destroys some myths, deconstructs much of the folklore about the stranded party, and demonstrates that novel approaches can shed new light on events we thought we understood. Review Citations:

Library Journal 09/15/2011 pg. 86 (EAN 9780806142104, Hardcover)

Chronicle of Higher Education 12/02/2011 pg. 16 (EAN 9780806142104, Hardcover)

Reference and Research Bk News 12/01/2011 pg. 46 (EAN 9780806142104, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Dixon, Kelly J Kelly J. Dixon is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Montana and author of "Boomtown Saloons: Archaeology and History in Virginia City". Contributor Bio:  Schablitsky, Julie M Julie M. Schablitsky is Senior Research Archaeologist at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon, and the editor of "Box Office Archaeology: Refining Hollywood's Portrayals of the Past". Contributor Bio:  Novak, Shannon A Shannon A. Novak is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, and author of "House of Mourning: A Biocultural History of the Mountain Meadows Massacre". Contributor Bio:  Bagley, Will Will Bagley is an independent historian who has written about overland emigration, frontier violence, railroads, mining, and the Mormons. Bagley has published extensively over the years and is the author and editor of many books, articles, and reviews in professional journals. Bagley is the series editor of Arthur H. Clark Company's documentary history series, "KINGDOM IN THE WEST: The Mormons and the American Frontier". Bagley has been a Wallace Stegner Centennial Fellow at the University of Utah and the Archibald Hannah, Jr. Fellow in American History at Yale University's Beinecke Library. "Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows" has won numerous awards including a Spur Award from Western Writers of America, the Bancroft History Prize from the Denver Public Library, Westerners International Best Book, and the Western History Association Caughey Book Prize for the most distinguished book on the history of the American West. "So Rugged and Mountainous: Blazing the Trails to Oregon and California, 1812-1848 "is the first of four volumes of "Overland West: The Story of the Oregon and California Trails Series. "Contributor Bio:  Hardesty, Donald L Donald L. Hardesty is Mamie Kleberg Professor of Historic Preservation and Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno, and author or editor of six other books.