Escape From Death Valley, As Told by William Lewis Manley and Other ’49ers ed. by Leroy and Jean Johnson (review)

68 Western American Literature biographies of members of the party, the provenance and description of the journals, and a calendar of journals and manuscripts. A bibliography and index are included. Volume Three, relating the journey from the Vermillion to Fort Mandan and the events of the winter there, closes with a Fort Mandan Miscellany, including Lewis’s “Affluents of the Missouri River” ;Clark’s “Estimate of the Eastern Indians (although he includes Utes and Snakes of the western re­ gion)”; Lewis’s notes on his botanical and mineralogical collections; and materials by Clark on the Indian tribes thus far encountered. There is a final “Baling Invoice” of contents of packs to go to the West. In the style, vocabulary, and spelling of the original writers, the journals tell a story that will enthrall loversof exploration and the history of the growth of the American nation. Readers will easily feel themselves present as keelboat and pirogues collide with floating logs on the swirling Missouri, and as the little party faces down a horde of Teton Sioux near present-day Pierre in South Dakota. Such readers, as well as scholars of the historical period, will eagerly anticipate publication of the other planned volumes of this splendid series. REX E. ROBINSON Logan, Utah Escape From Death Valley, As Told by William Lewis Manley and Other ’49ers. Edited by Leroy and Jean Johnson. (Reno and Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press, 1987. 230 pages, $25.00 cloth, $14.95 paper.) In 1849 thousands of gold seekers went across the continent by wagon train. This book tells the story of one group that had difficulties which nearly resulted in the death of all party members. The 100-wagon train arrived in Salt Lake Citytoo late in the year to attempt a Sierra Nevada crossing, so it headed south from Hobble Creek, Utah. From there, dissension caused the group to splinter. One of these small groups was the Bennett-Arcan train of at least 7wagons, which continued south while the remaining groups turned west. In Death Valley this small group floundered, needing additional supplies to finish the trip. Two men, William Lewis Manley and John Rogers, volunteered to go for supplies and additional stock. Their trip took 26 days, but they made it back in time to rescue the group, bringing it safely to Rancho San Francisco and safety in 25 days. Escape from Death Valley is the result of painstaking research by the authors to identify the exact route taken on both trips. In addition to checking all relevant documents, the authors also walked the whole area, matching descriptions from journals with the actual landscape, verifying times for various legs of the journey, and confirming the existence of waterholes. They have produced a convincing argument for the routes they have mapped out. Reviews 69 In addition to their analyses of the Manley-Rogers routes, the Johnsons have reproduced certain primary sources regarding the trip. First, there is one account by William L. Manley who wrote about the trip several times. Second, John Rogers’ account from the Merced Star in 1894 is reprinted. Third, portions of Louis Nushaumer’s journal are included. And finally, there are letters from the Reverend James Brier whose family was not part of the Bennett-Arcan group but had some contact with them. The book accomplishes its goals well and is surprisingly readable. The maps are sufficient, although I would have liked more photographs to get a better feel for the difficulties of the trip. Desert rats, Death Valley aficionados, and Gold Rush students are the primary audience, but the book is sufficiently informative and readable to commend itself to a wider audience. DAVID WELLENBROCK Stockton, California Willa Gather: The Emerging Voice. By Sharon O’Brien. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. 464 pages, $24.95.) Cather’s Kitchens: Foodways in Literature and Life. By Roger L. and Linda K. Welsch. Foreword by Susan J. Rosowski. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1987. 177 pages, $16.95.) It soon may be necessary to emend the words of Ecclesiastes to read: Of the making of books about Willa Cather there is no end. Studies of the Nebraska author’s...