Volume 049-2 - April 1995 (8 pages)

This book is indispensable for those who are interested in local history of Northern California. It will be useful for planning short trips. I have thought for a long time that I had visited most museums in Northern California; 1 now realize that I have hardly made a Start. vdP. Joseph A. King, Winter of Entrapment, A New Look at the Donner Party. Revised edition. K&K Publications; Lafayette, California; 1994. This is a revised edition of the book which was discussed in the Bulletin for January 1993. To avoid duplication, we refer the reader to this review. Mr. King’s book was, generally speaking, received very well. It received an Award of Merit from the California Historical Society in 1994 and apparently many favorable reviews. On the other hand, there were some unfavorable ones. About two of them (as far as I know) the author wrote an extensive reply: in California Historian, vol. 40, no. 2 and The Californians, vol. 12, no. 1. Here again, the reader might want to consult them. Clearly, there is something wrong with this book. Or is there? One of the objections to the first edition is that the Breen family is treated too prominently. This is understandable. In previous narratives of the Donner Party, the Breens are discussed hardly at all and, if they are, not very favorably. Judging from a list of books by the author, found facing the title page, the author appears to be very much interested in genealogy, especially Irish genealogy; this may be an explanation of the [un?]favorable and copious discussion in the first edition, When I was reading the first edition, this did not bother me at all. However, in this second edition, much of the discussion of the Breen genealogy is omitted. The chapter “Whom to believe” is another source of criticism. In this chapter, King discusses the main sources of information on the Donner Party, statements of survivors as well as books or articles by authors who 16 may or may not have been historians. Several of these items I know, and for several of these I agree with the author. The item which generated the most static is George Stewart’s Ordeal by Hunger. King’s main objection to Stewart’s book is that it is “racist.” The two replies to critical reviews cited above both deal with this problem, and in this case the author does not yield one bit. Personally, I do not believe that Stewart wanted to denigrate his characters; after all, the book was written almost 60 years ago, an era in which people did not have to be PC. And I am sorry that the suggestion that Stewart was influenced by a story about the Breens, written by J. Ross Browne, was not eliminated in this edition. But let not all this restrain you from reading this book. Every book is burdened by the personality and the convictions of the author, and one should be able to ignore passages where the convictions of the author come through too strongly. Compared with the first edition, this book contains much new material, and the thorough research which supported the first edition is still in evidence. I will give one example of this, the case of Jean Baptiste Trudeau. In none of the previous literature on the Donner Party is the name of this young man given correctly. It is “Trubador,” “Truvido” or “Truvedor”. This is to be expected. WASPs seldom manage to deal correctly with foreign names. Examples: the name of the Dane Peter Lassen is always rendered “Lawson” by the emigrants, while the name of Nicolaus Algeir is always rendered “Nichols” or “Nicholson”. King discovered the true name, Trudeau, and managed to find quite a lot of information on this young man. My former review of this book ended with the sentence: “To sum up, a book worthy of perusal and strongly recommended”. I am still of this opinion. vdP. NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY The Board of the Society for 1995: President Calvin Palmer First Vice President Cynthia Sosa Second Vice President Jim Rose Membership Secretary Bill Brooke Recording Secretary Gay Conner Executive Secretary . Paul Hinshelwood Treasurer Barbara Weaver Past President Bedford Lampkin Directors with terms ending 1997 Nevada City Anne Brooke Grass Valley Mel and Judith Ciphers County-at-large Connie Baer Directors with terms ending 1996 Nevada City David and Louise Beesley Grass Valley Calvin Palmer County-at-large Ron Sturgell Directors with terms ending 1995 Nevada City Roman Rozynski Grass Valley Alan Aspey County-at-large David Comstock THE NCHS BULLETIN Administrative Office: Nevada County Historical Society P.O. Box 1300 Nevada City, CA 95959 Subscription Fee: $12.00 per year Editorial Office: Peter W. van der Pas, Pacific Library 212 Hill Street Grass Valley, CA 95945 LIBRARY AND MUSEUMS Searls Historical Library 214 Church Street, Nevada City (916) 265-5910 Open 1-4 pm except Sundays & holidays Firehouse Museum 214 Main Street, Nevada City Summer: 11 am to 4 pm daily Winter: call (916) 265-5468 North Star Mining Museum Allison Ranch Road, Grass Valley May 1 to Oct. 15: 10 am to 5 pm Winter: cal] (916) 273-4255 Video Museum and Theater Central Ave., Memorial Park, Grass Valley Summer: 11 am to 4 pm except Wednesday Winter: call (916) 274-1126 PUBLICATIONS NCHS Books P.O. Box 56, Cedar Ridge, CA 95924 (916) 273-6220

This book is indispensable for those who are interested in local history of Northern California. It will be useful for planning short trips. I have thought for a long time that I had visited most museums in Northern California; 1 now realize that I have hardly made a Start. vdP. Joseph A. King, Winter of Entrapment, A New Look at the Donner Party. Revised edition. K&K Publications; Lafayette, California; 1994. This is a revised edition of the book which was discussed in the Bulletin for January 1993. To avoid duplication, we refer the reader to this review. Mr. King’s book was, generally speaking, received very well. It received an Award of Merit from the California Historical Society in 1994 and apparently many favorable reviews. On the other hand, there were some unfavorable ones. About two of them (as far as I know) the author wrote an extensive reply: in California Historian, vol. 40, no. 2 and The Californians, vol. 12, no. 1. Here again, the reader might want to consult them. Clearly, there is something wrong with this book. Or is there? One of the objections to the first edition is that the Breen family is treated too prominently. This is understandable. In previous narratives of the Donner Party, the Breens are discussed hardly at all and, if they are, not very favorably. Judging from a list of books by the author, found facing the title page, the author appears to be very much interested in genealogy, especially Irish genealogy; this may be an explanation of the [un?]favorable and copious discussion in the first edition, When I was reading the first edition, this did not bother me at all. However, in this second edition, much of the discussion of the Breen genealogy is omitted. The chapter “Whom to believe” is another source of criticism. In this chapter, King discusses the main sources of information on the Donner Party, statements of survivors as well as books or articles by authors who 16 may or may not have been historians. Several of these items I know, and for several of these I agree with the author. The item which generated the most static is George Stewart’s Ordeal by Hunger. King’s main objection to Stewart’s book is that it is “racist.” The two replies to critical reviews cited above both deal with this problem, and in this case the author does not yield one bit. Personally, I do not believe that Stewart wanted to denigrate his characters; after all, the book was written almost 60 years ago, an era in which people did not have to be PC. And I am sorry that the suggestion that Stewart was influenced by a story about the Breens, written by J. Ross Browne, was not eliminated in this edition. But let not all this restrain you from reading this book. Every book is burdened by the personality and the convictions of the author, and one should be able to ignore passages where the convictions of the author come through too strongly. Compared with the first edition, this book contains much new material, and the thorough research which supported the first edition is still in evidence.

I will give one example of this, the case of Jean Baptiste Trudeau. In none of the previous literature on the Donner Party is the name of this young man given correctly. It is “Trubador,” “Truvido” or “Truvedor”. This is to be expected. WASPs seldom manage to deal correctly with foreign names. Examples: the name of the Dane Peter Lassen is always rendered “Lawson” by the emigrants, while the name of Nicolaus Algeir is always rendered “Nichols” or “Nicholson”. King discovered the true name, Trudeau, and managed to find quite a lot of information on this young man. My former review of this book ended with the sentence: “To sum up, a book worthy of perusal and strongly recommended”. I am still of this opinion. vdP. NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY The Board of the Society for 1995: President Calvin Palmer First Vice President Cynthia Sosa Second Vice President Jim Rose Membership Secretary Bill Brooke Recording Secretary Gay Conner Executive Secretary . Paul Hinshelwood Treasurer Barbara Weaver Past President Bedford Lampkin Directors with terms ending 1997 Nevada City Anne Brooke Grass Valley Mel and Judith Ciphers County-at-large Connie Baer Directors with terms ending 1996 Nevada City David and Louise Beesley Grass Valley Calvin Palmer County-at-large Ron Sturgell Directors with terms ending 1995 Nevada City Roman Rozynski Grass Valley Alan Aspey County-at-large David Comstock THE NCHS BULLETIN Administrative Office: Nevada County Historical Society P.O. Box 1300 Nevada City, CA 95959 Subscription Fee: $12.00 per year Editorial Office: Peter W. van der Pas, Pacific Library 212 Hill Street Grass Valley, CA 95945 LIBRARY AND MUSEUMS Searls Historical Library 214 Church Street, Nevada City (916) 265-5910 Open 1-4 pm except Sundays & holidays Firehouse Museum 214 Main Street, Nevada City Summer: 11 am to 4 pm daily Winter: call (916) 265-5468 North Star Mining Museum Allison Ranch Road, Grass Valley May 1 to Oct. 15: 10 am to 5 pm Winter: cal] (916) 273-4255 Video Museum and Theater Central Ave., Memorial Park, Grass Valley Summer: 11 am to 4 pm except Wednesday Winter: call (916) 274-1126 PUBLICATIONS NCHS Books P.O. Box 56, Cedar Ridge, CA 95924 (916) 273-6220