Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Grit and Gold: The Death Valley Jayhawkers of 1849
Grit and Gold: The Death Valley Jayhawkers of 1849
Grit and Gold: The Death Valley Jayhawkers of 1849
Ebook518 pages9 hours

Grit and Gold: The Death Valley Jayhawkers of 1849

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

No other Western settlement story is more famous than the Donner Party’s ill-fated journey through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. But a few years later and several hundred miles south, another group faced a similar situation just as perilous. Scrupulously researched and documented, Grit and Gold tells the story of the Death Valley Jayhawkers of 1849 and the young men who traveled by wagon and foot from Iowa to the California gold rush.  The Jayhawkers’ journey took them through the then uncharted and unnamed hottest, driest, lowest spot in the continent—now aptly known as Death Valley.

After leaving Salt Lake City to break a road south to the Pacific Coast that would eliminate crossing the snowy Sierra Nevada, the party veered off the Old Spanish Trail in southern Utah to follow a mountaineer’s map portraying a bogus trail that claimed to cut months and hundreds of miles off their route to the gold country. With winter coming, however, they found themselves hopelessly lost in the mountains and dry valleys of southern Nevada and California.  Abandoning everything but the shirts on their backs and the few oxen that became their pitiful meals, they turned their dreams of gold to hopes of survival.

Utilizing William Lorton’s 1849 diary of the trek from Illinois to southern Utah, the reminiscences of the Jayhawkers themselves, the keen memory of famed pioneer William Lewis Manly, and the almost daily diary of Sheldon Young, Johnson paints a lively but accurate portrait of guts, grit, and determination.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 1, 2018
ISBN9781943859788
Grit and Gold: The Death Valley Jayhawkers of 1849
Author

Jean Johnson

Scott Bittle is an award-winning journalist, policy analyst, and web producer who has written extensively about the federal budget, energy, and foreign policy. Jean Johnson writes frequently about public opinion and public policy and is the author of You Can’t Do It Alone, a book on how parents, teachers, and students see education issues. Both authors are senior fellows at Public Agenda and blog frequently for the Huffington Post, National Geographic, and other outlets.

Read more from Jean Johnson

Related to Grit and Gold

Related ebooks

Adventurers & Explorers For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for Grit and Gold

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Grit and Gold - Jean Johnson

    2^book_preview_excerpt.html}r#GDf DJ2eL2$H4eup @@ Ya0}g5oRO2HU$/~"5IM ],lYytgVQG&H(W߹׾K,~p ~>>%i6v\_GJI=2EĤ*2Udj䳨Mm#ѤI\=<2> " a豨qyѬmTQ=ȹUۼN{%17uX4n/r Q%FG/ļ޾F{fYid{x5ئ;\*~qS(. /' &figD!]f܈qEx e 3dZ+4!j 2OV3'IdVl^G)&5n]ISZٯ,R˽ۗK:L$%|_@.(q$[,-ƀoJ±`q)XiQs s 2vJ^zd@[?j =K6~HWNlUQn2e9#@ >E_ŗ\vlK, X-6@)t.2Y.~59:Fo.utΫIx34 YgqL-{kϸ%ay㇒u?i ;$O]EjnQr縉\:,Tht}}:|t4>~}.ywܮ_/»?Fgp[џLx]^z7a]E ^~}#X.&P sylciXۿE/*zfSY&GNżՠޕ-b:k+H\& NPMp2,rV43=pyS״bDO\34e-h8UL3}V0yzsAx:]|wy%t J8/ZQGK='[џԩ=' ѱw%K4 D]:~Ϥ.Ib8Ch;[R)e R SX3%uzz-Tpm(!wt痗a=&tywr=;;z۷{xw0M, ,'>;l~3G8n}6%n7hnWUlfL .Đ|-s b:!X_nY׮~wk4nԔ&["+zpxCU߼xJEH泳S`h÷&x4)JGȇ ޞ:t2ɇpG0WPQ?t kJ/75 oukѓӺJve]5` 48l]/W| gLSz ު{#<( /sX^? ;$}E֔=۟?7|& !v4nM>L9$=&űH>P:@kFBgaKCIo1-%߬?ǚ1'B&x5'+c^|RN9A C45{*va)lxwNwnm 02 - ;#mkJӊAc|N 0Ԭ ڬVP S=t-Q߾%S@_Fcb`n:oCqyuVlV|2 @ 5s`Sh2- VC|>8XWUsr 6Or-y0O {ܣ/6$׾zbY<26 _ ǵsPw/o_o,Z_p[ؔ58N!&JGWYu@(в֏-SpX A gsg G2xXjs܅t&'m#yl*&]p (.R| d`0E_aãmҼ7- nUu/ d 8^EfW^rRNVe|&Ml=?)at\(Gώ"`dOϾ8 NA՜iMofRc~o{}%UCw^\x}/yGPV6vVlR_Kl.satlv 0es:$syPդY~k)JG. >Ga84أTd'}Rݸ(lҬO֞|*.=u˄z7{ P<#o?@Un]m;vB_mU85LD_"l^lnn3Ьqo;Q0Fw)C ϟNdd&qԭŋM4Rr47nYv2 sl;o7m J0EkX$۟r|h&4TUQlR.ź9%VoHu{[LvՍe^oYfdR|7X W4YbͯBR/|q"iROA8>mH]w6%O=>G[L|XH4{>xrڎJ|Uª{5ЕLRlWkά[]F ۥޠ(rJnݍMV}b-TzA[7J{vu}7oɭ&n Y4Ǚ+zf$gԱ|+U]$%-$`1816s_kp\dK+lE¹{%ɟ?P%N)HR8x^[U,AsUX5.[ Men eΘG\nkI-^2'y m!{ M8)*#39X=6:K6cXEB{v-tu!"ާōeٝT)4b>@rEоh%kz,Dܺ6Ln,niݶp}Si<,_WG*(TБƚ[tz3,]h‰NLpvupdxm-)n·h&p/Dg'pbfӖ1n&idܪGۘN?6BS٪6'V4m9L "g8OEVkm=s=]Jh(?_[`U%0G )$UR6rņKl:[ XTl-{_vtڀ\qR'[Yf|MM4j9#U5>nd44;07,Fa8&?.0ɔC712pȢ+|Z%#`k]+Kg>,n!k Q\4xbd!gZ՞yhyPLX35AHjW f:m!lxc`\cG'Jm1N4 tyݛ&APSuЯ(ϋ;b8!-L ,9Tdik yp/L[BcQ!5|W [s%k"D,kM9+V h3zހz'B)Έmw{g c#{DooWVϣT @2*.e/X%(G]F ҨO-mV\XAW7.é+GY("lQeaCnMjqǯYt}}bJs+{I~!_ '$ڑ .gZIue 3`R<&(\XyD+FRMe>hVZ6xGȎ[<*:D,>iiՑRQe0fr8-@tUtQH9AKIY'Z*')}+Hۓ8ALU8Xj!Ơ{+gt {0'~'Պ:3v灟WUJ 떪 QMZ:њT(4C~^Q(ģ[PPl%mÙPrVLT]ÔtjJ.}'/%`^S& )KjCX,tk;A=[FA(l^kWuX-ɜ4춚Ҏ6`2"w#:@|cH] gUY:!8>ai `g ?v3 BJb7b2jaE6!ĉQ@?Hw^B`’@ԚZFY=C E`IزFtOv~3`D*r䧼uAW)C,+:%X/-.b㢤_ 8cL v U +Ge:T'1h2Kz((DEKV+ UX"I[&`vR<\m@5GE}¡zXR8hM5ožFIOKa P"/c% IKh forvOmhrQ)JɜrjiU,P&؎vH` Ac >Jύ, HI,)G0M;2M}b?J jʺ qc6|ͤ-)Gje FRpNDQH]' HR2i.%IKËSd2 VR7P E.pW[$!1OEøR5p}pdٓe-"ځO6<0oiS,X?DA|B!s$ ,кBxXT, #M&,zb rywf D]CP?-`3qUߌ$09RIi@{q[@Aࣨ 'DŽ)kv3RO5C>5֭m k#Ael9 d1qևp Lm E^G"DkK"7[®Z"Y0fh\U4f$wgWwsR!J}$I /K0 @p  Zũr'zL#ꍴ^cn\~BMXU: 5н;Y_KiU ʯ ) %ڂ)~aD cDmm̔bzaz͢V('p$zG3e0^ڧ"ظ1&NIkNWpE@ui-lTy8Ϥy. Ѓ-Zhn׿1WUNS!aM IF GQk*%@6QD *z!8.<@lpaǡ^]4R(S6D|f -fGoo:`+fJyc ~ywHNUYzBF;ioiC@xVm1@O.b։A:"do;Hp4\D`Ce?n͙ s)r غಲ{0ԉ^y&[fֈ>qP a޵lJ^(wa]H.{a(l̢evشM;"\0]L w]jG+jpo  @AfVJHm:60S8k9>6I]dAք{ uml^umzv\nXYR]0X=28Q/*'r][޺|\WpĈ#ŸO4WuML'h2t kqo"C7h~$]iVj:1KsV5s QیuJ</Sη9L_dv,q!rPetѼmD0 s/ P$6 W9Mm1 s!`~~hk)I?aۍyzq<wt/8P ޿au(Lh}mXG9Eb\3:lBįf-.?'~=wnd_2o3 0ge 9/*m<c>d#~ ʚeu9~iQ^l52-wSk&p3y"onӒhBɉC6*4@T5t7ص,rً5ׄ[nфvjAEkf n)w" hM%dvK&Ƅ]6h&_5Zbž+s6dV%^.-pZ-Mt%og@PQ;Eqf^ O:ITPHe]%n;X[yatv?Ůh|'Dtx/ش|r.gg&אm2ǜ4K#n~<ɂLpMa#w vJ8HPWHZ"pJ1bZYxRMhSv6mnib_!.4}m5wwUs.ǁ A܍0=[ܽz';MFQGO֦: YFjRPm+>^Mo;kةgO+`IYy 4X-\sO^S| 6d^U\R%7R">9n'2+ۅKIϘ u-Z>RޡҷűdɑPAJ-:e3j=;Af!%Sʱ% uR`;J݀CNk*%.vW]P $bz7AOq799qԺ A؂r䩢8hB˵*k–`"hK (s Јr0-~AILi<,[J^!gR/Cr\ 1H>?J`Fsl* @31 GP"V$9NωU_t$;J)RSK$j4x>n4N|1ԕ^/W#f/m$ɥ%.(]dP[_?-DI`jn 婝%97#cR uZ^u*H00*9mqrPzkCO'T)2,z.ɲk<"NX% p2 `HbvύJ'+,1lBЅ:8q+oC|(k'HY)t]Fn(DFkkym2Si9'Wlu2'hƩM"÷ZMh¨Y40W1G (p]NzGvO!0o[̽LE#uv$LVH&zD񣵟(_a"k25FO8f휈[^:6SYz[$~d.dT"P>n4`_n@u,Ƕ .t{_m2N[jʎ|6$R.NZ:tfRW2cͳH÷/HiGnY{<0q|N{\'ȀG-tTcӈjZH!364oGHF 3/wNٶ|]K'rI5[ľSZ#6>R[|VهɿhɎ[ZIX,3ѼqR3n)r=IEyDxc!R>%NYd yڊ`ں62Uw\pl<%5(y)~#oehOp[Tw”Fm՝'wNʼnXg3ƱKٰ2eqJ+e֤,d؋0 y#`i5XCfgPL)0eSv+R<q執FܚR<ǥ}L<ŦaИSR`T2]څ 匝Z@hYlE"7CbKfz0_$Cȃd /RIOhN)@uZqQ"]-"5K@7H)Хأ>)o0TG9*@mҾ$f ifR&6Μ?m%㪐7{4,Sǵ1wf_+;Q&:3 +@~^xŌTFkWkAn$_XFV=STQpNbC*S9&֯TF#t热F6: pJӚLwR KX5RoS!V*_rٰqAI,kih;I;|2wc@!x9F*!œ]3 _)![N!}\&QHI%B!\;]1+_`B1ijjmړږ ՟ĥ(3BGx j+/eJ{ڙywN>^\ ^ ̂ȅybLpaFޥ 1?%[O x|b@hWFYaAki'a2/x f5!֓C~ Y:%@A F^oD~C6Y[_Q Hݚ,e%EeSJ*ުYZh:*QjN/0kA0Of 2IO.뎜p^ s4ĥ_V&C /~xڦ2g>_ >,Ev~W7. L lHдo6uV`ÄԓLc^" sEV12WA`h5=cM6h~+s_!9 U\Mf?6Pq7,rU9Fx߰x><<4c\D4G mdo:Xli! T0}2#W+PFAhm')6]8u:u>u>+d+vG-[ͥF6nҾy@R3xu&S:.[ /,к\r*H}=HS'~9 zESvhּsQ3Ό%3gN0fIT\"Zr"*m}X.37FZ#Y/ LHB1y6Y'ͭak ?BTǁ?[RҺ̼^0AbX"Iֿ,5R?*!BžC)2K"t  :+lˌ|6E$> UT 0S޳zٟGOj'Chu H`3ۭa$`߉"#f((QK1"fEN9ebmYT.<ۯۭh24=\d{{RP3hW8 4o \ODbhNZպ^ArGF89;FG!9,~pcbt q(Z_b:o]JK8q@{t:3?\(s_ RC*^v6[H- nst]8/%6OkÌ:Mw_k]u<535,&UW #g`^sJ2UfJL8׆ZɋVoh/c"%Ī ϩs;zd uM2Y;.tfZogM:Ǭ! kXt&A`{ yg7Dw=:3PTHP;:C3nqT-lא0b޼8&{eljf;3 SUb`5\5,&Bt̶ 4d s]aS3Lnԩo4 EQCBkMh]-.Pf)ytދD %td& C;z h/ˬz$ kˣjɰU@f2MXs ӁNA6B+}XFlѴ+AH}ծ $^0sM.^9789'-"_F)ewmoJnHkvdghilwA}E& 񐯦Ui'Su؏DRaZ--?0Xow`,V>>OAm$H\{gqEJA)N^jעC󣝓De¯5O/ EFI- B='l)[ȥbqϣ [,\ij1N@d8m^`fJW [ߔ׊,O( $ӏGUorMj~@PTB] Z3L) /(w(L)w `7Tq B7h[zgSlčaѷ[kt3[I5ӑbNVB>FUvK]r}2&W̤jJi7u0M;]@]H1k;0CsAOK%u5),8kbUW"lvȠ5Q&F?mt.V52$]Q|ӎ19`atlZkiQ&j]N?V ^?$MkΑ
    Enjoying the preview?