area books will be added here.
VISTABOOKS HISTORY REPRINTS--
Donner Memorial State Park (CA)
(in stock: for quantity orders, go to vistabooks.com):
also available on ebay and ebid
ACROSS THE PLAINS IN THE DONNER PARTY: a personal narrative of the overland trip to California, 1846-47. by Virginia Reed Murphy.
Virginia was 12 years old when her family left Springfield, Illinois to trek across the
plains to California, their intended new home, along with 25 fellow emigrants. Along the
way, her grandmother died, her pony had to be left, her family lost their oxen and had to
abandon a wagon with their possessions, her stepfather killed a man and was banished from
the train, and then she and her group were trapped in snows at the eastern foot of the
Sierra Nevada crest at and near what is now Donner Lake and Truckee, California.
As a result, 13 of those who started with her in Springfield, and 29 more who
joined her along the way, never did cross those mountains. Here is the little
girl's story, written by her later as an adult, now a part of the American epic
of winning the West. Reprinted from Century Magazine with illustrations added from Frederic
Remington and others. 64 pages.
ISBN: 978-0-89646-099-7. Order #: VIST0099 paper$7.95. See sample pages, illustrations.
C.P.R.R.: the Central Pacific Railroad. by Charles Nordhoff.
Reprinted from Marvels of the New West,1882. This is the epic story of
building the line across the Sierra Nevada of California, the deserts of Nevada, and the
salt flats of Utah to meet the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory Point on May 10, 1869.
Rail fans and history buffs have access today to historic parks and museums at the ends of
this line in Sacramento and Promontory Point and along the way at the Donner Lake State
Park. There is also an article explaining train travel by passengers at this early date. Period engravings. 48 pages. See sample pages.
Check stock. ISBN-10: 0-89646-097-8. ISBN-13: 978-0-89646-097-3. Order #: VIST0097 paper$6.95.
THE DIARY OF PATRICK BREEN: one of the Donner Party. by Frederick J. Teggart.
Diary kept by 1846-47 Donner Party emigrant who survived over-winter entrapment in
Sierra snow near Truckee, California. Breen and his family all survived the ordeal, but many from other groups perished. The diary records days of snowfall, the experiences of others who were marooned with them, and the scant food available, plus delayed attempts from outside to rescue them. 7 photos, 16 pages.
Check stock. ISBN: 978-0-89646-102-4. Order #VIST0102 paper$3.95.
THE HUMMINGBIRD OF THE CALIFORNIA WATERFALLS. by John Muir.
Reprinted from 1878. This has been called "the finest bird biography ever
written". Muir's "waterfall hummingbird" is the water-ouzel, of course, now
also called the dipper. Although Muir buffs and birders already know this, even they will
enjoy reading or re-reading the story of this little bobber. Some might have seen this
little bird, but without this article have not yet enjoyed the flyer/swimmer fully. As
Muir's portrayal shows, much of the bird's intrigue is its physical elusiveness while
remaining visually accessible. Enjoy this little story and enjoy this little bird.
Foreword by former Chief Park Naturalist, Yosemite National Park. Period illustrations. 24 pages. See sample pages.
ISBN-10: 0-89646-019-3.
ISBN-13: 978-0-89646-019-5. Order #: VIST0019 paper$3.95.
LAKE OF THE SKY: Lake Tahoe in the High Sierras of California and Nevada. by George Wharton James.
This book (in abridged form here) has long been a standard history of Lake Tahoe--telling how the lake was
discovered by Fremont while he was what we would today call lost, how it got its name (at
first, names), how it was formed, and how it was first used and developed. Author James
was a prolific writer early in the 20th century, and did a number of other books on
Western travel sites, as well as a technique manual showing how Indians made their
baskets. His text in "Lake of the Sky" affirms that this was a favorite site of
his, where he returned often. Abridged edition reprinted from the 1915 original. Period illustrations. 96 pages. See sample pages, illustrations.
ISBN-10: 0-89646-038-X. ISBN-13: 978-0-89646-038-6. Order #: VIST0038 paper$6.95.
MONARCH, THE BIG BEAR OF TALLAC in the Lake Tahoe High
Sierra. by Ernest Thompson Seton.
This classic wildlife story was created just after 1900, when a few California grizzly
bears, like Monarch, still did roam the Sierra; now they roam only on California's state flag.
It is a story of the sad life of one of the last wild grizzlies who lived near Tallac, the
high mountain rising above Lake Tahoe's west shore, still wild country today, located
in the Desolation Basin Wilderness Area. The book Monarch was written for
children, but like all truly classic children's literature is excellent reading for
adults, too. Author Seton left many wildlife works for us, such as Wild Animals I
Have Known and The Biography of a Grizzly and was also a practical
leader, founding the Woodcraft League, forerunner of today's Boy Scouts. His museum is at
the scouts' Philmont Ranch in New Mexico.
100 drawings from the original, by the author, are included. 168 pages. Covers scuffed. Limited supply. See sample pages.
ISBN-10: 0-89646-040-1. ISBN-13: 978-0-89646-040-9. Order #: VIST0040 paper$12.95.
NOTECARDS--Donner/Tahoe Sierra:
Donner Lake. by Thomas Moran, 1874.
Lake Tahoe. by Thomas Moran, 1874.
Summit of the Sierras. by Thomas Moran, 1874.
Eagle Falls, Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe. Picturesque America, 1874.
Mountain scenery etchings are reproduced from artistic--now historical--engravings published in books from the 1870s, such as VistaBooks has often used in its own reprints. Notecards are 4 1/2" wide by 6" tall when folded, black on cream-colored stock. Insides are blank, providing 2 1/2 pages of writing space. Set includes 8 notecards (2 scenes each of the 4 shown) with 8 matching envelopes in a re-sealable bag.
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