Death Valley in 1849: Important Chapter of California Pioneer History (Classics of the Old West)

Leather Bound Time-Life Books (1983). This is the detailed and devastating account of the sufferings of the party of emigrants who gave Death Valley its name. Persuaded by the leader of another wagon train to try a shortcut to southern California, the emigrants got lost in the barren, arid valley. After splitting into small groups, most of the party died of thirst, hunger, or exhaustion. William Manly, however, lived up to his name, and survived the ordeal to write this autobiography, which also describes conditions in California during the 1849 Gold Rush.