• Desperate Passage

  • The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West
  • By: Ethan Rarick
  • Narrated by: Christopher Prince
  • Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (818 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Desperate Passage  By  cover art

Desperate Passage

By: Ethan Rarick
Narrated by: Christopher Prince
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In late October 1846, the last wagon train of that year's westward migration stopped overnight before resuming its arduous climb over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, unaware that a fearsome storm was gathering force. After months of grueling travel, the 81 men, women and children would be trapped for a brutal winter with little food and only primitive shelter. The conclusion is known: by spring of the next year, the Donner Party was synonymous with the most harrowing extremes of human survival. But until now, the full story of what happened--and what it tells us about human nature and about America's westward expansion--remained shrouded in myth.

Drawing on fresh archeological evidence, recent research on topics ranging from survival rates to snowfall totals, and heartbreaking letters and diaries made public by descendants a century-and-a-half after the tragedy, Ethan Rarick offers an intimate portrait of the Donner party and their unimaginable ordeal: a mother who must divide her family, a little girl who shines with courage, a devoted wife who refuses to abandon her husband, a man who risks his life merely to keep his word. Rarick resists both the gruesomely sensationalist accounts of the Donner party as well as later attempts to turn the survivors into archetypal pioneer heroes. "The Donner Party," Rarick writes, "is a story of hard decisions that were neither heroic nor villainous. Often, the emigrants displayed a more realistic and typically human mixture of generosity and selfishness, an alloy born of necessity."

A fast-paced, heart-wrenching, clear-eyed narrative history, Desperate Passage casts new light on one of America's most horrific encounters between the dream of a better life and the harsh realities such dreams so often must confront.

©2009 Ethan Rarick (P)2009 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Featured Article: Hungry for More? Don't Miss These Buzzy Listens Perfect for Fans of Yellowjackets


As any fan of the Showtime hit will tell you, Yellowjackets is an intense, character-driven story that melds elements of horror, drama, and thriller. The show follows the fictional Wiskayok High School Yellowjackets, a girls' soccer team whose plane crashes on the way to a tournament, stranding them in the wilderness. Pair the second season of the hit series with listens that explore survival against the odds, trauma bonds, and female friendship and rivalry.

What listeners say about Desperate Passage

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    426
  • 4 Stars
    273
  • 3 Stars
    80
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    20
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    354
  • 4 Stars
    228
  • 3 Stars
    70
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    398
  • 4 Stars
    206
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wild

Great adventure with twists and turns. I love how the documentation of the trip was able to be pieced together and provide such a detailed account of the travelers' risky undertaking.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wow

Couldn't stop listening and I never write reviews! The story was very easy to follow even with many differs characters involved.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

We take so much for granted

This book will remind you how good you have it. Very good read and enjoyable history of the old west, before everyone flew here.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding account!

This book is concise, accurate, riveting and flows nicely. The author has done magnificent research and portrays this trajedy in accurate context. He also dispells the earlier myths and exaggerations of the publics understanding of the events. This work explains many of the details of the significant mistakes and decisions that lead the Donner Party to their entrapment in the Sierras. But from there the author clearly lays out the trials and tribulations of their four and a half month horror and the reader learns they simply did what they had to do to survive. This book made me feel a part of the experience. What a tribute to the pioneering spirit that helped settle our West. I cannot pray over my meals or at my bedside without pausing to reflect my own blessings of food, warmth, and shelter. The narrarator does a fine job. Some reviews are simply too critical and expect perfection. The narration flows nicely.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

VERY INTERESTING

Any additional comments?

This book taught me a lot about this time era of the pioneers and the harsh stuff these people went through. Amazing what they did and has made me very greatful I haven't had to travel on foot and live through the conditions they had too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling Story, Excellent Narration

Would you listen to Desperate Passage again? Why?

Yes, it is one of the few audiobooks that I have already listened to several times. Once you reach the end, the information about the main characters at the beginning becomes more interesting. The imagery that is evoked by the narration is powerful.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tamsen Donner was my favorite character. She tried to keep the semblance of a normal life for her daughters, telling them stories and fixing their hair, amidst great tragedy.

Any additional comments?

Inspiring story about all aspects of human nature.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Way too much history but still good.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes if they like history. The whole first half is nothing but history. It takes forever to get to the story.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I didn't realize that they endured these conditions for sooo long.The least interesting part is you get a way too detailed history lesson before they even get to Donner's Pass.

Which character – as performed by Christopher Prince – was your favorite?

There weren't any character performences except in the places where letters were read.

Do you think Desperate Passage needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No , because it's a nonfiction book.

Any additional comments?

If you like history then you will like this book, but it takes forever to get to the storyline. Once you finally get there, ,and I mean it takes several hours, it gets really interesting. I didn't know anything about the Donner Party so it was really interesting to learn about. I was in snow storm Nemo and it made me feel very fortunate for what I have. I went 24 hrs without power and being cold but these people went 3-5 months. The conditions they endured were terrible and each family's story was touching. I didn't realize there were so many people that were in the Donner Party. It is sad because most of the families stuck by themselves. I think if everyone had of pooled there resources and come together that things would of turned out differently and alot more people would have survived. It is truly amazing how many people did survive and at the very end of the story you get to find out what happened to alot of them after their horrible ordeal. The narrator did a really good job and kept me engaged through the long drawn out history lesson. Overall this one could either be worth or not worth your time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

We are all wimps

I didn't know much, just the basics about the Donner Party tragedy, and found this audiobook to be riveting, and I gained new respect for the pioneer western settlers. This book is based on actual diaries and other accounts of people who were involved, so you get the real story, or at least as much as can be had.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • CS
  • 03-07-13

Wonderful Book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes - puts you back in history

What did you like best about this story?

Just seeing how people used to live.

Which scene was your favorite?

liked them all.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book but very sad story

What made the experience of listening to Desperate Passage the most enjoyable?

I really enjoyed how detailed the book is, even though it is terribly depressing to hear what the people went though.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Desperate Passage?

The details of the living conditions and different people clustered together.

Which character – as performed by Christopher Prince – was your favorite?

There really wasn't a single person that I connected with, but it was a great history listen into what they people went through

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No it is simply to long

Any additional comments?

don't listen to the second half of the book during lunch...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!