Sex and Death on the Western Emigrant Trail

Donald K. Grayson is a professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Quaternary Research Center at the University of Washington. His books include The Establishment of Human Antiquity; The Great Basin: A Natural Prehistory; and Giant Sloths and Sabertooth Cats: Extinct Mammals and the Archaeology of the Great Basin.

"Noted anthropologist Donald K. Grayson writes with wit, confidence, and authority. His landmark study examines how men and women on the overland trail responded to disasters involving freezing and starvation. He asks the right questions-often ones no one has asked before." -Will Bagley, author of So Rugged and Mountainous: Blazing Trails to Oregon and California "Recitation of mortality figures by age and sex is not typically gripping reading, but Grayson bridges that sterile ground with engaging background, data analysis, and interesting-sometimes compelling-inferences. His writing linking the similarities and points of difference between these survival cases makes for engaging reading." -Dennis H. O'Rourke, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, University of Kansas "For those who like a good 'yarn' (Don is a great story-teller) and interesting interpretations that involve numbers, this is the book for you. We could never conduct experiments on the ability of humans to tolerate extreme stress, but the three examples in this book provide natural experiments and an insightful look into how adaptable humans can be under the direst of circumstances." -Journal of California and Great Basin Archaeology "Is human behavior fully predicable by biology and genetics? Some environmental historians have turned to just such a view in debates over the Anthropocene, but many historians still hesitate at the thought. Can human behavior exist on a plane above or separated from our biologically programmed 'animal instincts'? Perhaps one of the most thought provocative results of Grayson's study is that he confronts us with just such questions." -Western Historical Quarterly "Without question, Grayson's book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the overland emigrant experience in the American west and the context within which it took place. Historians of the American frontier and historical archaeologists will find it especially appealing. Future research on the history and archaeology of traveling emigrant parties should take this book into consideration." -American Antiquity "Grayson brings a brisk storytelling style and a wry, even humorous sensibility to the tales of the Donner Party of 1846-47 and to the Martin and Willie handcart companies of 1856, in which more than 240 lost their lives." -Utah Life "This book deserves commendation, for both its argument and its audacity.... Historians with open minds will finish reading this book and begin looking at their own research in a different light, wondering how biology may or may not apply to their findings." -Pacific Historical Review "Sex and Death offers a fresh way of looking at these tragic emigrant trail disasters. Many readers will certainly wonder what the outcome might have been had not the two handcart companies received timely rescue. Would these two religious companies have resorted to eating their comrades to stay alive? It's hard not to ponder this question when reading Sex and Death." -BYU Studies Quarterly