William L. Manly

William Lewis Manly (St. Albans, Vermont, 6 April, 1820 - Lodi, California, February 5, 1903) was an American pioneer of the mid-nineteenth century. He was first a fur hunter, a guide of Westward bound caravans, a seeker of gold, then a farmer and writer in his later years. He wrote an autobiography, first published with the title From Vermont to California, then a second edition with the title Death Valley in '49, that tells of the Pioneer conquest of America's Far West, in particular the 1848 California Gold Rush. The 10th chapter of the second version is remarkable in that it tells of the crossing in December 1849, in dire circumstances of thirst and near-starvation, of the Timbisha Valley, today known as Death Valley, located in Inyo County, California. Manly was one of several guides hired to lead a party of pioneers from Utah to the California gold fields; these pioneers are believed to be the first group of European-Americans to see Death Valley.

First years

In 1829, at the age of nine, Manly left for Ohio with his family. Later, as a pioneer, he went to Michigan, before it was a state; he then went fur trapping in Wisconsin as well as in Ohio and Dakota Territory. As an expert hunter and with knowledge of Native Americans, he navigated the Green River.

California gold rush

In December 1848, at age 29, Manly traversed California's Death Valley, today the centerpiece of Death Valley National Park, as a member of a group of emigrant pioneers traveling overland from Salt Lake City, Utah to the California gold rush. These pioneers were lost, having followed an inaccurate map for the previous three weeks, their supplies of food were almost exhausted, and the oxen needed to pull their wagons were dying of starvation. Manly, with his associate John Rogers, trekked 250 miles on foot across the Mojave Desert to Rancho San Francisco near Los Angeles, California, to scout an evacuation route for the families trapped in Death Valley, and procure food and horses if a settlement could be located. A brief recounting of this story can be read in the article on John Haney Rogers; for the full account, see Chapter 10 of Manly's autobiography "Death Valley in '49", which is available for free download from the Gutenberg Project.

Farmer

In 1850, at 30 years old, Manly returned to Santa Clara Valley and bought 250 acres (1.0 km²) south of San Jose, paying 16 dollars an acre, 4,000 dollars in all. He planted a farm. In 1862, at the age of 42 years, Manly married Mary Jane Woods of Lodi, California.

Writer

The notes Manly kept from his youth, which he planned to compile in his autobiography, were lost in a fire. In 1886, at the age of 66, Manly published for first time From the Vermont to California in Santa Clara Valley, a monthly agricultural review. In the compilation of his memories, Manly contacted all the relevant persons possible, then with the aid of a publishing assistant wrote the greater part of his autobiography, The Death Valley in '49 , published as a book in 1894, at San Jose from Pacific Tree and Vine Company.

The autobiography Death Valley in '49

The title Manly chose for his own autobiography was From Vermont to California; the title was changed to Death Valley in '49, ostensibly to encourage sales, although Death Valley is only spoken of in the tenth chapter. Manly recounts in the book how, as the Bennett and Arcane families began their climb out of the valley through the Panamint mountains south of Telescope Peak, someone in the group turned to take a last look eastward and said "Goodbye, Death Valley!". Only one of the emigrants, a Capt. Culverwell, had died within the confines of the valley itself, while two other persons, who Manly remembers in his book as Mr. Fish and Mr. Isham, were found dead along the trail west of the Panamint Range by Manly and his partner John Haney Rogers. Fish and Isham were members of another group of emigrants who called themselves the Jayhawkers, who had been traveling alongside the Bennett–Arcane Party from Salt Lake, Utah. The Jayhawkers had left the Bennetts sometime in the second or third week of December 1849 and walked out of Death Valley, after butchering the last of their oxen for jerky, along a path north of Telescope Peak, perhaps through the pass north of Tucki Mountain that today carries State Route 190 from Olancha to Stovepipe Wells.

Death

In 1903, at the age of 83 years, William Lewis Manly died at his home near Lodi, California.

Legacy

Manly rescued several families of pioneers from Death Valley during the 1849 California Gold Rush. For this reason, three points of interest in Death Valley bear his name: the Manly Beacon near Zabriskie Point, the Manly Peak, situated at South between Panamint Valley and the Death Valley, and Lake Manly, the ancient dried lake in Death Valley.

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