Joseph Pigney published For Fear We Shall Perish to relay the turmoil confronted by the Donner Party, as well as the atrocities that self-fortitude obliged them to carry out. His compilation serves as an indication of the realities of westward migration.

The proclivities of the Donner Party have become well known and often exaggerated tales of cross-country resettlements in the mid-1800s. Emigrants seeking vast fortunes and new lives realized a "new world" was being formed in the United States' western territories. The members of the Donner Party were no different and began an exodus to California with nearly one hundred souls, all of whom were differing in character and mentality. However, hurriedly made decisions in the initial aspects of their journey led to the numerous accounts of murder and cannibalism at Lake Tahoe and Alder...