NOTES (per the book cover): This was the guidebook used by the Donner Party to traverse Hasting's "shortcut" through the Rocky Mountains, because of the approaching winter, with the ensuing tragedy. The War Department asked Randolph March to write a new guidebook, The Prairie Traveler, published 1859, which quickly replaced the Emigrants' Guide as the preferred choice.

Famous (infamous) guide that some claim let Donner Party to take the Hastings Cutoff that was not as reported in the book and loss of much life.
all original but cover. Has list of recommended food and gear ( )

facsimile reprint of the 1845 edition. title page:
The Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California, Containing Scenes and Incidents of a Party of Oregon Emigrants; A Description of Oregon; Scenes and Incidents of a Party of California Emigrants; and a Description of California; with a Description of the Different Routes to those Countries; and All Necessary Information Relative to the Equipment, Supplies, and the Method of Traveling. by Lansford W. Hastings, Leader of the Oregon and California Emigrants of 1842.
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The route described here, known as the Hastings Cutoff, was supposed to be an easy shortcut route to California. The author enthusiastically described the ease and advantages of this route, although he had not actually been anywhere near it. His advice was followed with disastrous results by a group we know as the Donner Party.