William L. Manly

William Lewis Manly (April 6, 1820 – February 5, 1903) was an American pioneer of the mid-19th century. He was first a fur hunter, a guide of Westward bound caravans, a seeker of gold and 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 experience in America's Far West, in particular the 1848 California Gold Rush.

Early years

Manly was born near St. Albans, Vermont, the son of Ebenezer Manly and Phoebe (Calkins) Manly. In 1829, at the age of nine, Manly left for Ohio with his family. Later, as a pioneer, he went to Michigan, prior to statehood. He then went fur trapping in Wisconsin and in Ohio and the Dakota Territory. An expert hunter 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 (the Death Valley '49ers). These pioneers became lost in the Great Basin Desert, and entered Death Valley, having followed an inaccurate map for three weeks. Their food supplies were almost exhausted, and the oxen pulling their wagons were dying of starvation. Manly, with his associate John Haney Rogers, trekked 250 miles on foot across the Mojave Desert to Rancho San Fernando 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.