Project Description

Leroy and Jean Johnson have devoted over thirty years to investigating and writing about the Manly/Rogers expedition and rescue in 1849. They are the undisputed authorities on the subject and have published several highly acclaimed books on the Death Valley Argonauts, including their definitive work, Escape From Death Valley. Jean recently published, Grit & Gold – The Death Valley Jayhawkers of 1849 that documents the travails of the Jayhawkers – a group of fortune seekers also caught in Death Valley in ’49.