The fate of the Donner Party — and that of California history – has always fascinated me.

It is especially true when you get beneath the veneer of self-righteous polishing of events.

They weren’t done in the vein of some social media manager trying to sell the image of a celebrity’s alleged wit, wisdom, and mojo of being cutting  edge.

Rather, they were to support a particular narrative.

More often than not California history is laden with snippets of palatable bits of “information” suitable for the consumption of fourth graders such as the well-circulated and incorrect version that the missions under the thumb of Father Serra were a godsend to the indigenous people he found  here.

Slavery, cruelty, coercion, rape, whippings, commandeering property — although the concept of property that the Spaniards had was a foreign concept to those living here for centuries — and decimation by disease finally had light shone on them.

None of that was included in the laser-sharp focus on the story elevating the handiwork of Serra and his underlings as “benevolently” and effectively establishing beachheads in the wilderness that was Alta California.

Such a view  was Spanish eccentric. But is also helped build the storyline that boosters — and there were many with different motives — had of  developing California.

There are the non-embellished nuggets of history conveniently overlooked.

*The well-documented massive flood of 1862 that covered almost all of the Central Valley in water during a mid-winter snowmelt.

*Devastating stretches of drought.

*Hydraulic mining destroying farmland downstream and poisoning rivers.

There is an upside and downside to everything.

There are also usually tidbits glossed over that detract from the preferred narrative one either chooses due to one’s biases or have accepted without question.

So, you might ask, what brings up the Donner Party and a prickling of California history?

Credit Brandon Swartz.

 More specially credit the point Swartz made at Tuesday’s Manteca City Council meeting about this year’s mayoral campaign where innuendos, character assassination, and mudslinging have arguably created the most toxic election cycle in the City of Manteca’s 104-year history.

It’s quite an accomplishment given Manteca’s history of spirited elections.

Swartz used the Donner Party analogy to describe what has been happening in Manteca for the better part of four months.

He invoked cannibalism.

Clearly as a metaphor of people “devouring” Manteca to achieve political ends.

But what made it succulent was his contention that it was fearmongering that set up the decision to resort to cannibalism not just of those in their party that succumbed to the elements and diseases whether they were human or dogs – but also of two indigenous people who tried to help a hiking party only to end up shot in the head and consumed as food.

The native Indians tried to approach them with edible food such as roots and animal carcasses. But fear based on them not being carbon copies of who they were and certainly because they didn’t share the same real world experiences, led to the Donner Party to reject the outreach.

The response of the Donner Party was handed down in oral Washoe history as well as even written words by the immigrants.

Swartz’ point is this: Fear-mongering on the part of the Donner Party set the stage for cannibalism.

That might be a little bit harsh, but it isn’t far off the mark.

The Donner Party clearly had fear of the unknown. Who wouldn’t in a strange place virtually uncharted by one’s peers stuck in a massive snowfall with thousands of feet of imposing mountains rising above that you have to cross.

But it wasn’t the fear in the moment that doomed them.

It was the fear-mongering published in various forms in the East that depicted indigenous people as wild savages west of known civilization that in the American-centric world of the mid-1840s ended a few miles west of the Mississippi River.

Granted, we will never know what was going through their minds. But it is more than reasonable that their response was stoked by “fear-mongering” — the depiction of a people they had never met who actually were among the most peaceful of the indigenous people populating what we now call California-Nevada.

It isn’t the fear we should fear.

It’s those that engage in fear-mongering.

Fear is a healthy thing.

It stops many of us from jumping of  40-foot high perches into small pools of water or going 120 mph down Interstate 5 in a Mini Cooper with four flat tires.

Fear, though, isn’t healthy when it eclipses reasoning.

Fear-mongers use fears to stoke narratives.

Such narratives benefit the people stoking the fears but it can come  at a significant cost to what may be good for the very people that buy into them.

As such, Swartz’ concern is people who buy into the fear being fanned by fear-mongers without taking a good look at what is in front of them will  end up making decisions that have consequences that are detrimental to their known well-being.

Manteca has a lot of issues.

Manteca has a lot of needs.

But it isn’t a cesspool of crime, nonfunctioning government services, corruption, and subpar quality of life.

Manteca is not Ripon, Tracy or Lathrop — all of which have their own share of problems.

Manteca is not San Jose.

Manteca is Manteca.

It is far from perfect.

But it is significantly  farther from being 100 percent imperfect.

There is not evil under every rock as some have claimed.

The question that one must ask themselves is simple.
If you want Manteca to be better than it is, does that mean the best course of action is to resort to the equivalent of political cannibalism fueled by fear-mongering?

The best answer is doing what Swartz apparently did to find a different perspective on the Donner Party than the drive-by, sanitized version served up in the fourth grade.

Go beyond the quick click.

Understand a dip in social media won’t immerse you in  knowledge, perspective or understanding.

 Get outside the echo chamber that the likes of Facebook and operatives have created to make sure you are fed only what re-enforces your fears or your own biases.

And if you still favor cannibalism and giving into fearmongering, that’s your call.

But don’t make the decision on how you cast your vote based on those that channel Chicken Little on steroids.

The sky is not falling down.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com