Lansford W. Hastings, an Ohio Lawyer, was one of the original settlers of California after reaching the state via the Oregon Trail. When Hastings returned to Ohio, he wrote The Emigrants Guide to California. This guide featured the Hastings Cutoff, which was followed by the Donner Party on their ill-fated 1846 journey. Hastings later returned to California, tasked with scouting out sites for a colony for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Mexican-owned territory of the region. He settled on a spot on Suisun Bay, right…
