This Louis L’Amour short story out of the book The Outlaws of Mesquite is a tale of the tenacity of Johnny Garrett, which was also fueled by the desire to be close to Mary Jane Gavin. His first problem was that he was unable to keep his thoughts to himself and when he shared them with Mary Jane she repeated them to Smoke the foreman of the Bar X. As this outsider tried to become the best cowhand on the ranch he was given every dirty job available. Now every rookie has to learn all the jobs but Smoke wanted to get rid of the competition.
The first major test was in the winter and he was sent out to check the fence that would prevent a drift from going off the edge of the arroyo. All the cattle would end up dead and pilled in the bottom. He saved the day but he was unable to win the foreman over. His next assignment was being the range hand that was the hand would be posted to stay out on the range. He was clued into the fact that the cattle count was short and he began to search for the cattle in his area. Rustlers were suspected and he was zeroing in on them.
If I tell too much you wont want to read this story. I think it is worth the read and you will find out that a new girl is inserted into the story. The art of telling a great story is the ability of the author to have a ring of truth and a common theme. I would recommend this story as a good read even though it does not have the compelling draw some other stories have. I would like you to judge for yourself.
This is a post Civil War movie that highlights two men and the hatred that is enacted by the actions of war that grow from the obsession of righting a wrong into the breeding ground for revenge. An ex-Confederate Colonel Carver played by, Liam Neeson, is chasing an ex-Union Captain Gideon played by, Pierce Brosnan, in the hope of clearing his mind of the torment generated by the loss of his complete family at the hand and order of Gideon. Neither man is aware of the torment that is haunting the other about that particular day. Many things are done in war that drive men long after the war is over and this is the case with these two men.
The chase has continued for five years and Carver feels the closeness of the end but he wants to look into the eyes of the man that inflicted this terrible calamity on his life. The opening scene is on top of a mountain and Gideon is shot and would probably die but he is chased, so his survival instinct clicks on and the hunt begins with Carver and his posse of four bounty hunters are on the heals of the wounded Gideon.
The landscape is a major character in the beginning all the way to the end. Water, cold and snow is finally at the end of the chase is replaced by desert, heat and no water. The abundance of water can kill you and the lack of water will also kill you. The location is New Mexico one of the few places in the United States that you can get all of these combinations. The two characters in the beginning look similar in appearance from there use of clothing and in the end they look similar in appearance again with there lack of clothing.
This is an anti war movie that highlights mans inhumanity to man. The question is why can’t they let it go. The ravages of war on both men are struck on the chest of each man. The movie was very well done but it did not play well on the big screen and I missed it there. It is a very good western and I will have to decide if it will replace a movie I already have in my top one hundred best western movies.
This is a short story from the pen of Louis L’Amour from his collection in The Outlaws of Mesquite. This story confronts a mans fear and the craziness of a wild horse. Was it really fear or common since? As a boy this top rider had seen this horse kill a perfectly good saddle horse that he had been riding by stomping him to death not by accident but on purpose.
Marty Mahan was an outstanding rodeo rider and his competition was Yannell Stoper who was only interested in wining and specifically beating Marty. Marty was also pressured to earn more money so he could buy the ranch that he had his eye on and his girl Peg was applying that pressure. Marriage was on the line. The Ghost Maker was here but he would not ride him because he knew what the horse could do.
This story sums up some of the traits of western men and how the good ones were able to overcome the opportunities that a man can encounter even today. How we face up to our demons that mark us it stamps our identity on the community around us. This was a very significant short story written I hope to bring mans spirit closer to what Louis L’Amour had of a vision where man should be.
I recommend this short story to those who believe that they lack resolve and need some reassurance that the path is there for the man that looks.
This is a short story written by Louis L’Amour about a unique love struck cowboy who is always in trouble with his girlfriend because he is late or has a black eye or is using his guns to frequently. She knew his given name and he hated it. Jenny always used it when she wanted to make a point or get him to do something that his logic would tell him wasn’t possible.
She wanted flowers for her birthday and he wanted to go with the posse to catch and share in the reward because they had robbed the bank and killed the teller. Here he was searching his mind and anyone else that was available. One old man had suggested a spot in the opposite direction than the bank robbers so he couldn’t combine the two searches at the same time. So hunting flowers for Jenny was the plan and the dream of getting the reward and buying a ranch was again on the back burner.
Here he was searching for flowers taking a long unused trail heading for the divide and when he got to the divide he would then search the eastern slopes that had green grass and flowers. To his surprise three sets of fresh horse tracks merged on to his trail from the north and they were moving fast. In lonely country that would only mean men on the dodge.
The story continues and the events are serious and funny. I wont spell out the ending but as you can surmise there is a fight and men will never understand women. I recommend this set of short stories to any reader.
The story begins with the main character Wat Bell, initially known as the Papago Kid, being where he was told to be, the Tin Cup ranch. Things were not too healthy there as he shows up he sees a man get shot dead. He tries to even out the odds with a few rifle shots. The murders just run off. Hugh Taylor told him that he was a wanted man and it was for murder. He was told to lay low at the Tin Cup ranch. The sheriff and his posse ride up with the sounds of shots still bouncing off the hills. The first question was why did you shot him? I was in the box again running from one murder that I didn’t commit right into a second one I didn’t do either.
This short story has all kinds of twists and turns with a little true love thrown in to keep the women folk happy. The story has all of the makings of a full western novel all it needed was more details and the complexities of the story to be highlighted and fleshed out.
I have enjoyed reading the short stories of Louis L’Amour and would recommend them to any reader.
This is another story of the men in the Sackett family. Louis L’Amour uses his unique ability to tell a tale of a man who was cautious but still susceptible to the wiles of women. Being the cautious man that he was Nolan Sackett was running from the possibility of having to kill another man. An old man had him under his rifle but let him take the horse and gave him directions so he wouldn’t be see and he was off.
Crossing trails with at least two groups of people heading in the same direction would tend to take the element of coincidence out of the question. The two groups were looking for the same thing gold and no element of fair play or equal share were involved in their thinking. More people get involved and the possibility of getting killed increases because the fever generated by gold becomes totally consuming.
The story has many twists and turns with good guys and bad guy hitting head on. The story has a mellow ending and most women would enjoy how it ends. I am a Louis L’Amour fan for many years and I would recommend this book to any reader of westerns and anyone who likes a good story.
This is the beginning book of the Sackett family and the father that challenged a new land. Barnabas Sackett was a man of land in England and he held it in high reverence. The love of wild lands and his spirit of not taking the back position to any man proved to be his problem. A young noble man felt slighted by this upstart young man and they crossed sword and became life long enemies.
He was shanghaied and was suppose to be killed at sea. Knowing the circumstances of his new position he plunged into the work and became too valuable to let the sea swallow him up. How did he become the captain of the ship he was shanghaied on? This was a small hill for a man with a sword and the backbone to survive.
Arriving at the new land he falls in love with its beauty and the freedom to do what ever he is capable of doing. With his limited trade goods he found a welcome market among the Indians and was able to increase his treasury. As he left the new land he felt it calling for him to come back and he would.
This is a great story that begins the trail of a family as they brand the land for themselves and their families. Louis L’Amour is the storyteller who weaves the various families and individuals into many intricate stories.
I would suggest that the Sackett’s be read in order if it is a first time read and you will feel the run of the stories and people that are involved as the author had intended.
This is a contemporary western by Richard S. Wheeler. The setting is in Montana and it has the feel and look of something that could happen. The Big Empty is the name for this country given to it by its shrinking residents in eastern Montana. The character of Laslo Horoney a Texas billionaire who has a vision of turning this land back to the time before white man walked on and destroyed the grass and animals that lived and thrived upon it. This is envisioned as a great idea but along every path a few stones will jump out to trip and stop a person with the best of intensions.
The first of these is the Nichols family who has lived on the land for over one hundred years. Their roots are deep and their determination to stay is unbreakable. Their 347 square miles are very important to the completion of Laslo’s vision. The story is fiction but it has the ring of could be true if some one of vision wanted to spend his money for a dream. The major stumbling block turns out to be the greedy shortsighted politicians both in State government and the Federal government who reverse decisions create new obstacles. The radical environmentalists try to make it almost impossible for the Nichols family to continue ranching. The Nichols family has over the years increased their vigor in improved the ranch by conserving the land and re-establishing the grass. As every year passes since they began to understand the importance for their care of the land they have attacked it with new zest.
The story is integrated with good guy and bad guys always disguised to the reader with a cloak of mysterious agendas always hidden in the background. I definitely recommend this book to western readers and those who would like to better understand the environment as we strive to improve our planet and help it to survive.
This is a reread of my Louis L’Amour collection. The story is about the happenings of William Tell Sackett as he is searching for his place in the country and family. The story has the wonderful storytelling qualities of Louis L’Amour as he draws the reader through the life of Tell Sackett. The ups and downs of a grown man struggling with the need to have a family and resolve the issues that continue to pop up in his life similar but different to the problems we also encounter every day.
Tell is returning home bye way of a little used trail because he had shot a man who was trying to cheat him in cards. This let him discover a trail that crossed the one he was using through the wild country by an unusually marked trail. Being the curious adventurer that he is he takes the turn and the journey to his unknown destination begins.
I have always enjoyed the storytelling ability of Louis L’Amour as he winds his way through the mountains in search for the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The life of Tell Sackett goes through the day-to-day events with surprising clarity and real life events that would have happened to any western character.
This is the third book I have read by the author Richard S. Fisher and I was again pleased with the development and flow of the story. The main character Barnaby Skye is embroiled in a life recovery of his soul mate and Crow wife, Victoria. She is severely injured during a raid on their fall buffalo hunt. All the horses are taken and winter is coming. The pair attempts to return to there winter camp with her Crow family.
He is shunned and sent from the camp because he has what he and Victoria think is a spirit horse and her colt. The colt is named Jawbone and is describe, as being unafraid of the normal thing horses would be afraid of. The mare and colt go with Skye on his many misadventures that compound his troubles.
I continue my read of this author and now rate the books as two good and one bad. I am reluctant to give out much information about the story because I would like you to read and also evaluate the story and how it is conveyed to you the reader. I personally liked the story but felt that some of the historical things were not available as they presented them in the story.
