Head 'em Up, Move 'em Out
Written: Apr 20 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of good details about life on the trail
Cons: A little slow in parts
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| Rocketgirl's Full Review: Ralph Compton - The Deadwood Trial |
I am always on the lookout for historical novels. I picked this one up because Deadwood, South Dakota, always sounded like an interesting place to visit. It turns out this story isn't really much about Deadwood, but was a good historical tale.
The bulk of the story tells the adventure of two "outfits" who are driving their cattle to Deadwood, a town that they figure will be one of the last boomtowns of the west. The year is 1876 and they figure to sell their cattle at high prices for large profit to hungry miners at Deadwood. The only thing standing in their way is a winter that is just barely over, lots of miles to cover, and hostile Indian territory.
There are several parallels between the two groups. The Lone Star Outfit is driving their steers from the Sweetwater River country of Southern Wyoming. The Nelson Story Outfit is driving their herd from Virginia City, Montana. Both use an Indian scout to look ahead for water and grass and Sioux Indians, thought to be on the warpath. Both groups have a trail boss, a deputy, and several cowhands. Both groups have brought women to drive the chuck wagon and cook the meals. The story flips back and forth between the two groups; while this builds suspense, I was occasionally confused about which characters belong to which outfit because there were SO MANY characters.
The two groups suffer many of the same mishaps, including snowstorms, thunderstorms, stampeding herds, thieves, broken wagon wheels, and bickering among themselves. The author, Ralph Compton, does an excellent job providing historical accuracy here, showing how the people deal with their problems and how it pays to be prepared.
The one aspect that kept this story from being a straight western is the number of women included in the story. These women were not Indians or prostitutes, the usual fare, but wives and daughters of the trail hands. Both groups contained a main sub-plot that was centered around the women, also adding to the suspense of what would happen next.
With the Lone Star outfit rode Penelope Gifford, daughter of Brazos Gifford. She is very headstrong and basically grew up a cowboy. She can ride and rope with the best of them. Monte Nance has his eye on her but she isn't interested. He is just too surly, antagonistic, and downright mean. He doesn't like taking orders from the trail boss and doesn't like being rejected. I found myself hoping he got his just desserts.
With the Nelson Story outfit rode Curley McDaniels. Her husband Bud had been abusive to her and so she kicked him out of her tent. He had a chip on his shoulder and took it out on everyone else. Curley seems to be interested in someone else and Bud can't stand it. What happens to him is not really all that surprising.
I won't spoil the story, about what happens when they get to Deadwood, I'll let you read for yourself. Actual historical events affect the outcome of the two outfits.
Judging by some of the footnotes, it looks like these two outfits have appeared in several other "trail" books by the same author. Since I came in "in the middle" of this series, I might have missed something from previous stories. Other books by this author include The Oregon Trail, The Santa Fe Trail, and The Dodge City Trail. I think I'll be checking them out.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Rocketgirl
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 in Books |
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Member: Beth
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
Reviews written: 398
Trusted by: 224 members
About Me:
So many books, so little time.
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