The Texas Slicks by Peter Dawson - Western Novel Review

A Bantam Book, Copyright 1961, Printing 1975

It’s the end of the Civil War and REECE SCARBROUGH arrives back in Texas to find his father is dead, their homestead in ruins and their land deed claimed by a COLONEL CUSHING. Cushing wears a confederate uniform and acts like he’s still a colonel.  I was never really certain whether Cushing had been a real colonel or just put the uniform on to pretend he had been.  At any rate, by sheer audacity and willpower in the form of some hardcase gunmen, he ends up being the biggest ranch owner in the Texas Panhandle and “the law”.  

He’s even the “banker” and no one gets a loan to start a ranch except through the Colonel.  And of course, Scarbrough needs a loan to finance a trail drive in order to save his ranch.

When Scarbrough visits a local woman to find out what happened to his father, the Colonel surrounds him and his new buddy DIRTY BILL with dozens of armed men.  They shoot the house to pieces and are preparing to blow it up, when the army intervenes.  The army’s Captain has no patience for the Colonel and forces a temporary truce.  That doesn’t end things, of course.  Not by a long shot.

Through the woman’s help, Scarbrough manages to find financial backing from a retired Mexican general and he attempts to put together his cattle drive.  After he’s rounded up his cattle, the Colonel attempts a sabotage.  There’s a desperate and dangerous fight amongst restless cattle and a lit dynamite fuse, and the sabotage fails.  

After a long, arduous trail drive, Scarbrough’s ragtag group of cowboys make it to Abilene to sell their cattle only to be outwitted by Colonel Cushing.   Through a dirty deal and a murder, he’s gotten ownership of the cattle!  Naturally, Scarbrough and his cowboys do find a way to beat the Colonel. And the way Scarbrough’s cowboys band together and get the job done is touching.

Despite the gunplay and killings, this is a funny story.  Most of the levity comes from the cowpoke named Dirty Bill.  He’s sure a character. Full of tall tales and always insisting he’s not sticking around another day.  He’s perpetually “leaving tomorrow” because he doesn’t want to end up on the wrong end of the stick when the Colonel comes after Scarbrough.  

"I'll help you this once," said Dirty.  I must be crazy working for nothing for an idiot but I am so sorry for you, I'll just go along.  You need to be pampered else you'll likely do something crazy and get yourself hurt."

Not to mention that Dirty Bill’s not high on the Colonel’s friend list himself.  Dirty Bill started out on Colonel Cushing’s payroll, challenging Scarbrough to a fight just for the sport of it.  Scarbrough beat him and managed to get a pistol in Colonel Cushing’s back.  Blaming Dirty Bill for the incident, Cushing fires him.  And of course, Dirty Bill feels it’s a pretty good idea to leave the country as soon as possible.  However, Scarborough takes a liking to Dirty Bill so he hires him. And Dirty Bill, despite his many protests, takes a liking to Scarbrough.

There’s really no love interest in this story despite the help Scarbrough receives from the woman.  In addition to bringing the retired Mexican general and Scarbrough together, she also rode out to warn him of the attempted sabotage.  Although there’s a suggestion of possible romance, nothing ever develops.  

The rapport between Dirty Bill and Scarbrough is the real entertainment.  Scarbrough’s following comment about Dirty Bill is typical of the sparring between the two:  “Your maw? I never thought you were borned of woman.  More likely a shaggy old buffalo whelped you.”

I was a bit disappointed that the retired Mexican general didn't play a larger role in the story.  He was shaping up to be an interesting player in the shenanigans.  And the romance I was expecting to bud, didn't really even start to spark.  Overall though, the book is a fun read.  And Dirty Bill being my favorite character.

Back Cover

Cigarettes lit up 7

Cigars lit up 3

Gunplay 3

Fightfights 3

Sabotage 1

Dirty Dealings 1

FAVORITE LINES:

“If your boys don’t take off their guns in three seconds, you’re going to require a new head.”

“It isn’t every day a man can twist the tiger’s tail while somebody else steals its teeth.”

“I don’t look for trouble, it comes with the country.”

“The runts in Texas are as tough as the prime in Kansas.”

“He’s the most ornery, tomfool maverick.”

“Doesn’t cost much here to kill a man.”  (speaking of Abilene KS)

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Cartridge Creek by Richard Meade - Western Novel Review

CARTRIDGE CREEK is an unusual western story.  It’s the story of a wild town needing taming but it’s not a ‘new lawman rides into town and lays down the law’ story.  The fellow that does the taming is a real estate developer.  Yes, you heard right.  A real estate developer.  The lead character is Will Leatherman, but although he’s a partner in the San Antonio Development real estate company, he’s also an ex-trail hardened cowman. He was tired of the roller coaster life of a cowman and wanted to do something to make steady money.  So he took his $20,000 savings and invested in real estate. He and his partner purchase real estate properties, develop them and resell them at a profit.

But now he and his partner are in a bind and have to find a big money-making deal in order to prevent bankruptcy.  So in the beginning of the novel, we find them eyeing a couple of properties across the country that they feel might meet their needs.   His partner is checking into one option, while Leatherman is checking into another.  The option Leatherman is looking into is a town owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad and a nearby ranch owned by a man named Gorman.  The town is called Cartridge Creek and the railroad has put it up for sale dirt cheap.  Gorman is a retiring rancher and is also offering his ranch up for sale at an extremely low price.  Leatherman’s first task is to find out why both properties are so low in price.  

Just as Leatherman arrives in town, he receives a telegram from his partner who informs him that the other deal is no longer an option. So Cartridge Creek and the Gorman Ranch are now their last hope.  Buying a whole town and a large, well-watered ranch in close proximity could be a sweet deal that saves their company--or it could bust them.  And in Leatherman’s case, he could lose his life.

What Leatherman finds out about the town has him ready to throw in his cards and tell his partner it’s time to dissolve the company and salvage what they can, but that ranch...he wants that Gorman ranch.  Unfortunately, the town is wild and unruly, run by a savage ex-Quantrill rider and his rival. Between their feuding and the rustling, the town is not the prosperous family-friendly place it could be and all the ranches round about suffer, including the sweet beauty that is up for sale.

The town is filled with gunmen chased out of New Mexico following the Lincoln County War.  And the gunmen’s loyalties  are divided up between two saloon-owners: Fate Canady and Goldtooth Bob.  These are the two feuding factions.  Partners at one time (they opened the Cattleman Saloon together), they had a falling out and are now sworn enemies.  Goldtooth Bob left the Cattleman Saloon and opened the Silver Dollar Saloon.  Things are heating up and it looks like there will be an all-out war any day.

The Southern Pacific Railroad is tired of the trouble-causing gunmen and would rather sell the town cheap than hire anyone to tame the place.  Leatherman and his partner have approached the railroad to buy the town but want to take a look at it first.  He enters the town incognito; not letting anyone know his real purpose there or his association with the San Antonio Development company.

He takes a room at the boarding house owned by a widow named Bettina Grady who is being courted by the local town booster, a likeable fellow named Tom Brand. Brand is enthusiastic about the town’s prospects and is the major reason the railroad came through and the town has prospered. At least it prospered up until the gunmen moved in.  He’s handy with a gun and befriends Leatherman.  

Leatherman is not entirely sure he wants any part of the trouble due to occur and struggles with his decision to buy or leave.  If he buys, he knows that the wild bunch will have to be cleared out of the town or they will never be able to develop and sell property there.  If he leaves, he and his partner will surely have to declare bankruptcy.  And then there’s that ranch.  It’s such a beautiful ranch with plenty of land and water that he’s entertaining the idea of buying it up for himself rather than for development.  And lastly, there’s Bettina Grady.  He keeps picturing Bettina Grady on that ranch with him.  But of course, there’s an expectation and understanding that Bettina will marry Brand when he asks her.

Leatherman finally makes his decision.  And as you can guess, he decides to gamble at taking a hand at cleaning up the town and buying the ranch for himself.  He sends a telegram to his partner to proceed with the deal.  

As expected, there’s all kinds of gunplay.  The two hard-case town bosses have it out in a fierce Lincoln County-style shootout in the middle of town, followed by drunken revelry.  The whole town is shot up, windows smashed, dead gunmen laying in the street and the losing saloon trashed.   The townsfolk all hole up in their homes until it’s all over.  They stand guard all night with weapons ready to protect their homes and women from the marauders.  One of the townsfolk peeking through covered window describes it as “...like watching hell through a peep hole.”

Following the win by Fate Canady, Leatherman plans a three-pronged attack:  with the townsmen starting a battle in town, he plans to have a group of ex-railroad policemen approach the town from one side and the ranchers approach from the other side.

With the prospects of the town looking rosier and an offer of the town management position, Brady asks Bettina to marry him.  She, however, turns him down.  And although she doesn’t mention Leatherman,  Brady suspects rightly that  he is the reason.  His jealousy turns into an ugly betrayal which not only nearly costs Leatherman his life, but also puts the town in severe jeopardy.

It’s a gripping story with plenty of conflict--Leatherman’s conflicting emotions about the situation; the competition between Leatherman and Brady for Bettina’s affections; the town bosses against each other and the town and then finally, the winner of the feud against Leatherman and his little ‘army’.

This is one I would definitely re-read.

Back Cover

IRONIC FACT: far more cigars are smoked than cigarettes, but the cover drawing shows a cowboy smoking a cigarette.

FAVORITE LINES:

“You stand fast or you’re dead as hell!”

“I don’t care how many trains go through Cartridge Creek; the one I leave on is the one I pick myself.”

“When a man’s time comes to die, he can do it two ways.  Straight up on his hind legs or hunched over like a scared rabbit in a hailstorm.  Me, I ain’t no rabbit.”

Manor Books printing 1975

Original copyright - Doubleday & Company Inc 1973

Cigarettes lit up 1

Cigars lit up 10

Gunplay 4

Fistfights 1

Bushwhacks 3

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Louis L'Amour's The High Graders - Western Novel Review

Cover of the High Graders by Louis L'Amour - 1963 Bantam edition

MIKE SHEVLIN the HIGH GRADERS' lead character, returns to the town of Rafter Crossing after a 13 year absence to investigate the shooting death of Eli Patterson, an old man who once befriended him. He also finds himself investigating the beating death of the rancher Jack Moorman who he had also befriended. Having arrived, he lands in the midst of a town war. As one would expect, both murders and the town hostilities are related.


During his long absence, the at one time cowtown, has become a gold mining town with more trouble than it can handle. And the once powerful cattle ranchers are now battling with the miners over what ranchers and miners have always fought over; the land and pollution of the water supply. The real conflict, however, is the feud between two factions who have been involved in high grading the gold from the biggest mine.

Two years previously, Ray Hollister, a small rancher with big ambitions, partnered with a shyster lawyer to bring in a mining superintendent named Ben Stowe to do the high grading. But Ben Stowe does a double cross and maneuvers Hollister and his lawyer out of the swindle. Now Hollister is using the other ranchers to get revenge on Stowe and steal the stolen gold. So while the ranchers think it's Ranchers vs Miners, it's really High Grader vs High Grader.

"Somebody had been shrewd enough to let a whole community get its fingers sticky. By simply looking the other way while the minors high-graded a little gold, the men who operated the mines had made the townspeople accomplices to their own theft."

In addition, although the owner of the mine is keeping her identify secret, one of the crooked factions is trying to press her to sell the "unprofitable" mine so, as they tell it, the land can be returned to ranch-land.


In the meantime, the owner of the mine, Laine Tennison, grows suspicious of the ever-increasing pressure to sell and suspects that the mine is really worth more than the superintendent is revealing. While keeping her ownership secret, she comes from San Francisco on the pretense of visiting a relative in order to get a closer look at the situation in Rafter Crossing. She is convinced that her mine is being bled dry by high graders. And is certain that the gold has not been removed from the town yet. Furthermore, she believes that whoever is stealing it has it hidden somewhere right there in town!


Naturally, it is Mike Shevlin she wants to hire to find out who is behind it and how they're doing it. And when he gets involved, all hell breaks loose. Things get too hot and Stowe is forced to move the gold out fast, but he's got to get it past all those looking for it: the owner; Shevlin; Hollister and the ranchers. He finds a surprising ally to move the gold. An ally that is fully aware that he can't trust Stowe to not put him six feet under once the gold is safely delivered to its destination.

"He knew their kind, for in a sense he was one of them. The difference was that he had chosen to ride on the side of the law--and when you came down to it that was quite a difference. He had deeply ingrained within him a respect for the law, and the need for it. He knew that otherwise life would be a jungle, And he knew too, that many of those who made out to despise the law the most, found themselves wishing for its protection."

The love interest for our hero is Laine Tennison. Although Shevlin has a bad reputation, obtained from his youth, she has a high regard for him because her uncle was the very Eli Patterson whose death Shevlin came back to investigate. And it was Patterson who, while in her presence, once recommended Shevlin to Tennison's grandfather.


This is a great read; a real page turner. It's action-packed from start to finish. There's tons of gunplay, several murders, a bushwhacking, fistfights, a kidnapping, all kinds of double crossing and an assassin for hire. And as they say, there is no honor among thieves...or trust. There's hardly anyone without a secret. And everyone mistrusts everyone else. In addition to the mystery of who killed Eli Patterson & Jack Moorman, are the mysteries about who's double crossing who and how. Even Laine, at one point, wonders if Shevlin hasn't changed sides on her.


This is my second read of this book and I'll probably read it again.

Back cover of The High Graders by Louis L'Amour.  An accurate portrayal of the story.

FAVORITE LINE:

"Ma'am, I'm Mike Shevlin, and all hell's about to break loose."


OTHER FAVORITES:


"...you smell of trouble, and trouble is my business."


"I take notions"


"When a horse starts swishin' his tail there's no telling what burrs he'll pick up."


"By noon tomorrow I'm cutting my wolf loose, and if you're not with me you'd better hunt a hole."


"Ma'am, you never get far talking things over with a man holding a gun. And this here man wasn't much given to talk."



Cigarettes lit up 1
Cigars lit up 13
Pipes lit up 3
Gunplay 5
Fistfights 3
Murder 3
Bushwhackings 1
Kidnapping 1

UPDATED: Formatting corrected

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Weekly Quote: Drinking Your Whiskey

"Always drink your whiskey with your gun hand, to show your friendly intentions."

From Ramon Adams' book, The Cowman and His Code of Ethics