Lonesome Dove is a 1985 western novel by Texan author Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the Lonesome Dove series, but the third installment in the series chronologically.
The story focuses on the relationship of several retired Texas Rangers and their adventures driving a cattle herd from Texas to Montana. Set in the closing years of the Old West, the novel explores themes of old age, death, unrequited love, and friendship.
The novel was a bestseller and won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 1989 it was adapted into a TV miniseries starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, which won both critical and popular acclaim. McMurtry went on to write a sequel, Streets of Laredo, and two prequels, Dead Man's Walk and Comanche Moon, all of which were also adapted in TV series.
Origins
LonesomeDove20th - LONESOME DOVE THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY & CAST REUNION A celebration benefiting the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University-San Marcos Featuring the miniseries principal cast: Robert Duvall...
Following the success of The Last Picture Show in 1971, Peter Bogdanovich was keen to collaborate with McMurtry on a western. Their original script was welcomed by the studio, but disliked by the actors McMurtry and Bogdanovich had in mind - Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda and John Wayne. According to McMurtry, the script languished in development hell for twelve years before he bought the rights back for $35,000, to work on the story as a novel. He spent several years working on it intermittently between writing Cadillac Jack and The Desert Rose, eventually submitting it to his publishers in 1984.
Plot
It is the late 1870s. Captain Woodrow F. Call and Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae, two famous retired Texas Rangers, run the Hat Creek Cattle Company and Livery Emporium in the small Texas border town of Lonesome Dove. Working with them are Joshua Deets, an excellent black tracker and scout from their Ranger days; Pea Eye Parker, another former Ranger who is reliable but unintelligent; Bolivar, a retired Mexican bandit who works as their cook; and Newt Dobbs, a 17-year-old boy whose mother was a prostitute named Maggie and whose father is widely thought by the outfit to be Call, though Call has never acknowledged this.
Jake Spoon, another former Ranger, arrives in Lonesome Dove after an absence of more than ten years, during which he has travelled widely across the United States. He is on the run, having accidentally shot a dentist in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The dentist's brother happens to be the sheriff, July Johnson. Reunited with Gus and Call, Jake's description of Montana inspires Call to gather a herd of cattle and drive them north to begin the first cattle ranch north of the Yellowstone River. Call, who has grown listless in retirement, is attracted to the romantic notion of settling pristine country. Gus is less enthusiastic, but changes his mind when reminded that the love of his life, Clara, lives on the Platte River near Ogallala, Nebraska, which would be on the route to Montana. The Hat Creek outfit rustles cattle from across the border in Mexico and recruits local cowboys in preparation for the drive.
Ironically, Jake Spoon decides not to go at all, having made himself comfortable with the town's only prostitute, Lorena Wood, who is smitten with him after he promises to take her to San Francisco. At Lorena's insistence, however, she and Jake ultimately trail along behind the cattle drive.
In Fort Smith, the sheriff July Johnson has departed town on the trail of Jake Spoon, taking his 12-year-old stepson Joe with him. July's wife Elmira, who regrets her recent marriage to him, leaves shortly afterwards to search for her former lover Dee Boot. Inept deputy sheriff Roscoe Brown is sent after July to inform him of her disappearance, and has many misadventures and strange encounters through Arkansas and Texas, assisted by a young girl named Janey who escapes from sexual slavery to accompany him. Roscoe eventually reunites with July and Joe when they rescue him and Janey from bandits in Texas.
As the cattle drive moves north through Texas, Jake tires of Lorena and abandons her to go gambling in Austin. Left alone, she is abducted by an Indian bandit named Blue Duck, an old nemesis of the Texas Rangers. Gus goes in pursuit, and while travelling along the Canadian River he encounters July's group. Gus and July attack Blue Duck's bandit encampment, killing the bandits and rescuing Lorena; however, Blue Duck has already made his escape, murdering Roscoe, Joe and Janey in the process. A devastated July continues his journey in search of Elmira, while Gus and Lorena return to the cattle drive. Lorena has been repeatedly raped and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, frightened of interacting with anybody other than Gus; the two of them sleep in a tent some distance behind the other cowboys, still following the cattle drive north.
Meanwhile Jake Spoon is in Fort Worth. Hearing that July Johnson has been looking for him, Jake leaves Texas in a hurry in the company of the Suggs brothers, whom he soon realizes are bandits. Jake becomes increasingly alarmed by the brothers' actions as they travel north into Kansas, the gang progressing from robbery to outright murder, but is too frightened and outnumbered to kill them or escape. When the gang attacks a trail boss known to Gus and Call, the former Rangers of the Hat Creek outfit go in pursuit of them, and are dismayed when they apprehend the Suggs brothers and find Jake alongside them. Jake pleads with his former comrades that he had no choice but to go along with things for fear of his own life, but Gus and Call are firm that he has "crossed a line," and they solemnly hang him alongside the Suggs brothers. Newt, who had idolized Jake as a child, is left deeply upset.
Meanwhile Elmira, pregnant with July's child, has come into the company of a rough buffalo hunter named Zwey, a simple man who seems to believe he is now "married" to her. Arriving in Nebraska they come across the horse ranch of Clara Allen, Gus's former love, whose husband Bob has become a brain-damaged invalid after being kicked by a mustang. Clara delivers Elmira's baby son, but Elmira and Zwey leave almost immediately afterwards for Ogallala. Dee Boot is held in Ogallala jail, scheduled to be hanged for his accidental murder of a settler; Elmira collapses while speaking to him, and Boot is hanged while she recuperates in a doctor's house, leaving her heartbroken and depressed. July arrives at Clara's ranch, learns what has transpired, and goes to see her, but Elmira refuses to speak to him. Shortly afterwards she orders Zwey to take her east back towards St. Louis; July feels compelled to follow her, but at Clara's insistence he remains at the ranch with her family and his son instead, anguished and heartbroken. Word later reaches them that Elmira and Zwey were killed by Sioux.
The Hat Creek outfit arrives in Nebraska, and Gus takes Lorena, Call and Newt to visit Clara. She is happy to see him but has no desire to rekindle their romance; however, she takes in Lorena, whose PTSD is easing and feels comfortable with Clara and her daughters. Gus, rebuffed by Clara and no longer Lorena's sole carer, decides to go with the cattle drive and see the journey to Montana through to its end.
In Wyoming, several horses are stolen by half-starved Indians. Call, Gus and Deets chase after them, and Deets is killed in the confrontation by the group's only remaining brave. Shortly afterwards Gus informs Newt that Call is his father, something Newt has always dreamed of, but he is too upset by Deets's death to give it much thought.
The cattle drive arrives in Montana, which is as lush and beautiful as Jake said. Scouting ahead of the main herd, Gus and Pea Eye are attacked by Blood Indians and Gus is badly wounded by two arrows to the leg. Besieged in a makeshift dugout in the bank of the Musselshell River for several days, Gus' wounds become infected and his health declines. After heavy rain he sends Pea Eye down the swollen river to seek help, but Pea Eye loses his clothing in the river and stumbles naked across the plains. Starving, delirious and suffering from exposure, he returns to the main herd on the verge of death; Call sets out alone to rescue Gus.
Meanwhile Gus leaves the river shortly after Pea Eye, feverish and dying, taking his chances and escaping the Indians. He makes it to Miles City and collapses unconscious, waking to find that a doctor has sawed off his gangrenous leg. His other leg is also infected, but Gus refuses to let the doctor amputate it. Call arrives in Miles City and fruitlessly tries to convince Gus to have his other leg removed; Gus, however, would rather die than be an invalid. Gus asks Call to bury him by the spring in Texas where he used to picnic with Clara, and Call begrudgingly agrees. After writing letters for Clara and Lorena and urging Call to accept Newt as his son, Gus dies of blood poisoning.
Call leaves Gus's body in storage in Miles City, intending to return him to Texas after the winter. He continues north with cattle drive, despondent over the loss of his closest friend. Eventually he establishes a ranch between the Missouri River and the Milk River. Call suffers from depression all winter, no longer caring about the cattle drive or the ranch, and contemplating what to do about Newt. Before leaving in the spring he puts Newt in charge of the ranch, and gives him his horse, his rifle and his family watch - but still cannot bring himself to claim the boy as his son. Newt is inwardly upset but accepts the gifts nonetheless. Call, ashamed of himself, departs the ranch.
Call retrieves Gus's body, packed in a coffin with salt and charcoal, and begins the long journey south. In Nebraska he gives Gus's letters to Clara and Lorena. Clara considers the journey a whimsical folly typical of Gus and urges Call to bury him on her ranch, but Call refuses, having given Gus his word. Clara tells Call she despises him as a "vain coward" for refusing to claim Newt as his son, and he leaves Nebraska haunted by her condemnation.
The story of the cowboy transporting his dead friend's body spreads across the plains, and Call takes a circuitous route through Colorado and New Mexico to avoid the increasing attention. In Santa Rosa, New Mexico, he discovers that Blue Duck has been captured by a sheriff's deputy. Call visits Blue Duck in his jail cell and the Indian taunts him, pointing out that he raided, killed, raped and kidnapped with impunity throughout his life despite the best efforts of the Texas Rangers. On the day of his hanging, Blue Duck tackles the sheriff's deputy who caught him through an upper-story courthouse window, killing them both.
Arriving back in Texas exhausted and despondent, Call buries Gus by the spring in San Antonio, true to his word. He rides on to Lonesome Dove, where the cook Bolivar, who abandoned the cattle drive before it left Texas, is delighted to see him again. In the town itself, Call finds that the saloon has burned down; the proprietor was in love with Lorena and committed suicide after her departure.
Characters
- Captain Woodrow F. Call â€" Co-owner of the Hat Creek outfit and former Texas Ranger. A largely silent leader of men who believes in discipline, duty and honour, he is a foil to his best friend Gus. McMurtry describes Call as a Stoic.
- Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae - Co-owner of the Hat Creek outfit and former Texas Ranger. A lazy, loquacious and charismatic rake with a fondness for alcohol, gambling and whores, he is nonetheless a brave and competent fighter when required. He is tall and lanky, famed for his excellent eyesight, and has had silver hair since his twenties. He serves as a foil to his best friend Call, and is described by McMurtry as an Epicurean.
- Pea Eye Parker â€" The wrangler and blacksmith of the Hat Creek Cattle Company, Pea Eye served as a corporal in the Rangers under Gus and Call. Pea Eye (his real name long forgotten) is not especially bright, but he is reliable, brave, and kind. He follows Call's lead without question.
- Joshua Deets â€" An ex-slave and former Ranger, Deets is a ranch hand at the company. On the drive, he serves as scout. A remarkable tracker and loyal friend, he is one of the few men whom Call respects and trusts.
- Newt Dobbs â€" A 17-year-old orphan raised by Gus and Call. His mother was a prostitute named Maggie, who died when he was a child. He knows his mother was a prostitute but has no idea who his father might be. Most observers, notably Gus and Clara Allen, are confident Call is his father. McMurtry refers to Newt as "the lonesome dove of the title."
- Jake Spoon â€" A former Ranger who left his friends ten years ago to travel around America, returning to Texas near the beginning of the novel. Like Gus, Jake is a drinker, gambler and womaniser, and possesses a great personal charm.
- Dishwater "Dish" Boggett â€" Though only 21, Dish is a cowboy of great skill and the "top hand" for Call's cattle drive. He suffers greatly from unrequited love for Lorena Wood. His nickname derives from once having drunk dishwater on a cattle drive, being so thirsty that he could not wait for the water barrel.
- Bolivar â€" A former Mexican bandit and the cook for the Hat Creek Cattle Company. He is obsessed with loudly and unnecessarily ringing the dinner bell to call the company for dinner. Bolivar is uneasy about venturing far from the Rio Grande and abandons the cattle drive before it leaves Texas.
- Po Campo â€" The cattle drive's enigmatic new cook, hired by Call in Austin after Bolivar's departure. He uses exotic ingredients like grasshoppers in his meals and refuses to ride animals. He hints at being well-travelled, and also off-handedly remarks that he killed his wife.
- Lorena Wood â€" A beautiful young woman from Alabama who was coerced into prostitution by a former lover, later washing up in Lonesome Dove, where she works as the town's only whore. Lorena is taciturn, strong-willed and intimidating, generally viewing her clients and admirers with contempt. Discontent with her life, Lorena harbours a dream of travelling to San Francisco.
- Blue Duck â€" The son of Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump and his Mexican captive, Blue Duck leads a band of renegade Indians and Caucasian bandits. He is feared across the plains as a murderer, rapist, and slaver. He has managed to evade the law even as the West gradually grows safer and more civilised.
- July Johnson â€" The sheriff of the town of Fort Smith, Arkansas. July is a kind young man recently married to Elmira, whom he deeply loves despite her being openly disdainful of him. After his brother Ben is accidentally killed by Jake Spoon, July sets off in pursuit of him.
- Elmira Johnson - a former whore from Kansas, recently married to July Johnson. She is unhappy with her life and suffers from depression, eventually leaving Fort Smith to seek out her old love Dee Boot.
- Roscoe Brown â€" The deputy sheriff of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Roscoe is a simple man in his forties who is content to spend his life minding the sleepy town's jail, but is bullied by July's sister-in-law into tracking down the sheriff and his missing wife.
- Clara Allen â€" A former love of Gus, she declined his repeated marriage proposals during their youth in Texas - for reasons that were never entirely clear to Gus - instead marrying the horse trader Bob Allen and moving to a ranch near Ogallala, Nebraska. She still grieves for her sons who died of respiratory disease from the sod house she and Bob first lived in, and treasures her daughters.
- Jimmy and Ben Rainey, Bill and Pete Spettle, Soupy Jones, Needle Nelson, Jasper Fant, Bert Borum, Lippy Jones, Sean and Allen O'Brien â€" Other hands hired by Call to work the cattle drive.
Reception
Lonesome Dove was the winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
The novel received favorable reviews. In the New York Times, Nicholas Lemann praised the novel as "thrilling and almost perfectly realized," calling it "the great cowboy novel."
McMurtry himself eventually expressed dissatisfaction with the popularity of the novel, particularly after the miniseries adaptation. In the preface to the 2000 edition he wrote: "It's hard to go wrong if one writes at length about the Old West, still the phantom leg of the American psyche. I thought I had written about a harsh time and some pretty harsh people, but, to the public at large, I had produced something nearer to an idealization; instead of a poor man's Inferno, filled with violence, faithlessness and betrayal, I had actually delivered a kind of Gone With The Wind of the West, a turnabout I'll be mulling over for a long, long time."
Adaptations
A television miniseries adaptation produced by Motown Productions was broadcast on CBS in 1989, starring Robert Duvall as Augustus McCrae and Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow F. Call. The series was a commercial and critical success, eventually garnering a cult following.
Historical references
According to McMurtry, Gus and Call were not modeled after historical characters, but there are similarities with real-life cattle drivers Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight. When Goodnight and Loving's guide Bose Ikard died, Goodnight carved a wooden grave marker for him, just as Call does for Deets. Upon Loving's death, Goodnight brought him home to be buried in Texas, as Call does for Augustus. (Goodnight himself appears as a minor but generally sympathetic character in this novel, and more so in the sequel, Streets of Laredo, and the prequels Dead Man's Walk and Comanche Moon.)
According to McMurtry's memoir, Books: A Memoir, the ultimate source for Gus and Call were Don and Sancho from Don Quixoteâ€"the crazy old knight and the peasant pragmatist. On his reading of Don Quixote, "What is important that, early on, I read some version of Don Quixote and pondered the grave differences (comically cast) between Sancho and the Don. Between the two is where fiction, as I've mostly read and written it, lives."
Other books of the Lonesome Dove series feature more-prominent historical events and locations such as the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, Great Raid of 1840 and the King Ranch, and characters such as Buffalo Hump, John Wesley Hardin, and Judge Roy Bean.
See also
- Lonesome Dove series
- Bose Ikard
- Andy Adams (writer), wrote the Log of a Cowboy, an account of a five-month drive of 3,000 cattle from Brownsville, Texas, to Montana in 1882 along the Great Western Cattle Trail.
References
Bibliography
- McMurtry, Larry. (1985). Lonesome Dove: A Novel. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBNÂ 0-671-50420-7
External links
- Lonesome Dove on IMDb
- Lonesome Dove at the TCM Movie Database
- Lonesome Dove at AllMovie
- Lonesome Dove exhibit at Texas State University - San Marcos
- Pappy's Holdup wagon journey - Location where part of Movie was filmed.
- Photos of the first edition of Lonesome Dove
- Study Guide for Lonesome Dove