Western Books

It is not commonly known that westerns fueled much of the hatred of the Indian by Americans in its early history. Western fiction, in the form of “dime novels,” became the tool used to alter the cultural perception of millions of pioneers. Dime novelists placed images of the Indian into the minds of these early settlers who devoured these early works of pure fiction that produced horrific prejudices. But, it is true that some of the tribes such as the Blackfeet and the Comanche gave credence to the wild, unfounded tales found in the dime novels produced by the tens of thousands by the House of Beadle and Adams.

All good fiction has some basis in fact. But, even bad fiction (which most of the dime novels were) plays with truth. A good western novel will attempt to convey some measure of reality, even if the setting and the people are exaggerated to a small degree, and even if there is a romanticizing of the setting. Zane Grey was one of the best at romanticizing the Old West.

Here is an excellent summary of how the movie industry has solidified that image.

Those who settled in the American West in the 1800′s came to realize that some of the tribes of Indians were to be feared. But, most of them were friendly in the beginning. There are many instances where Indians helped travelers, mountain men, and even the Lewis and Clark expedition. The French trappers had been in the West decades before the Americans and gotten along with the various tribes.

But, as the Americans pushed westward, conflicts grew. In early Tejas (soon to be Texas), the Mexicans and the “Texicans” came to fear the marauding Comanche Indians, together with the Apache. The Comanche would terrorize the entire land of Texas and down into Mexico, for the Comanche knew no boundaries. They roamed where they wished, took what they wanted, and murdered anyone who opposed them. Indeed, stories abound of tales of stark, unmitigated terror at the hand of the Comanche in Texas, from the days of Steve Austin and even into the 1870′s.

So, there was a factual basis for the hatred of the Indian by many. However, it was commonly known that not all Indians were to be feared and not all Indians hated the white man.

But, the advent of the dime novel would change that.

One of the earliest Westerns they published was Seth Jones,  or, The Captives of the Frontier. The first printing of 60,000 sold out immediately. It was also translated into half a dozen languages. Eventually, this title would sell more than 600,000 copies. This was not uncommon. They had many other titles sell similarly.

Quindaro, or, The Heroine of Fort Laramie illustrates perfectly, the kind of fare that was regularly offered which had a profound affect on the minds of the millions who read the story.  Quindaro is the hero in this western, written and published in 1865. He is an avowed Indian hater, but he is also something of a Puritan, in that he has the perception of the West as a kind of Garden of  Eden, a place given to deserving Americans by God, especially to test and spiritually prepare God’s chosen for the thousand year reign of Christ, that period of time in the Bible known as the Millennium.

Mary is Quindaro’s sweetheart.  When Quindaro inquires as to whether she is willing to leave her wilderness home to go to a civilized world, one she’s never seen, she replies: “I have read of the ‘Garden of Eden,’ where our first parents were so happy. And I have pictured to myself even a brighter scene, where intellect controls the actions of mankind. But, there was a serpent in Eden. Is there any such where Christian men and women dwell?”  Quindaro confesses that such as live in that civilized world have amongst it, “such serpents as cursed the beautiful garden.” He sees the elimination of the Indian, indeed, the eradication or complete extermination, as the plan of God, a divine order as it were.  This idea would permeate many minds and cause men who were otherwise Christian in their views, to view the Indian as subhuman, a creature not worthy of redemption.

There was no television to alter the minds and attitudes of people as we have today. There is little question but that we, as a nation, have had our culture affected in many ways by television.

Dime novels were America’s “television” and millions “tuned in” to every channel.

Like now, not everything was worth a nickel, let alone a dime.

Texas Past

Luke is one of those young men who grew up in hard times, doing a man's work years before he was grown. He also learned early in life to take care of himself, and had learned to shuck a gun quicker than most men.

But, Luke's life as a care-free cowboy came to an abrupt end one white-hot Texas summer day. Three riders came upon Luke while he and another cowboy were at a line shack gathering strays and branding calves. The riders were chasing rustlers.

One of the men was a hothead, the son of a powerful, local rancher. He insisted that Luke and his friend were the rustlers.Luke convinces the leader of three riders, an older man with moves Luke considered to be like that of a big cat, that they had the wrong men. However, he shouldn't have discounted the rancher's son. It was a mistake that would cost several men their lives before all was done.

Luke tells it this way:

That kid though, he was like a dog when you take away a piece of meat he's about to sink his teeth into. He just went mean all of a sudden. Even though I'd put away my Colt, I was still watching close. Hadn't been that I was still watching, I might have missed the kid's move because he drew his gun without me seeing it. All I caught was his wild eyes and the twitch of his right shoulder, and I dove for the dirt and yelled for my partner to do the same as me.

That kid got a shot off, but it went into the earth right beside his own horse because my shot took him right out of the saddle backwards. I heard him scream and heard him hit the ground with a heavy thud. He made no sound after that.

After the dust settles, Luke is warned by the older man that there will be some hard riders coming after him because Briner, the rancher, was a powerful man who would want revenge, and it didn't matter that his kid was in the wrong. The man would have the Texas Rangers looking for him, and he'd be sending his own crew of gunmen.

Luke immediately heads for New Mexico Territory. He is tracked, but manages to elude the men chasing him. Once there, Luke partners with three other men and they buy a small ranch. All goes well for nearly a year. Luke even manages to fall in love. And then one day, Briner found him.

The rancher and every hard-case that rode with him would one day regret they found Luke Adams. They'd regret accidently hurting the girl Luke loved, and would regret shooting one of his partners. The hard-case gunmen that rode with him into New Mexico, would learn that they had come to hang a man who wasn't quite what he appeared to be. He wasn't the usual cowboy who wore a gun for the coyotes, snakes, and other critters. A gun was as familiar to Luke as a rope. He'd spent years as a kid jerking a big, bone-handled .44 out of his waistband and firing it, until he could catch a jackrabbit on the hop and a squirrel on the run.

Those Texas riders found a man who was tougher than the land in which he lived. They also discovered that they had created an enemy who became a relentless foe. They encountered a man who reached a point where he was not content to just defend himself.

They found a man who hunted them.

Down to the last man.