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''Dead Man's Walk'' is a 1995 Western novel by American writer
Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.
. It is the third book published in the ''Lonesome Dove'' series but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the ''Lonesome Dove'' chronicle, '' Comanche Moon'', which describes the events of the central characters' lives between ''Dead Man's Walk'' and ''Lonesome Dove''. The second novel in the ''Lonesome Dove'' series was the 1993 sequel to the original, called '' Streets of Laredo''. ''Dead Man's Walk'' was later adapted into a three-part miniseries of the same name, which aired in May 1996.


Plot summary

In 1842, young Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call are introduced quickly and brutally to the rangering life on their first expedition, in which they are stalked by the Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump. After a narrow escape, the rangers return to civilization, only to quickly join an expedition to capture and annex Santa Fe, part of
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
(the part east of the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
) for
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. The expedition, led by pirate and soldier of fortune Caleb Cobb, is ultimately a failure; of the 200 initial adventurers, only about 40 survive, falling to starvation, bears and Comanches, only to be swiftly arrested by the Mexican authorities. Those survivors are forced to march the
Jornada del Muerto Jornada del Muerto was the name given by the Spanish conquistadors to the Jornada del Muerto desert Endorheic basin, basin, and the almost waterless trail across the Jornada beginning north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Las Cruces and ending sout ...
("Dead Man's Walk") to
El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
, and many, Mexican and Texan alike, die along the journey. The Texas contingent is reduced to ten persons when the captives panic after they observe cavalry drilling and are slaughtered in a blood lust as they flee. At their destination, the ten are forced to gamble for their lives by drawing a bean from a jar - a white bean signals life, a black bean death. Call and McCrae are among the five survivors. The last Rangers then return to Texas, escorting a Scottish woman and her son, who have also been held captive by the Mexicans, as well as an African woman the Comanches fear as she is thought to be a feared dark woman on a white horse who will ensure the Comanches' downfall.


Characters

* Augustus McCrae – Texas Ranger * Woodrow Call – Texas Ranger *William "Long Bill" Coleman – Texas Ranger *Johnny Carthage – Texas Ranger *Colonel Caleb Cobb – pirate who leads the Texas-Santa Fe expedition * Bigfoot Wallace – Texas Ranger scout *Shadrach – Texas Ranger scout *Matilda Roberts – whore, also known as "The Great Western" *Captain Salazar – Mexican Army captain who takes the Texas prisoners in New Mexico *Major Laroche – Frenchman in the Mexican Army, who takes the prisoners to the leper colony * Buffalo Hump – a notorious Comanche war chief and father of
Blue Duck The blue duck (''Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos'') or whio is a member of the duck, goose and swan family (biology), family Anatidae endemic to New Zealand. It is the only member of the genus ''Hymenolaimus''. Its exact taxonomic status is still ...
*Kicking Wolf – Comanche warrior, accomplished horse thief * Clara Forsythe – young lady in a general store in Austin, who 'smites' Gus *Lady Lucinda Carey – Scottish nobility, leper *Willy – Lady Carey's son *Mrs. Chubb – Lady Carey's attendant *Emerald – Lady Carey's African attendant * Maggie Tilton – a prostitute who loves Woodrow F. Call and the mother of his
illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
son Newt.


Background

''Dead Man's Walk'' details the earliest adventures of the young Woodrow F. Call and Augustus McCrae as they join up with the Texas Rangers on a fictional expedition based loosely on the historical Texan Santa Fe Expedition of 1841. Although the exact time frame of the story is not given, the historical context of the events occurring sometime in the early 1840s is authentic. The
Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...
did indeed attempt to annex part of New Mexico, in what historians refer to as the Texan Santa Fe Expedition. As seen in this story, it was a failure. During the course of this book, three other familiar and important characters are introduced. At a general store, McCrae meets Clara Forsythe, later to marry Robert Allen and become Clara Allen, Augustus's old flame in the original novel. In the same town, Call meets a prostitute named Maggie, later to become the mother of his illegitimate son, Newt. On their journey, they are tracked by the notorious Comanche warrior Buffalo Hump, future father of
Blue Duck The blue duck (''Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos'') or whio is a member of the duck, goose and swan family (biology), family Anatidae endemic to New Zealand. It is the only member of the genus ''Hymenolaimus''. Its exact taxonomic status is still ...
, whom they will hunt during their later days as Texas Rangers. Call and Gus also briefly encounter a fictionalized version of
Charles Goodnight Charles Goodnight (March 5, 1836 – December 12, 1929), also known as Charlie Goodnight, was a rancher in the American West. In 1955, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Early y ...
, a rancher and future close friend of Call's in ''Streets of Laredo.''


Reception

Reviewing the book for the ''Philadelphia Inquirer'',
John Milius John Frederick Milius (; born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is considered a member of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s for writing the scripts for ''The L ...
said "What amazes continually in this book is McMurtry's understanding of the time and the land - how distant we are from it, how we protect ourselves from its truth and ultimately how strong and exciting that truth really is."


Adaptations

In May 1996 it was screened on ABC as a two-part miniseries starring
David Arquette David Arquette (; born September 8, 1971) is an American actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler. Arquette's breakout came with his starring role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film '' Scream'' (1996), a role which he later reprised i ...
as Augustus McCrae and
Jonny Lee Miller Jonathan Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is an English actor. He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy-drama film '' Trainspotting'' (1996) and as Dade Murphy in '' Hackers'' (1995) before ...
as Woodrow F. Call.


References


External links


''Texas and part of Mexico & the United States : showing the route of the first Santa Fé expedition / drawn & engd. by W. Kemble.''
published 1850, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
{{Lonesome Dove series Western (genre) novels 1995 American novels Lonesome Dove series Novels by Larry McMurtry Texas literature American historical novels Novels set in Texas Novels set in Austin, Texas Novels set in New Mexico Fiction set in 1842 Novels set in the 1840s American novels adapted into television shows Texas Ranger Division in fiction Novels set in El Paso, Texas