Move 'em on, head 'em up

When’s the last time you read a Western? I used to devour them: Luke Short and Max Brand, mostly. Quite a few Louis L’Amour. Some Zane Grey. The last one I read was probably by Elmore Leonard, who was the best in the genre before he moved on to crime fiction. 

 I got to thinking about Westerns a few days ago, when Alan LeMay’s 1957 novel “The Unforgiven” showed up as a Kindle Unlimited title. (My new Kindle came with a free trial.)

 It’s about a family in 1870s Texas, beset by hostile Kiowa and racist neighbors and quite a bit of bad weather. The Zachary clan raises longhorn cattle by the thousands, which must be gathered and driven to market in Wichita every year. Hell of a way to make a living, since it’s supremely unprofitable and you can’t get good help. 

 But cattle drives do make a great setting for Westerns. In fact, it’s hard to think of many that don’t feature moving livestock in some way or other. Which now reminds me of Larry McMurtry’s excellent “Lonesome Dove,” the longest cattle drive ever written.

 “The Unforgiven” has its tropes (hey, it was 1957) but it’s a bit more serious and nuanced than most. The racism depicted is pretty jarring (the Kiowa are frequently referred to as “red niggers”), but that’s probably historically accurate. Since one of the Zacharys appears to be Kiowa herself, the book shows more sympathy for Native Americans than most Westerns of that era. 

 I started “The Unforgiven” because of a certain nostalgia and because it was free, but it’s a pretty good yarn. Let’s just say it’s a book I’ll finish, and I’ll know more about life in 1870s Texas than I did before.


 I must have seen the movie it inspired, although I have no particular memory of it now. I’ll see if it can be streamed. Released in 1960, “The Unforgiven" starred Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn. I have trouble seeing Hepburn as the aforementioned native Kiowa woman, but apparently Hollywood was fine with it. They did that a lot in those days. (Lancaster himself was cast as an Indian in the 1954 film “Apache.”)

 LeMay also wrote “The Searchers,” which inspired the John Wayne movie of the same name in 1956. I do remember seeing that one.

Since we're speaking of classic Westerns, I have to mention Clint Eastwood's masterpiece "Unforgiven." One of the best Westerns ever made. Right up there with the Coen brothers' "True Grit." Feel free to weigh in with a differing point of view. But you're wrong.
Location: Missoula, MT, USA

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