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TheLonesome Dove series is a series of fourWestern fiction novels written byLarry McMurtry and the fivetelevision miniseries andtelevision series based upon them.
The novels and miniseries follow the exploits of several members of theTexas Ranger Division from the time of theRepublic of Texas up until the beginning of the 20th century. Recurring characters include Augustus "Gus" McCrae, Woodrow F. Call, Joshua Deets, Pea Eye Parker, Jake Spoon, Clara Forsythe Allen, Maggie Tilton, Lorena Wood Parker, Blue Duck, and Buffalo Hump. The series is set within historical events and characters, although they are often adapted or altered to accommodate the fictional timelines of the main characters.
Larry McMurtry was born into a cattle ranching family, and some of his uncles were old enough to have participated in the end of the cattle driving days. Before railroads went across the country, cattle drives had to be put on in order to move cattle to their set destinations. This timeframe is where the history of the cowboys originated from and eventually became romanticized. McMurtry realized being a cowboy was not as good as people made it out to be and decided to write a novel showing the hardships cowboys really faced.[citation needed]
Larry McMurtry originally planned to create a western screenplay calledStreets of Laredo, which would starJohn Wayne. This plan did not happen, and Larry McMurtry turned the screenplay into a novel. McMurtry took inspiration fromCharles Goodnight's 1860 cattle drives,The Log of a Cowboy, and Nelson Story's 1866 drive from Texas to Montana.[1]
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In order of internal chronology:
Lonesome Dove follows two retired Texas Rangers, Woodrow F. Call and Augustus "Gus" McCrae, who run the Hat Creek Cattle Company in Lonesome Dove, a small fictional town on the Rio Grande (and Mexican border) of southern Texas. Set in the in the mid- to late-1870s, retirement does not suit Captain Call and he grows restless. Gus does not mind retirement, but he misses Clara, the love of his life, who he learns now lives in Nebraska with her husband and children. Jake Spoon, another former Ranger, suddenly reappears after more than 10 years and tells them about Montana, describing it as a "cattleman's paradise" but also warns that it is a "damn wilderness." Based on this information, they determine to embark on acattle drive from Texas to Montana, where they would set up a ranch and tame another wild country. Jake Spoon would not go on this drive all the way to Montana, but other notable people would, including Pea Eye Parker, an illiterate former Ranger who was under the command of and later works under Call and Gus; Joshua Deets, a tracker and another former Ranger; Newt Dobbs, a young man who works for the Hat Creek Cattle Company; Lorena, a prostitute who resided in the town; and Bolivar, a former Mexican bandit-turned-cook. While still in Texas, a Mexican-Indian known as Blue Duck (who was previously known to Call and Gus) causes problems for the cattle drive. Along the way, they deal with other characters, inclement weather, and treacherous terrain. The group eventually reaches Montana, but several of the men who embarked on the mission die along the way. Near the end of the book, Call makes a promise to Gus that adds to the storyline of their friendship.
InStreets of Laredo, Woodrow Call is hired by a railroad company, and is tasked with taking down Joey Garza, a skilled sniper who has been killing railroad workers. Ned Brookshire, a salaried man who works with the railroad company, accompanies Call on his mission. Call attempts to recruit Pea Eye Parker, but he declines, as he now has a family and is married to Lorena. However, shortly after Call leaves, Pea eye's guilty conscience convinces him to go after Call. As they get closer to Joey Garza they encounter more foes, such as Mox Mox, a man who used to work under Blue Duck. In the end Joey Garza is defeated, thus concluding the Lonesome Dove series.
Dead Man's Walk follows Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae (Gus) back in their younger days. On their first expedition the Rangers are stalked by Buffalo Hump, a Comanche Chief. After this expedition concludes, Call and Gus join another expedition led by a man named Colonel Cobb. The expedition started with 200 men, but quickly drops to 40 after many of them are either killed or desert. Shortly after being reduced to 40 men, they are captured by Mexican soldiers. Here, they are forced to march through the Dead Man's Walk, at the end of the journey only 10 men survived. They are forced to partake in a grim ceremony, involving beans, which results in half of them being executed. Luckily Call and Gus survive, and the book ends with Gus and Call making it back to town where Clara lives.
Comanche Moon follows Gus and Call in the middle of their ranger years. This book also reintroduces Joshua Deets and Pea Eye Parker. Here they work under Captain Inish Scull where they attempt to track down Kicking Wolf, a Comanche horse thief. However, a Mexican bandit named Ahumado captures Kicking Wolf before Inish Scull can. Eventually Inish Scull finds Kicking Wolf but frees him. Scull gets captured by Ahumado where he is put into a cage where he is expected to die. While this is going on Buffalo Hump leads an assault onto Austin. Before Inish Scull dies, or goes completely crazy, Call and Gus save him. The group then returns to Austin where Inish Scull is promoted General. Meanwhile, Ahumando is bitten by a poisonous spider and dies. After this, Blue Duck kills his father after he finds out that Buffalo Hump left them to go die.
