by Terry C. Johnston ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 15, 1982
Slick with survival-and-gore heroics and thick with Northwest-wilderness period detail (1820-40), this gutsy adventure-entertainment is also larded with just the right amounts of frontier sentiment. After killing a man in St. Louis (over a faithless woman), young Josiah Paddock heads out west to the mountains with friend Mordecai to join Captain Gantt's Brigade--but the pair will soon desert, and a winter in the mountains will claim Mordecai. So Josiah, bitter and just a bit wiser, continues on until, in Oregon Territory, he comes up against his future mentor and best friend: mountainman/trapper Titus ""Scratch"" Bass--who's old at 38, who's ""outer Ohier by way of Missoura,"" and who delivers tobacco-juiced strictures on How-to-Survive (against Nature, Indians, grizzlies) . . . while sporting a curious two-toned head of hair (a combination of his own gray locks with a black Indian scalp). And, just when Josiah meets up with him, Bass is heading for the year's Big Time: the ""ronnyvoo"" where the Eastern fur firms compete for the free trappers' trade. Josiah goes along. The whiskey (progressively watered) flows. Cut-ups ensue. There'll be a break in the ""ronnyvoo""--for a bloody, no-win Indian skirmish. Josiah and Bass will meet up with white-haired preacher/trapper Asa McAfferty (with young squaw)--who's going to winter up north in dangerous Blackfoot territory. But, after beaver-trapping, a ""buffler run"" (Josiah learns to drink fresh animal blood), and some Indian-scalping, Bass and Josiah choose to spend their winter with a friendly, respected Crow tribe. And it's there that a murder will take place-a crime that leads to man-tracking, show-downs in the snow, freezing-feet ordeals, and a whirl of doom . . . as Bass considers the pilfering of a Chief's ""medeecin"" pouch, the death of a grizzly, and a kind of cosmic retribution. Enhanced by fine views of ""some of the best lookin' country the Lord put down for us niggers to gander at"": lust-rate entertainment in the steel-trap, ""man's-adventure"" tradition--with convincing warfare/trade specifics and the equally persuasive accordion wheezes of mountain-man egos.
Pub Date: Nov. 15, 1982
ISBN: 055325572X
Page Count: -
Publisher: Caroline House
Review Posted Online: N/A
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1982
Categories: FICTION
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.