THE RESTLESS LAND

Told in the first person, this is an account of what life was like for a Texas cowhand growing up after the Civil War. Martin Cameron was an orphan left with the legacy of the Tall End Ranch and in the custody of a crusty old cowhand named Pegleg Murphy. The Restless Land is largely anecdotal and doesn't always involve the narrator. There is the occasion when former Confederate Colonel Rountree came riding into the settlement of Huddlesion Groc. (ery), ridiculous in all his gold braid; when he challenged Pegleg to a duel; and when the Negro soldiers shot up the town. At another time Martin got himself involved with a spellbinding Arkansas hog-caller whose talent was destroyed by whiskey. Then there are those moments, terrible and sometimes touching, which may draw people together -- Comanche raids and kidnappings, the death of the schoolteacher, and the funeral of a dance hall girl. In a final episode Martin tells about his rescue of his childhood sweetheart from the Comanches and the incident is properly hair-raising. Culp's story is told in a down-to-earth manner and it is crammed with the facts of life as it was then. It should be a pleasure to readers of western Americana.