Pat M. J. reviewed on + 66 more book reviews
"A bowed and worn old cowboy", Print Ritter, is the hero of this moving depiction of the West still perilous after the Indian Wars, the Civil War and the early pioneers are becoming subjects of the history books; his sister dies and leaves her fortune to him alone. Riding "Bob" his trail companion of many years, he searches out her wrangler son, with a scheme to share the wealth with Tom Hart, his nephew. South Africa needs horses for Lord Kitchener's army to continue to wage his ruthless war there and Print and Tom gather a large number to trail northeast to Sheridan Wyoming and sell to the horse brokers waiting there. A rotgut type arrives at their camp one night and ties up nearby with his wagon and the five Chinese girls he has bought in San Francisco planning to sell them to the miners in the east. He later manages to steal from them and run off with Print's favorite horse. Tom pursues the villain and hangs him on the trail. Finding their goods and the horse he stole, Tom goes back to Print and the herd. Both of them now wonder what they are going to do shepherding a bunch of little Chinese girls, to a safe haven. And this is just the beginning of their journey.
The dialogue continues to be intriguing and the doggedness of the westerners continues to astonish modern descendents who have never known the many challenges the early travelers faced in the attempts to profit in this forbidding but beautiful country. A wonderfully woven tale. The story was filmed as "The Broken Trail", starring Robert Duval. (What a good choice to play "Print").
The dialogue continues to be intriguing and the doggedness of the westerners continues to astonish modern descendents who have never known the many challenges the early travelers faced in the attempts to profit in this forbidding but beautiful country. A wonderfully woven tale. The story was filmed as "The Broken Trail", starring Robert Duval. (What a good choice to play "Print").
