I never thought I would be a fan of Louis L’Amour, but I was wrong. I seem to pick up a lot of lessons or ideas from his books.
As I sat down to write about this book, I noticed that in the front of this book, there is a dedication: “To my Father…who knew what it meant to wear the badge”. Interesting thought. Most of the L’Amour books that I have read were about the frontier and the skills or ideas needed to establish a frontier. This book started differently compared to several of the other books that I have read. It opens with a coyote attempting to catch a chipmunk. He fails, but in the process of time the area changed due to the weather. It then moves to a trapper that finds a nugget of gold and takes it, and carries it around for many years. Near the end of his life, he decides to return to the area where he found the nugget. He shares his story with 3 men but dies in his attempt to return area. The three men follow the trapper’s information and find gold. Well, what does that have to do with wearing a badge, you wonder? I did.
You are well into the book before any badge is mentioned. The three gentlemen set up a claim and registered it with the intent of building a “town”. There is no thought about law or order, just hunting for gold. In this town of mostly men, there is a lot of gambling, shooting, fighting, drinking, and drifting of people. L’Amour paints a vivid picture of a “boom” town. A town that is full of violence. One of the three from the beginning of the story seems surprised that there is so much lawlessness. He wants to see schools, churches, and a community set up, but what he has is a ‘dog-eat-dog world’. Very violent men will do whatever it takes to get what they want. Some with their fights, some with weapons, but the story of this town is very grim. It is a L’Amour novel, so you know a hero will arise and he does. The hero teaches us that “if you’re going to have peace rather than violence, both sides have got to want it. One side alone can’t make peace.” And “The trouble with most folks coming out here is that they’ve been protected so long they’re no longer even conscious of it. Back where they come from there are rules and laws, curbstones and sidewalks, and policemen to handle violence. The result is that violence is no longer real for them; its it something you read about but that never happens to you.”
Definitely some ideas to think about. What makes a good town? What makes a good society? Is it right to use violence to chase away violence? Why? Is there another option to violence? Can violence be halted without more violence? What does it mean to wear a badge? What type of person/people is/are required to have a place that has peace?
As I sat down to write about this book, I noticed that in the front of this book, there is a dedication: “To my Father…who knew what it meant to wear the badge”. Interesting thought. Most of the L’Amour books that I have read were about the frontier and the skills or ideas needed to establish a frontier. This book started differently compared to several of the other books that I have read. It opens with a coyote attempting to catch a chipmunk. He fails, but in the process of time the area changed due to the weather. It then moves to a trapper that finds a nugget of gold and takes it, and carries it around for many years. Near the end of his life, he decides to return to the area where he found the nugget. He shares his story with 3 men but dies in his attempt to return area. The three men follow the trapper’s information and find gold. Well, what does that have to do with wearing a badge, you wonder? I did.
You are well into the book before any badge is mentioned. The three gentlemen set up a claim and registered it with the intent of building a “town”. There is no thought about law or order, just hunting for gold. In this town of mostly men, there is a lot of gambling, shooting, fighting, drinking, and drifting of people. L’Amour paints a vivid picture of a “boom” town. A town that is full of violence. One of the three from the beginning of the story seems surprised that there is so much lawlessness. He wants to see schools, churches, and a community set up, but what he has is a ‘dog-eat-dog world’. Very violent men will do whatever it takes to get what they want. Some with their fights, some with weapons, but the story of this town is very grim. It is a L’Amour novel, so you know a hero will arise and he does. The hero teaches us that “if you’re going to have peace rather than violence, both sides have got to want it. One side alone can’t make peace.” And “The trouble with most folks coming out here is that they’ve been protected so long they’re no longer even conscious of it. Back where they come from there are rules and laws, curbstones and sidewalks, and policemen to handle violence. The result is that violence is no longer real for them; its it something you read about but that never happens to you.”
Definitely some ideas to think about. What makes a good town? What makes a good society? Is it right to use violence to chase away violence? Why? Is there another option to violence? Can violence be halted without more violence? What does it mean to wear a badge? What type of person/people is/are required to have a place that has peace?
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