In Praise of Older Books
Tough Men, Tough Country by Ellis Lucia
I had not realized that I had read a previous book by Mr. Lucia, Klondike Kate. This author was based in Portland, OR and published these two books in the early 60s as well as numerous short pieces in anthologies and magazines. Tough Men, Tough Country is a collection of stories about unusual incidents and men in the Pacific Northwest, some merely interesting, and others much more so. One of my favorites, "The Wild Man of the Olympics," is about a young man in the early part of the last century who preferred the company of animals to people. For this was eventually ostracized and finally hunted down. He had retreated into the woods on the southern flanks of the Olympic Mountains but was pursued by two brothers who were attempting to put him into an insane asylum. Once he had shot them his fate was sealed, and he was hunted down with bloodhounds and a posse, a tragic story. Some of the other stories in this volume are a bit more heroic, some involve train robbery, stagecoach holdups, sea rescues, &c. I would include an image of the dust jacket if I knew how. I found my copy at a used book store, back when they were much more common. I wonder if copies might be kicking around on the internet.
I had not realized that I had read a previous book by Mr. Lucia, Klondike Kate. This author was based in Portland, OR and published these two books in the early 60s as well as numerous short pieces in anthologies and magazines. Tough Men, Tough Country is a collection of stories about unusual incidents and men in the Pacific Northwest, some merely interesting, and others much more so. One of my favorites, "The Wild Man of the Olympics," is about a young man in the early part of the last century who preferred the company of animals to people. For this was eventually ostracized and finally hunted down. He had retreated into the woods on the southern flanks of the Olympic Mountains but was pursued by two brothers who were attempting to put him into an insane asylum. Once he had shot them his fate was sealed, and he was hunted down with bloodhounds and a posse, a tragic story. Some of the other stories in this volume are a bit more heroic, some involve train robbery, stagecoach holdups, sea rescues, &c. I would include an image of the dust jacket if I knew how. I found my copy at a used book store, back when they were much more common. I wonder if copies might be kicking around on the internet.
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