In the Brooding Wild

by Ridgwell Cullum

In The Brooding Wild is a story of fierce passions, of trickery and theft, of coquetry and murder, and deep tragedy, limned sharply against a background of the rugged untamed wilderness.Ralph and Nick Westley, two brother trappers living alone in their hut in a small clearing of the forest, know no other affection that for each other. They were dull men, but honest, whose passions had never been aroused beyond this brotherly love. Therefore when Victor Gagnon, the half-breed trader, stopped over night at their hut, told them the story of the White Squaw, how she dwelt alone in the wilderness, how she was of the tribe of the Moosefoot with skin as the petal of the lily flower and hair softer than the black fox's fur, how her eyes burned blue and she was tall as a queen, the brothers lent listening ears to the tale and determined to find this White Squaw to see if it were true. Together they set out in search for her...

129 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

Pseudonym of Sidney Groves Burghard

Ridgwell Cullum was a British adventurer who left England at age seventeen to go gold-prospecting in the Transvaal. He then removed to the Cape of Good Hope, where he joined up with a league of freebooters fighting against the Boers. Unable to keep still, he crossed the seas and settled in the Yukon region of Canada. During his stay in that area, he narrowly escaped starving to death. He next crossed the Canadian border, and became a successful cattle-rancher in Montana. It is said that during this period he took part in Sioux uprisings on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. In 1903, Cullum published his first novel, The Devil's Keg. After its immediate success, Cullum decided to become a full-time writer. Dozens of novels followed throughout a career of nearly forty years. His principal early works include, Hound from the North (1904), The Night Riders (1906), and The Compact (1909). In 1931, these, along with The Purchase Price (1917), were published in an omnibus edition of his works. Despite Zane Grey's success in England, Cullum continued to hold his own in sales and popularity. His characters are larger-than-life, his descriptions vivid, and his plot mechanisms fool-proof.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sad story. Can't imagine living in such a cold climate.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ralph and Nicol Westley are brothers, born and raised in the isolation of the Canadian Rockies. Strong yet simple and superstitious, they 'had been born to the life of the trapper and knew no other ... they were creatures of Nature who understood and listened when she spoke.'

A local trader named Victor Gagnon learns that they have discovered some gold and plays on their ignorance by concocting the story of the White Squaw, a beautiful, blue-eyed daughter of the Moosefoot tribe.
Then suddenly, she appears.

This is a hard and stormy tale of trickery, murder and madness, as rugged as the terrain in which it's set. The prose is similarly toughened, only a little overcooked at times. There's nobody to like, and the elements are unforgiving.

That said, like the other novel I have read by Cullum, The Way of the Strong - which started out much as this story before opening out into something more ambitious - there is no denying that he could write, even if there was something of a meanness about him.