The Ladder Of Rivers The Story Of I P Olive

by Harry E. Chrisman

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432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to give this book a five star rating because it largely takes place in Nebraska. I remember camping out as a boy scout at Pressey Park and sitting around a campfire hearing old stories about the cattlemen-settler wars that had been imported north from Texas and Kansas. My family had homesteaded in Custer County in the 1880s and they recalled the fearful and wanton destruction of the settler's property by the wealthy Southern free-rangers and their enormous longhorns. My uncle wrote about it in his family history Buffalo Grass and Tall Corn. The most infamous of these arrogant cattlemen was a Texas millionaire and killer by the name of Print Olive who led a violent life from San Antonio to the Dismal River. Of course, Mr. Chrisman, paints a different picture; a kinder gentler I.P. Olive who never killed anyone who did not deserve killing. Well I doubt that. It is uncontested that Olive hung two men accused of rustling. He got off due to a legal jurisdictional issue and a mindset they got what was coming to them. My personal thoughts on Olive aside, this book is spectacular. Chrisman describes the harshness of the trails, snakes, coyotes, the terrible boredom and unrelenting work, the god-awful weather, the horrors of crossing swollen streams, the million and one ways to die on a trail ride NOT involving gun play. Then, of course, I.P. Olive who killed men and was killed in turn as was his brother and son. The Ladder of Rivers is the descriptive language the drovers used to describe the northward climb upon the rivers to their markets; the Red, the Solomon, the Arkansas, the Smokey Hill, the Platte etc. This is a must read for anyone interested in ranching, cattle drives and the miserable and deadly settlement of the plains.

[Susan Kasza · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting. Should have been more concise. A map would have been REALLY helpful.

[Mike Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of one man’s life, but it reveals the fascinating shift in the culture of the West from the pre-Civil War days until just before the turn of the 20th Century. I found the most fascinating comment to be the assertion that the Confederate law exempting large slave owners from military service was responsible for more desertions than any other fact (p. 72). We would be wise to consider this situation in our own day. The Civil War was about slavery. But many who fought to save slavery never profited from it. Many of them fought because they didn’t want to be told by outsiders how to live. So it was also about control. Eventually many would realize the slave owners were just as controlling of them as the North appeared to be. One wonders if a different approach could have saved much tragedy. More importantly those today who believe they are in the right must be careful not to force their convictions on others, because that forces people to choose between tyrants, and the result is rarely ideal - or “Great.”