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Crossfire Trail
There is a map of the Big Horn Mountains, Crazy Woman Creek Area and inset of how these relate to the states of Montana, Idaho, Dakotas, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah and Colorado. A Western book about a promise to a dying man . . . Rafe Caradec was a man who always rode at the ready, hardened by a life spent among ruthless men who played for the highest stakes. The only thing Rafe held sacred was his word--and now he had sworn to a dying man that he would save his Long Valley ranch for his wife and daughter, Ann. But Ann thought Rafe was moving in for his own crooked gain, and played right into the deadly hands of the greedy ranchers plotting to destroy her. Then Rafe figured a way to save Ann and the land. It would be dangerous--but that was the only way Rafe Caradec knew.
132 pages, Leather Bound
First published January 1, 1954
About the author
Louis L'Amour
619 books3,729 followersLouis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
October 12, 2025
It was with more than a little hesitation that I decided to read L'Amour's Crossfire Trail. This was my first standalone by him, and I just knew it would never be able to captivate me as much as my beloved "Sacketts."
Well... Let's just say I ate a big hunk of humble pie upon completion. The characters may be different, but the "wow" factor sure isn't. Lesson learned. Looking forward to reading many more L'Amour standalone novels in the future. Highly recommend.
Well... Let's just say I ate a big hunk of humble pie upon completion. The characters may be different, but the "wow" factor sure isn't. Lesson learned. Looking forward to reading many more L'Amour standalone novels in the future. Highly recommend.
October 20, 2025
When the Old West is spoken of is it a romantic reference thinking of the way things used to be? Is it a harsh memory of the hard life and survival of the fittest? Is it thoughts of Indians, outlaws and claim jumpers? Louis L’Amour has managed to include all of the above in this novel. He has painted a picture of times when allegiances were important, when a fast gun could change a person’s perspective, when kindness is not always rewarded. All a person has is their integrity. There will be those that have this and those that never will.
Interesting read with terminology native to the times. Smooth transitional plot but not predictable. The step back into the days of the Old West is worth the trip.
Interesting read with terminology native to the times. Smooth transitional plot but not predictable. The step back into the days of the Old West is worth the trip.
December 15, 2023
3.5 stars
"[Rafe Caradec] sat easy in the saddle, more at home than in many months, for almost half his life had been astride a horse, and he liked this dun, which had an easy, space-eating stride. He had won the horse in a poker game in Ogden, and won the saddle and bridle in the same game. The new 1873 Winchester rifle, newest and finest gun on the market, he had bought in San Francisco . . . " -- page 13
A standard but honorable L'Amour protagonist named Rafe - a jack-of-all-trades and two-fisted type who is as capable with a pistol as he is upon a horse, owning to his experience as a soldier of fortune - set outs to fulfill a promise he made to an acquaintance on his deathbed. Said man feared, due to his untimely passing, that his family would be swindled out of their homestead and his bachelorette daughter Ann's safety would be in peril. So Rafe and a trio of trusty confederates gallop out into the lush Wyoming territory and quickly find that a cadre of local duplicitous desperadoes are indeed scheming to take both the land and the young lady. The inevitable shoot-outs, chases, and fistfights then occur with increasing frequency amidst Rafe and Ann taking a shine to one another. Crossfire Trail is fine and sturdy if somewhat unremarkable L'Amour from fairly early in his writing career, but gets the job done like a good B-movie western where you cheer on the hero and sneer at the villain.
"[Rafe Caradec] sat easy in the saddle, more at home than in many months, for almost half his life had been astride a horse, and he liked this dun, which had an easy, space-eating stride. He had won the horse in a poker game in Ogden, and won the saddle and bridle in the same game. The new 1873 Winchester rifle, newest and finest gun on the market, he had bought in San Francisco . . . " -- page 13
A standard but honorable L'Amour protagonist named Rafe - a jack-of-all-trades and two-fisted type who is as capable with a pistol as he is upon a horse, owning to his experience as a soldier of fortune - set outs to fulfill a promise he made to an acquaintance on his deathbed. Said man feared, due to his untimely passing, that his family would be swindled out of their homestead and his bachelorette daughter Ann's safety would be in peril. So Rafe and a trio of trusty confederates gallop out into the lush Wyoming territory and quickly find that a cadre of local duplicitous desperadoes are indeed scheming to take both the land and the young lady. The inevitable shoot-outs, chases, and fistfights then occur with increasing frequency amidst Rafe and Ann taking a shine to one another. Crossfire Trail is fine and sturdy if somewhat unremarkable L'Amour from fairly early in his writing career, but gets the job done like a good B-movie western where you cheer on the hero and sneer at the villain.
July 29, 2020
Rafe is a wonderful character if a little too perfect. Your classic western with the good guys versus the bad guys who have absolutely no redeeming features. The story is set in Sioux country around a year before Custer’s last stand. South Dakota is a wonderful state to visit.
Rafe escapes from a ship where he was shanghaied along with a rancher. The rancher is dying from a beating and Rafe promises to look after his wife and daughter Ann. When he gets there the mother is dead and the daughter engaged to one of the bad guys. Lots of gunfights, chases, a blizzard, trial and a spectacular fist fight.
I know there is a movie but have no idea if they followed the plot.
Rafe escapes from a ship where he was shanghaied along with a rancher. The rancher is dying from a beating and Rafe promises to look after his wife and daughter Ann. When he gets there the mother is dead and the daughter engaged to one of the bad guys. Lots of gunfights, chases, a blizzard, trial and a spectacular fist fight.
I know there is a movie but have no idea if they followed the plot.
April 27, 2009
Classic Louis L'Amour. Woman in danger, check. Five-page fistfight, check. Hero is sailor-mercenary-cowboy, check. Sioux as dangerous-but-honorable plot devices. Classic.
October 5, 2025
A classic Western with good guys fighting against bad guys over a ranch and a pretty girl. The writing is quite good, but the characters are ridiculously one-dimensional (but that's to be expected with these kinds of Westerns). I enjoyed it, but I honestly prefer the 2001 movie version with Tom Selleck.
December 14, 2017
My first Louis L'Amour. (My first Western novel, truth be told, unless you count some sci-fi quasi-westerns such as Mars -- The Red Planet by Mick Farren.) Won't be my last, though. In fact, as quick a read as this is--160ish pages, in dense typeface but relatively simple prose--I may make my next couple library stops just about L'Amour. (I'm still several books behind on my Challenge for the year.)
A couple nits to pick. He's clearly a gifted writer, but he's also extremely prolific, which means he was turning out novels at a breakneck pace during his heyday. His style is fantastic, but a bit more polish or care might have been taken here and there. In one paragraph late in the story he takes pains to point out that one character is 25 years old. Twice. Earlier in the novel he misuses "flaunt" where "flaut" should be, very much a novice kind of error. (This one at least might be chalked up to an editing or typesetting fault.)
Beyond the purely mechanical, there's really nothing to criticize. He uses the landscape capably, not exactly waxing poetic but definitely providing a strong sense of place. His understanding of the motivations of the characters borders on abnormal psychology.
This is classic good-versus-evil storytelling. The good guys are near-paladins. They make mistakes at times, but always of the tactical variety, and never of the moral or ethical. The bad guys are totally irredeemable, with death as the only suitable penalty. Set against a backdrop of encroaching winter and the threat of an all-out war with the Sioux, this is a tale of adventure on the high seas, star-crossed romance and ranch war (with a twist). I don't know whether it was written this way deliberately, but each scene is in handy bite size, in terms of action and dialogue, making this a very cinematic book (written at the height of the classic era of Western movies).
A couple nits to pick. He's clearly a gifted writer, but he's also extremely prolific, which means he was turning out novels at a breakneck pace during his heyday. His style is fantastic, but a bit more polish or care might have been taken here and there. In one paragraph late in the story he takes pains to point out that one character is 25 years old. Twice. Earlier in the novel he misuses "flaunt" where "flaut" should be, very much a novice kind of error. (This one at least might be chalked up to an editing or typesetting fault.)
Beyond the purely mechanical, there's really nothing to criticize. He uses the landscape capably, not exactly waxing poetic but definitely providing a strong sense of place. His understanding of the motivations of the characters borders on abnormal psychology.
This is classic good-versus-evil storytelling. The good guys are near-paladins. They make mistakes at times, but always of the tactical variety, and never of the moral or ethical. The bad guys are totally irredeemable, with death as the only suitable penalty. Set against a backdrop of encroaching winter and the threat of an all-out war with the Sioux, this is a tale of adventure on the high seas, star-crossed romance and ranch war (with a twist). I don't know whether it was written this way deliberately, but each scene is in handy bite size, in terms of action and dialogue, making this a very cinematic book (written at the height of the classic era of Western movies).
January 3, 2025
This title is one of the most popular of Louis L’Amour’s massive catalogue, probably because it takes in more than the standard Western. There’s the Barbary Coast of San Francisco, Pacific Coast shanghaiing, and petroleum. A little something for everyone!
Rafe Caradec is a wanderer who wanders into the life of an older gentleman. Both of them have been drugged and smuggled on to a sailing ship that plies the waters of the Pacific. After too many beatings, the older man is dying but lets Rafe know his story, which involved nefarious means by bad men out in Wyoming. As he dies, he asks Rafe to look after his daughter and to revenge his death. You can count on Rafe Caradec to uphold his word, so he and a handful of other sailors escape the ship and start their adventure inland.
It won’t be easy. The old man had to be eliminated so a group of bad ‘uns could take over his land. Why would anyone go so far as to have a Wyoming rancher shanghaied? Well, the answer revolves around what that land may contain. No one is safe, including the old man’s daughter, when greed turns more than a few heads.
As usual, this book is a L’Amour page-turner, with the heroic character figuring out what’s happening against the corrupted citizenry. But the hero has his own allies, which makes the coming fight even more exciting. I certainly enjoyed it, particularly wanting to know what secret the much-coveted ranch held. So, it’s a mix-up of the Old West with gunfighters and the industrialized New West. Good stuff.
Book Season = Year Round (slick hombres)
Rafe Caradec is a wanderer who wanders into the life of an older gentleman. Both of them have been drugged and smuggled on to a sailing ship that plies the waters of the Pacific. After too many beatings, the older man is dying but lets Rafe know his story, which involved nefarious means by bad men out in Wyoming. As he dies, he asks Rafe to look after his daughter and to revenge his death. You can count on Rafe Caradec to uphold his word, so he and a handful of other sailors escape the ship and start their adventure inland.
It won’t be easy. The old man had to be eliminated so a group of bad ‘uns could take over his land. Why would anyone go so far as to have a Wyoming rancher shanghaied? Well, the answer revolves around what that land may contain. No one is safe, including the old man’s daughter, when greed turns more than a few heads.
As usual, this book is a L’Amour page-turner, with the heroic character figuring out what’s happening against the corrupted citizenry. But the hero has his own allies, which makes the coming fight even more exciting. I certainly enjoyed it, particularly wanting to know what secret the much-coveted ranch held. So, it’s a mix-up of the Old West with gunfighters and the industrialized New West. Good stuff.
Book Season = Year Round (slick hombres)
February 24, 2012
I continue on my journey to honor my late father by reading all of the books written by his favorite author, Louis L'Amour. This one, Crossfire Trail, had a unique beginning with our hero being shanghaied from the west coast and forced into servitude for a year on a ship. The hero eventually escapes from the ship and heads to Wyoming to help the wife and child of a man he befriended while on the ship. There are good guys, bad guys, con artists, Native Americans, horses, gun-play, cattle and all of the other elements of a great Western.
I recommend the story to anyone who is a fan of westerns!
I recommend the story to anyone who is a fan of westerns!
April 3, 2024
Hmm not my typical genre of book - and I know why. It was okay, not my favorite but it wasn’t the worst. Men being men sums it up.
August 1, 2024
Crossfire Trail is fun western tale, full of rough and tough cowboys and greedy back stabbers. I expected this book to be simple and silly. However, it was an excellent, thrilling plot full of betrayal, loyalty, and nail biting action. Crossfire Trail has peaked an interest in the genre. I give this book an A.
September 16, 2024
I grew up reading my grandparents Louis L’Amour books. I remember being caught up in the Sackett series but never competed them. This was a nice reminder of those times and that I might need to read a few more.
February 22, 2015
A great entertainment from the legend. Great stuff!
November 29, 2025
Rafe Caradec and Charles Rodney are shanghaied in San Francisco and are dragged to the same ship. Over the next year, they get to know each other. Rodney tries to escape often and refuses to work, so he is badly beaten. After his latest beating, he is dying.
He tells Caradec about his ranch and his wife and daughter and asks Rafe to bring the deed to them in Wyoming.
After he dies, Caradec beats the captain and along with several other men escapes the ship. He arrives in Painted Rock to discover Ann has been told a different story, which she believes about her father’s death. She is hostile to Rafe and calls him a liar.
Caradec goes to the Rodney ranch and slowly begins to work it. But the man who run the town have different ideas and stage an attack.
There are several gun fights, an unjust arrest and slowly Ann begins to believe his story. Then a blizzard rolls in.
There are some slow parts and repeated conversations, but Caradec is a good character as are his fellow escapees. I have no idea how the title is connected tot he story.
He tells Caradec about his ranch and his wife and daughter and asks Rafe to bring the deed to them in Wyoming.
After he dies, Caradec beats the captain and along with several other men escapes the ship. He arrives in Painted Rock to discover Ann has been told a different story, which she believes about her father’s death. She is hostile to Rafe and calls him a liar.
Caradec goes to the Rodney ranch and slowly begins to work it. But the man who run the town have different ideas and stage an attack.
There are several gun fights, an unjust arrest and slowly Ann begins to believe his story. Then a blizzard rolls in.
There are some slow parts and repeated conversations, but Caradec is a good character as are his fellow escapees. I have no idea how the title is connected tot he story.
February 2, 2022
I really enjoy Louis L'Amour Westerns! I know every time I pick one up that I'll have wonderful characters, the kind I'd love to meet, a fast moving story and a magnificent setting. This didn't disappoint in the slightest.
June 19, 2023
My first L'Amour
This was a fast read. My grandfather loved Louis L'Amour. He had every book leather bound on his shelf. Yet, I don't recall having read one. I think maybe I read one of the none western ones many years ago. Anyway, it was fun. It was like watching an old Western movie. Pirates, ranching, and more!
This was a fast read. My grandfather loved Louis L'Amour. He had every book leather bound on his shelf. Yet, I don't recall having read one. I think maybe I read one of the none western ones many years ago. Anyway, it was fun. It was like watching an old Western movie. Pirates, ranching, and more!
June 9, 2019
One of the best of L’Amour’s stand alone novels. Hard to put down.
June 24, 2023
Another book I wouldn’t have picked if it wasn’t for my book club, but I’m glad I read it! I’ve never read anything by L’Amour before. I could literally picture a John Wayne style movie thru the pages. The story was enticing enough that I wasn’t bored with it, but it also lacked depth in my opinion.
Read
March 29, 2024I didn’t hate it. I get the appeal, I just couldn’t stop chuckling/rolling my eyes every time the macho protagonist did anything because he is somehow great at EVERYTHING. He is smarter than everyone, fights better than everyone, more classy than everyone, is his own lawyer, and every woman loves him. What a guy.
December 12, 2024
Started well, mediocre ending.
July 19, 2023
Probably as good as it gets with L’Amour. I read the majority of the book in one sitting.
September 13, 2026
An enjoyable book where the good guys are the good guys and you know who the bad guys are. Hero was brave, rugged and intelligent. L'Amour's writing fits a pattern, but I do enjoy reading about the different ways his characters deal with problems. Not outstanding literature but an enjoyable read.
August 3, 2019
Oil was still important back in late 1800s
People were still killed for it back then.
Louis L' amour knows his history.
you might not like westerners but should read Louis L' amour
People were still killed for it back then.
Louis L' amour knows his history.
you might not like westerners but should read Louis L' amour
September 1, 2025
On a ship in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, Rafe Caradec is consoling his dying friend Rodney. The two random bar drinkers were snagged up together by a press gang in San Francisco and spent the next two years aboard as prisoner sailors. Rodney's attempts to escape finally earned him a beating from the Captain that left him on death's doorstep and he is now asking Rafe to return the deed for his ranch to his wife and daughter in Wyoming. Rafe makes his escape and returns to the Rodney ranch to press the claim.
When Rafe arrives in Painted Rock, he finds that conspiring gunmen and ranch hands in the employment of a bad guy named Barkow are trying to take the ranch via some legal shenanigans, and the Rodney daughter is being pressed into marriage with Barkow.
Verdict: Rafe Caradec is a pretty standard L'Amour protagonist but otherwise "Crossfire Trail" (1954) is a smart and surprising adventure with immersive danger, duplicitous sideliners, local natives, loyal friends, treacherous enemies, and a mystery we know the answer to but are along to investigate as the daughter struggles to find the right path through all the frightening interpersonal chaos.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
When Rafe arrives in Painted Rock, he finds that conspiring gunmen and ranch hands in the employment of a bad guy named Barkow are trying to take the ranch via some legal shenanigans, and the Rodney daughter is being pressed into marriage with Barkow.
Verdict: Rafe Caradec is a pretty standard L'Amour protagonist but otherwise "Crossfire Trail" (1954) is a smart and surprising adventure with immersive danger, duplicitous sideliners, local natives, loyal friends, treacherous enemies, and a mystery we know the answer to but are along to investigate as the daughter struggles to find the right path through all the frightening interpersonal chaos.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
December 29, 2013
This is another Louis L'Amour book that was originally written as a serial for a magazine, which means that it was published in parts and each issue of the magazine would publish a part. Serial novels (published like this were popular in the 1940's and 50's). These novels were full of action and not character development because readers wanted action and because people had to wait until the next magazine came out, there needed to be plenty of action for people to want to read the next section.
Rafe Caradec was shanghaied in San Francisco and woke up on a ship a day later. After a year, he was able to escape, but not before his friend on the ship died from beating. He promised his friend that he would go to Wyoming and help the man's wife and daughter. This is the story of his help to the family and of course, the love story that resulted.
This novel was based on a shorter, serial version that L'Amour had published earlier. The earlier version is "The Trail to Crazy Man." This novel is long on action and short on character development. Still, and exciting read.
Rafe Caradec was shanghaied in San Francisco and woke up on a ship a day later. After a year, he was able to escape, but not before his friend on the ship died from beating. He promised his friend that he would go to Wyoming and help the man's wife and daughter. This is the story of his help to the family and of course, the love story that resulted.
This novel was based on a shorter, serial version that L'Amour had published earlier. The earlier version is "The Trail to Crazy Man." This novel is long on action and short on character development. Still, and exciting read.
May 15, 2023
I had several problems with this one.
L’Amour introduces improbability after improbability in order to have a plot. Men shot full of holes and at
point black range to the midsection do wonderfully well with 19th century medicine. Implausible coincidence reunites separated comrades.
And for the first time L’Amour introduces a racist joke, though he sanitizes somewhat the slur that normally accompanies it.
And then of course there are the standard devices that L’Amour used thorough out his novels: The honorable lean waisted and broad shouldered and tall hero fist fighting a HUGE ne’er do well; the good guy saving getting the girl, etc.
There are always moral and philosophical lessons in these novels that address L’Amour’s ideal of manhood. Self sufficiency, a good work ethic, honesty, loyalty and courage are all emphasized. It’s hard to find fault with these, to be honest. But for the formulaic writing, the unrealistic romances that develop and some of the racial stereotypes that pop up, they aren’t bad.
L’Amour introduces improbability after improbability in order to have a plot. Men shot full of holes and at
point black range to the midsection do wonderfully well with 19th century medicine. Implausible coincidence reunites separated comrades.
And for the first time L’Amour introduces a racist joke, though he sanitizes somewhat the slur that normally accompanies it.
And then of course there are the standard devices that L’Amour used thorough out his novels: The honorable lean waisted and broad shouldered and tall hero fist fighting a HUGE ne’er do well; the good guy saving getting the girl, etc.
There are always moral and philosophical lessons in these novels that address L’Amour’s ideal of manhood. Self sufficiency, a good work ethic, honesty, loyalty and courage are all emphasized. It’s hard to find fault with these, to be honest. But for the formulaic writing, the unrealistic romances that develop and some of the racial stereotypes that pop up, they aren’t bad.
February 17, 2020
Classic Louis L'Amour! This one had so many shootings that I lost track of who died! A fight for land given from Ann's father, but who is to trust? Who is telling the truth? LL did it again with this one...mirage of strong characters, wonderful landscapes and weather, interjected history (why I love LL books!), and in the end we all know how it plays out!
I love to 'google' some of the LL's settings and characters. This one mentioned Bozeman Trail, Fetterman Massacre (one of the few Native American WINS!), a Chief named Afraid of His Horse (when correctly translated Tȟašúŋke Kȟokípȟapi 'They Fear His Horse') Side note- his father advanced with retaliation after Sand Creek Massacre here in CO.
This book was written in 1954...of course, at that time you couldn't look on the Internet for what he wrote about. Louis L'Amour's writings are more than just 'westerns'!
I love to 'google' some of the LL's settings and characters. This one mentioned Bozeman Trail, Fetterman Massacre (one of the few Native American WINS!), a Chief named Afraid of His Horse (when correctly translated Tȟašúŋke Kȟokípȟapi 'They Fear His Horse') Side note- his father advanced with retaliation after Sand Creek Massacre here in CO.
This book was written in 1954...of course, at that time you couldn't look on the Internet for what he wrote about. Louis L'Amour's writings are more than just 'westerns'!
March 18, 2012
My first western. It was okay, pretty short book. Also was tired when reading it so that may have something to do with it. Like the good guys in the story, dependable interesting sorts. It was pretty much non-stop action and the lack of break from that was a bit taxing. Louis L'Amour writes well, but sometimes too dependent with the exclamation marks. There was a plot point that bugged me throughout the entire thing -- why in the world would they get in trouble and hung for mutiny? It was clearly expressed but I don't get it. They were taken on the ship against their will (essentially kidnapped), so why would mutiny still be a hangable offense for them? Grr
October 1, 2021
I've read a few of his Westerns now, and they are quick and somewhat interesting, but this one was not up to par in my estimation. Sloppy, unispired story with half-drawn characters, with too convenient situations, repetitive material, cliche-filled and boring dialogue. Seems like everyone falls on their face when shot. Predictable, which may be why many readers loved these books.
May 13, 2013
Agian, a good book looking at more than just a romance or someone shooting someone over a beer.
I liked the fact of the ranching and conservation efforts of Rafe Caadec for Wyoming ranch.
Also the law and how it was used against and for the rancher, small farm.
I liked the fact of the ranching and conservation efforts of Rafe Caadec for Wyoming ranch.
Also the law and how it was used against and for the rancher, small farm.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews