American Westerns discussion
Most Memorable Western Character
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Mike, Founder
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Feb 06, 2009 10:01AM

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He is the fastest and most famous gunfighter in the West, in the thirty-five Last Mountain Man books. Raised up by the most famous mountain man of all Preacher, Smoke was taught the ways of the mountain man, and skills with guns. His first wife was Nicole and they had a single son named Arthur. Eventually she and Arthur were both killed and Smoke sought revenge on the murderers. Then he met a woman named Sally Reynolds, of the New Hampshire Reynolds. Eventually they fell in love and had a few kids. Smoke finally settled down with Sally up in the High Lonesome of Colorado, then creating their own town named Big Rock which overthrew the original town near there. Their ranch was called the Sugarloaf, and had a large gold vein underneath it. Smoke became a cattle/horse rancher, but then switched to just breeding horses. He soon on one of his many adventures meets a young boy in trouble, kills the man attacking the boy and Smoke and the boy become friends. The boy's name was Bobby and soon Sally and Smoke adopted him. After this Smoke found two of his best hands Pearlie and Cal, Pearlie being the ranch manager and Cal being a hand. The most recent Last Mountain Man book is Betrayal of the Mountain Man, and soon after will be the last Last Mountain Man book Rampage of the Mountain Man to be released December 2007, because of the tragic death of William Johnstone but J.A. Johnstone still carries on his memory by finishing up his books



The sacketts and Captain Augustus McCrae is my top people

In most fiction, but particularly the Western, the story is drawn around the single, stalwart character. My all time favorite is Horatio Hornblower but that’s for another forum. Actors and authors in all generations have made their careers by extolling the renegade hero, out of step with convention and a cut above his contemporaries. From Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp to McMurtry’s Gus and Call, the renegade is the hero.
What is it about the Western that makes these types of character so memorable, and I would submit, sustains the genre? What makes the Western hero unique from Harry Callahan and Philip Marlowe? Is it the character in a new and lawless land? Is it because the Western hero, because of the connection to our own history, that makes them seem more believable or easier to relate to? I open the floor for discussion.

Looks like I'm going to acquire a reputation as a thread killer. Either that or I can take the more charitable view that participants see my comments as the final arbiter on a given topic.




Second runner up: Shane



Thanks for the info, Jeff. I remember the movie and television show, but had no idea they were based a real individual. Cool!


I agree with Paul & David that Parker's books are a good addition to the western library. There are indeed still 'classic' westerns coming out from contemporary writers in the genre.

Apaloosa happened to be on TV last nite and loved the character portrayals brought to life by Ed Harris (Virgil Cole) and Viggo Mortensen (Everett Hitch)!!
Additionally, any character created by Larry McMurtry in Lonesome Dove series are great reads!

Not just the main characters but throughout the whole series. Pea Eye, Laurie, Jake Spoon, even Blue Duck. All come to life. The only one I thought was kind of shallow was the blonde Mexican killer. Streets of Laredo I think. I don't think any of them did anything other Western characters did except they did them quirky. What impressed me the most was the dialog was so memorable.
Just for the record, I'm a big fan of Elmore Leonard because of his dialog. Note both McMurtry and Leonard have backgrounds as screen writers.





Hey Steve, you should check out the novel by Frank H. Spearman, its a good read. They are pretty easy to find on ebay or amazon as a used book. I think it is also available for Kindle.

Too bad McMurtry killed him off in the first book and had to backstory several books to meet the demand of 'More Gus'. I don't think he would have been so popular without Robert Duval's excellent portrayal in the mini-series.
Guessing you weren't crazy over Blue Duck?


A lot of them are not people you can feel much empathy for. Duayne and Duayne's family and friends in the whole The Last Picture Show series are entertaining as hell but not people I would want to be crowded into a booth with at the local watering hole.







Read the whole series and, for the life of me, don't recall No Ears? A little help?

I am not specifically familiar with those writers. I may have read them without realizing it. I find the Hex books to be a bit all over the road. Sometimes they are awesome, and sometimes they leave me going "what the heck did I just read??"

Read the whole series and, for the life of me, don't recall No Ears? A litt..."
I could very well be remembering this wrong, but No Ears was an old Native man who had his ears cut off as a child during a massacre. He was a friend of Calamity Jane's in the story.

Now its coming back. Seems he was also known as 'Man who can't wear glasses'.
