What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
SOLVED: Adult Fiction
>
SOLVED. 1950s or 60s Western following a wagon train journey [s]
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Werner
(new)
Mar 18, 2015 09:55AM
This was a paperback Western I read in the late 50s or early 60s about a wagon train journey that takes the characters some distance across the Old West (pre-railroad, obviously). The main characters are a strait-laced single lady and a rough-edged mountain man type that she hires to come along for the trip. I've forgotten their names; but the wagon train captain is a fat, well-to-do jerk named Tracy Menafee (who has a considerable financial stake in the venture). (view spoiler)[One of the more memorable incidents occurs when one of his gunslingers, a young punk, shoots a passing Indian for the fun of it. The tribe surrounds the wagon train and demands the surrender of the killer; and since nobody will confess, the members of the party draw lots to see who'll be sacrificed for the crime. Menafee saw the act, but doesn't finger the shooter until he draws the fatal lot himself (hide spoiler)]. Another important character is a preacher named Emory Dixon. When the party reaches its destination, (view spoiler)[our two main characters admit that they want to be a couple (she takes the initiative) (hide spoiler)].
reply
|
flag
Mod
"Why— why, Tracy Menafee." "Figure it out for yourself, ma'am," Luke said. "It's already past midsummer. Even with the best o' luck, it's three months' trip to the big mountains. The Sierra Nevadas. Did Menafee tell you about them? That's the ...
If you click through you can see there's a character named Ellen too.
Lobstergirl, that's a clue! They obviously excerpted some of the book in that issue (which gives us a date, 1957). I remember now that the mountain man's name was Luke (Luke Short, I think) and the lady's name was Ellen. Thanks; this gives me more of a handle to try to run down the author/title.
Lobstergirl, thanks to you, this one moves into the Solved folder (I moved it just now)! The book is California Passage by Cliff Farrell, first published in 1957. Ellen Jessup was the heroine's full name, and the hero was named Luke Storm (not Short --okay, but it was still a five-letter last name beginning with S. :-) ). Wow, that was quick! This group can sometimes work miracles. Thanks again!
Mod
I couldn't have found it without the lead that you supplied! That enabled me to find the title and author of the work by looking up that issue of the Saturday Evening Post in one of the online periodical index/full-text databases we have at the library where I work. It turned out to be a short story; but I guessed correctly that Farrell subsequently expanded it into a novel.
Mod
The ones we have at the library are subscription databases, so you can't access them just through the regular Internet.
