The Wild Country Quotes

“But her dad had always told them guns weren't evil, just some of the men who used them.”
― Bobby Underwood, The Wild Country

“Wyn could never be afraid of death, because he had already died, that night, so long ago.”
― Bobby Underwood, The Wild Country

“He suspected in another decade or so the railroad might have laid track right into Santa Barbara. Everything would be connected soon, Wyn imagined with some sadness. Something would be lost when a man no longer had to ride his horse hundreds of miles across dangerous country to get to the next state, or territory. Already things were changing. Soon, men like Wyn would have to search for places still wild, where a man could holler in the morning and have no neighbors close enough to hear the echo.”
― Bobby Underwood, The Wild Country

“By firelight he read the book he had gotten on his one trip to New York. It was called The Moonstone, written by someone named Wilkie Collins. The pretty girl behind the counter had recommended it to the cowboy as an exciting story. Disappointed the first time he'd cracked it open, over time he had become interested in the characters and the story, finding something beautiful in the language used, which had thrown him harder than a bronc at a rodeo at first.”
― Bobby Underwood, The Wild Country

“Try as he did at such times, his thoughts would inevitably turn to the pretty girl named Annie. Tony was always able to sense when the cowboy's deep longing for the girl was at its worst, and nudged him with his nose. He reached up and stroked the horse's mane absently, his thoughts further away than those stars above him. A pretty girl like that was probably at some dance, courted by a long list of admirers. A mere cowboy stood nary a chance, and one with a reputation like Wyn's even less. Even being seen with a man like Wyn should give Annie pause. With this sad realization he dozed, his gun always within reach. Even the quickest and most accurate of men could take nothing for granted in a land whose beauty often  masked its danger. Wyn knew the biggest danger, however, was the men who rode these untamed lands, which were often a haven for outlaws and bad men, as well as men like himself who simply loved the land. A wanted man could disappear completely in the wild country.”
― Bobby Underwood, The Wild Country

“There was something starkly different about him that separated him from other men, reflected even in his choice of horses. Every seasoned cowboy, and even some greenhorns, knew owning a white horse to be the quickest road to death. Easily seen from a great distance, it left a man vulnerable to ambush, as another could simply lie in wait along the trail with a rifle, and spot the rider from a long distance. It was considered suicide to take a white horse into Indian country.”
― Bobby Underwood, The Wild Country

“Many men along the trail would discover that a man unafraid of death is the most dangerous man alive. Wyn could never be afraid of death, because he had already died, that night, so long ago.”
― Bobby Underwood, The Wild Country