Customer Reviews

Buffalo Wagons

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not normally a lover of Westerns, but I have Mr. Kelton's granddaughter in a class I teach and she talked a lot about her author grandfather, so I finally gave in and purchased a copy of one of his books. I guess I owe the granddaughter a big "Thank you," as "Buffalo Wagons" is terrific! Gage Jameson is an unusually well-rounded character for the genre. A veteran buffalo hunter, he has seen the northern herd wiped out. While he mourns the loss of the old ways, he also acknowledges his own role in that loss. Furthermore, even as he heads south into Comanche country, he agonizes that he is contributing to more destruction of the world he loves. This does not stop him, though, for buffalo hunting is all he knows. The antagonists include the Comanches desperate to save their way of life, although they are certainly not romanticized, and some of the white men Jameson trusts to travel south with him. Kelton's vivid descriptions of the llano estacado take the reader to that inhospitable land, with all of its beauty and danger. The plot contains enough twists--always credible and logical--to keep the most particular reader satisfied. I am eager to read more of Kelton's Westerns and am highly recommending them to my students and friends.

Buffalo Wagons had a grabbing attention getter in the first chapter. It had a GREAT plot and I felt involved with the characters quickly. The story had substance. I read the last four chapters by candlelight because our lights went out and I couldn't wait to read more! This is the first Elmer Kelton book I have read, but I guarantee, I will find more of his books.

I couldn't believe when I opened this up that no one else had reviewed the book! You folks are missing out. This is the book that introduced me to Elmer Kelton, which is perhaps why it's my favorite. But everything about it is SO GOOD. The guns, the buffalo hunting, the Indians, the characters. Kelton is supreme. He is far better than Louis L'AMour in his authenticity and believablility, and everyone ought to see that in this book. The only writer I know of who is neck and neck with Kelton is Kirby Jonas, whom critics call the New Louis L'Amour. That's actually a disservice though, because he's far better. He rounds out his characters. Between Kelton and Jonas, the western field is filled!

This was my first experience with an Elmer Kelton book and I must say I enjoyed it entirely.
I was not really in a western mood when I first started the book, so that may be why it seemed to start a little slowly to me, but after a few chapters, I must say that I was throughly pulled into the action.
The characters were portrayed very well and realistically. Elmer Kelton's West is more realistic than mythological.
Gage Jameson, the protagonist in this western novel, is heroic yet believable. He's got faults, but overall you see he is a noble and good man.
There are some minor characters in the story that you will also grow to really like before the book ends, among them the Texan cook and the old buffalo hunter Shad Blankenship.

A really interesting, involving and entertaining read. I recommend it.

For years I have read many westerns penned by various authors and until recently for some reason hadn't come across Kelton (this was my second read). His words create visions and take you back into the times gone by, so much so you can almost smell, hear, and see the Buffalo stretched across the plains. This book lets you in on the life of a "Buffalo Hunter" and his grisly life to earn a living in the Old West. Personally I don't care much for them as unlike Indians they wasted the Buffalo only wanting their precious hides. This book takes you on a journey to the unsettled state of Texas full of adventure with endless buffalo herds, indians, guns, wildlife, and of course men both bad and good. I won't give away the story, but I can see why it won a spur award as I had the pages turning and blazing as fast as the sharps shooting the buffalo. Some nice twists and turns on the pages to keep you flipping the pages till the very end. Well written and full of adventure-Bravo!!

Buffalo Wagons, by Elmer Kelton is another excellently written, entertaining novel by this 7 time Spur Award Winner. The story itself is greatly buoyed by the book's historical references, informing the reader of the nature of the great buffalo slaughter and the reasoning behind this environmental tragedy.

Kelton's story is completely arresting. His characters represent a smorgasbord of Western frontiersmen, and many are not very nice. In fact, more than a few are thieving, murdering sociopaths.

What is particularly interesting, given the historical bent of the book, is the extreme measures these men went to, and the incredible hardships they endured to "get rich." Truly it makes one wonder about men! Were these buffalo hunters/frontiersmen the exception? Or were all early Western men this aggressive, rugged, tough, and brutal?

Kelton, as always, is so very gentlemanly in his treatment of romance and women, and this book is no exception. After his main man rescues a maiden in distress who'd been kidnapped by Indians, Kelton handles the romantic aspect of the book very traditionally. Thankfully, he included a touch of romance, or the story might have stalled despite the bloody tale he tells. It also helped give a touch of decency and humanity to several of the characters, making them all the more likeable, otherwise their blood lust for buffalo hides would have rendered them just as bad as the true antagonists in the book.