Customer Reviews

Hanging Woman Creek: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reading this book reminds me that this particular April, 1964, western has always been one of my favorites. Some of Louis L'Amour's writing seem to surpass the formulaic western to approach good literature, this is one of those.

The story takes place 9 years after the U.S. Army and Indian battles of the Rosebud and the Little Big Horn Rivers, making 1885 the story's date. The locale is in Montana, southwest of Miles City, bordering on the Tongue River. With Hanging Woman Creek resting between the Little Big Horn 40 miles to the west, and the Powder River 15 miles to the east. This Powder River country is a very rough, wild, picturesque mountainous area holding, among others, cattle, grizzly bears, elk, deer, and wolves.

Of late, much rustling of range cattle has been taking place making it not only downright dangerous, but almost impossible to hire men during the winter for the high country line camp on the Hanging Woman Creek. The two main characters of our story need work, and having some experience working cattle, agree to take on the job on the Hanging Woman. Stocked up with adequate grub, pistols, and 500 rounds ammo each for two Winchester rifles, they feel more than confident.

However, discovering the door to their line camp cabin shot full of lead, with a loosened log at the back end of the cabin for escape, that confidence begins to fade. As time passes they begin to see that many things do not seem right: just who has wrapped their mule's hoofs in with Indian style rawhide to shoot people in the back? And who are the rustlers stealing the cattle from the herd Pronto and Eddie are here to watch over? Are the vigilantes working to rid the areas of Montana and western Dakota Territory of rustlers? Will rope law and revenge run rampant to settle old scores? And why is that mysterious cave stocked with canned food for at least a week's stay? These among other questions begin to trouble the minds of both Pronto Pike and Eddie Holt.

Later with Pronto and Eddie being fired from their jobs due charges lodged against them of using a running iron to rustle cattle, then awhile later added to this, when both are accused of murdering a nester brother and sister, the plot really begins to simmer.

Eddie Holt, being a very good cook and baker, makes a whole washtub full of 'bear sign' which attracts everyone in the area's interest. Well, why not, I mean doughnuts were not that available out in the Hanging Woman Creek wilderness area. And as any $30 a month cowboy knows, 'bear sign', or fresh doughnuts, mean good eating for anyone fortunate to be Pronto and Eddie's friend.

As with all Mr. L'Amour's writings good does eventually triumph over evil, and at book's ending, all is well in both Miles City, Montana, and on the banks of Hanging Woman Creek. As die hard readers of Louis L'Amour will recognize, his home town of Jamestown, Dakota, or 'Jim Town' on the Northern Pacific Railroad makes its appearance early in these pages. Bet he had fun with that one.

If you enjoy the writings of Louis L'Amour or just are looking for a much above average book from him, you can do no better than read this one.

Semper Fi.

Hanging Woman Creek has better, more realistic characteriZation and doesn't make the main character a super cowboy, LaMour didn't skimp on character development or on period description just to move the plot along. Often Louis LaMour is formulaic, you either love it or hate it, but you know what you are going to get. Not so this time. Pronto overcomes his adversaries, but the author scripts scenes showing Pronto choosing to grow up in the process.
Not all loose ends are tied up and the story is more focused because of it, leaving irrelevant details unexplained reinforces their unimportance to the story.
Hope it will be a movie some day,

My husband loves anything written by Louis L'Amour--especially the Westerns. This was no exception. He couldn't put it down and I can guarantee that it's not the first time that he's read this book.

A typical Louis L'Amour western. My father grew up in the Southwest and Louis speaks the same kind of language that my father did. Some of the same sayings and names for things that one never hears in the North or even in today's language. We always enjoy them.

A great L'Amour, though not my favorite, it was suspenseful and had everything you expect from him (strong sense of right/wrong, harsh conditions, strong characters, and bad guys). :)

Another good L'Amour book and one that I always found interesting because of the unusual characters. The main character Barney "Pronto" Pike, so called because he fights easily, is one of the few L'Amour characters who is not skilled at gunfighting. He's just an average cowpoke, down on his luck and looking for a job. A chance meeting with a black man in a similar position causes them to decide to travel together and they end up on Hanging Woman Creek fighting rustlers and other outlaws. At the same time, they are trying to figure out the identity of the mysterious killer who is back-shooting people. To make matters worse, Barney nearly gets hung for killing someone (who isn't even really dead) before it's all over. Lots of action.

Bought this with the Kindle...always enjoy the ease of getting books on the Kindle.

This book was really good. The books started a little slow but was ulimately a really good book. It even had a couple of twists in the plot that are unusual for L'Amour's books. The Montana countryside is described in some detail as well as the lifestyle of that time.

'Hanging Woman Creek' is one of L'Amour's better efforts. I was not sure of this one but was pleasantly surprised by some clever plot twists, a nice group of bad guys that need killin' and a nice mix of characters, with the two main ones most interesting. Well worth the effort if you are getting back into reading western novels.
Check it out for a nice read.
Five cactus for this guy.
Crunch Hardtack

Adventure, thriller or western classic? HANGING WOMAN CREEK is all three and more. Louis L'Amour introduces an African-American into one of his finest stories. The year is 1885, twenty years after the close of the Civil War. There are no heroics or breast beating, but just a man doing his job, which is what happened in the raw west where race wasn't a factor against survival. What matter is how well a man could pull his own freight.
This Lamour has passages that breech the realm of literature and will keep you reading until you've sampled all for this outstanding writer.
Writing as a Small BusinessQualifying Laps: A Brewster County NovelGuns Across the Rio: A Texas Ranger in Old MexicoUnder the Liberty OakNatchez Above The River: A Family's Survival In The Civil War