Hanging Woman Creek: A Novel

This tale of range land warfare is as good a novel as Louis L'Amour ever wrote. Pronto Pike and his partner, Eddie Holt, spend the winter on Hanging Woman Creek trying to fight off rustlers. When they discover that Ann Farley and her brother are attacked they fully realize just what kind of men they are in conflict with--for, "men who will shoot at a woman will do anything". The only problem I have with this book is, it is written in first person--I did this, I did that--and that is not my favorite kind of prose. But other than that this is a good book.

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.

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

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

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