The Long Rifle

I first read this book in 1959 as a fourth grader just before it became a Disney mini-series. I re-read it again in high school and again in college. This latest reading was my fourth. At every age I found some thing new to appreciate and enjoy. Today portions of it would probably be found to be politicaly incorrect but it probably gives a fair estimate of the feelings of the time. I really enjoy trying to trace Andy's journey's on an atlas and correlate his peregrinations with our nations early history.

Stewart Edward White was many things- lumberjack, cowboy, novelist, biographer, even a writer of a psychic phenomenon series,and though this is the first book of his that I have had the immense pleasure of reading, I must say that after reading the Long Rifle, I believe that this, out of his almost sixty books, was the one he enjoyed writing the most. I think most writers have a favorite that they have written, because it is the one that they have put the most of themselves into, yearning to almost be the imagined character themselves, or to live in the world that lives in their mind. I would not be surprised if the life of a mountain or frointiersman is the kind of life that White would have loved to have led. There are a number of reasons that I can find for saying this. First, with his vivid, sweeping, almost panoramic descriptions, you are thrown into the true *wild* west, long before it became the wild west of the cowboy days and the countless novels of the *western* genre. The only peoples that you would be fortunate enough to see (or unfortunate as the case often was) was lots of Indians, the rare Spanish settelment, or the even rarer fellow Mountain Man. The mountains and the valleys are written as if White were sitting there with them right in his view. Perfect. Breathtaking. Untouched. Majestic. So full of wildlife that, in the words of Joe Crane, *You needn't hardly aim yer rifle, and you've downed yer dinner*. This is the land that is so beautifully described. Second, in this age where it is culturally acceptable (at least in most of the western countries) to be a New Age guru or a Catholic monk, Agnostic or Christian, Hindu or practioner of the far-east disciplines, we are at least used to the idea of normal, everyday people being any of these things. But in the 1930's? Spiritualism outside of Christianity was not as accepted by mainstream American culture as it is now. Despite this, White still puts traces of his beliefs (his wife, Betty, channeled mystical teachings, giving him the material for his three psychic phenomena books,) into the character of Andy Burnett. These are written about in a way that can be interpreted as just instinctual reactions, but a careful reading declares them to be more of a spiritual understanding of what is going on around him. The third can be found in the central figure of this book, the previously mentioned Andy Burnett, the fictional inherator of Daniel Boone's long rifle, giving the book its name. Andy has not been steeped with what our more modern minds think of as *hero* characteristics. He is not superhuman, he doesn't war with himself about what the right thing to do in a situation is. He is not given to heavy drinking, chasing women, (the one time he did try completely scared him out of his wits,) engaging in brawls, or causing commotion; all things that a rather large chunk of the modern heros in movies are found to do. Interestingly enough they are also all things that Andy's fello

This is an excellent book for a young person because it teaches some great lessons about history, personal responsibility and cause-and-effect. The characters are incredibly life-like and the writing is spell-binding. This book is a "pager-turner". However, don't be shy of picking up this book if you are an adult, either. It's a great read. A belated "Thank You" for this book, Mr. White!

A great tale of the early west. A brave young man goes west with the early fur trappers. The long Rifle saves his bacon many times. He meets and traps with many of the famous old trappers and they share many wonderful adventures. Fiction at its best for youngsters. I read it first in 1953 and I still love it.