Under the Sweetwater Rim
by Louis L'Amour
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Description
Fiction. Western. Thriller. Historical Fiction. Deep in Indian country, Major Mark Devereaux and his men find a grisly scene: a wagon train savagely attacked, with no survivors. One of the wagons originally with the group is missing; in it is a fortune in gold and Devereaux’s daughter, Mary. The slaughter, Devereaux learns, was not the work of Indians but of a murderous outlaw band. With the stakes rising in a deadly game, the only wild card is Lieutenant Tenadore Brian, who is riding with show more the missing wagon—against orders. Devereaux knows Brian is a good soldier, but is he good enough to protect a saddlebag full of gold . . . and the life of his daughter? show lessTags
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Member Reviews
There's nothing better than a Bantam paperback Western on a Sunday afternoon, and nobody better to provide that experience than Louis L'Amour. Bought for 20p from a charity shop, my yellowed, dog-eared copy of Under the Sweetwater Rim doesn't seem like much (though I love the front cover). But it's that which makes it endearing: you know more or less how it's going to go, but you know it won't disappoint you either, and you're happy to sink an hour or two. The plot is good, the characters steady and the writing quick. Books like this need one stand-out element, and Sweetwater Rim's is the setting. The Wind River mountain ranges of Wyoming in winter are beautiful and compelling, even in L'Amour's limited, plot-driven prose. This is show more effortless pulp reading. show less
After reading this book again, I have to say that Under the Sweetwater Rim is a little better than the standard "good" L'Amour. All the characters are believable, the plot is interesting, (involving Army payroll), and I found myself rooting for the hero. There are also a couple strong women in the mix, which is not unusual for this author, but always welcome. In some L'Amour novels there's a lot of angst by the protagonist about not being good enough for the love interest, but it's nicely muted here. Good solid read.
Product Description
Deep in Indian country, Major Mark Devereaux and his men find a grisly scene: a wagon train savagely attacked, with no survivors. One of the wagons originally with the group is missing; in it is a fortune in gold and Devereaux’s daughter, Mary. The slaughter, Devereaux learns, was not the work of Indians but of a murderous outlaw band. With the stakes rising in a deadly game, the only wild card is Lieutenant Tenadore Brian, who is riding with the missing wagon—against orders. Devereaux knows Brian is a good soldier, but is he good enough to protect a saddlebag full of gold . . . and the life of his daughter?
From the Publisher
Two hundred vast miles stretching west of Fort Laramie--this was a country! No wonder show more the Indians were prepared to fight for it. Ferociously, with massacre and fire they swept down on yet another wagon train. One wagon mysteriously escaped. In it, the major's daughter and a dashing, hell-for-leather cavalry officer with renegade notions--and sixty thousand dollars in gold. Ready for anything, they made their stand. show less
under sweetwater rim
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Author Information
870+ Works 99,284 Members
Born in Jamestown, North Dakota on March 22, 1908, Louis L'Amour's adventurous life could have been the subject of one of his novels. Striking out on his own in 1923, at age 15, L'Amour began a peripatetic existence, taking whatever jobs were available, from skinning dead cattle to being a sailor. L'Amour knew early in life that he wanted to be a show more writer, and the experiences of those years serve as background for some of his later fiction. During the 1930s he published short stories and poetry; his career was interrupted by army service in World War II. After the war, L'Amour began writing for western pulp magazines and wrote several books in the Hopalong Cassidy series using the pseudonym Tex Burns. His first novel, Westward the Tide (1950), serves as an example of L'Amour's frontier fiction, for it is an action-packed adventure story containing the themes and motifs that he uses throughout his career. His fascination with history and his belief in the inevitability of manifest destiny are clear. Also present and typical of L'Amour's work are the strong, capable, beautiful heroine who is immediately attracted to the equally capable hero; a clear moral split between good and evil; reflections on the Native Americans, whose land and ways of life are being disrupted; and a happy ending. Although his work is somewhat less violent than that of other western writers, L'Amour's novels all contain their fair share of action, usually in the form of gunfights or fistfights. L'Amour's major contribution to the western genre is his attempt to create, in 40 or more books, the stories of three families whose histories intertwine as the generations advance across the American frontier. The novels of the Irish Chantry, English Sackett, and French Talon families are L'Amour's most ambitious project, and sadly were left unfinished at his death. Although L'Amour did not complete all of the novels, enough of the series exists to demonstrate his vision. L'Amour's strongest attribute is his ability to tell a compelling story; readers do not mind if the story is similar to one they have read before, for in the telling, L'Amour adds enough small twists of plot and detail to make it worth the reader's while. L'Amour fans also enjoy the bits of information he includes about everything from wilderness survival skills to finding the right person to marry. These lessons give readers the sense that they are getting their money's worth, that there is more to a L'Amour novel than sheer escapism. With over 200 million copies of his books in print worldwide, L'Amour must be counted as one of the most influential writers of westerns in this century. He died from lung cancer on June 10, 1988. (Bowker Author Biography) Louis L'Amour, truly America's favorite storyteller, was the first fiction writer ever to receive the Congressional Gold Medal from the United States Congress in honor of his life's work, & was also awarded the Medal of Freedom. There are over 260 million copies of his books in print worldwide. (Publisher Provided) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Under the Sweetwater Rim
- Original publication date
- 1971-05
- People/Characters
- Mary Devereaux; Tenadore Brian, Lt. 'Ten'; Major Mark Devereaux; Belle Renick; Reuben Kelsey; Sergeant Gogarty (show all 8); Captain John Renick; Plunkett
- Important places
- Wind River Mountains, Wyoming, USA; Fort Bridger, Wyoming, USA; Fort Laramie, Wyoming, USA; Overland Trail
- Important events
- Wagon Train Massacre
- Epigraph
- [None]
- Dedication
- To George and Marian...
To George and Martin ... - First words
- They had ridden twenty miles since daylight, and at the end of their day had come upon disaster.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Damn it, the man was a soldier.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 678
- Popularity
- 42,082
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.57)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 10
