Dutchman's Flat
by Louis L'Amour
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TURN HOME, RIDERIn this land, the place you leave behind might not be there when you get back. At least not the way you knew it. Tack Gentry of the G Bar, Chat Lock of Dutchman’s Flat, and Ward McQueen of the Tumbling K knew how it felt to struggle against men who were trying to take from them what they believed in. For the bad rush in when the good leave, and men will choose to fight, not just over drunken threats, gambling losses, and honor, but for land, friendships, family, and show more even love—a struggle magnificently captured in these eleven great stories written and handpicked by the incomparable Louis L’Amour himself.
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Member Reviews
A solid selection of short stories in this authorized L'Amour collection. I enjoyed the introductions to each story, which give the reader some background of topics touched upon within. Not every tale is of gunfights or range wars. One I especially liked was about the middle-aged grandfather trying to mine enough gold to save his widowed daughter's ranch, and outwit Apaches at the same time. The Tumbling K is featured in a couple of the stories, as is Kilkenny.
Ended up being a book of short stories. Most where so,so but the story "West of the Tularosas" was a great read by it self.
As I noted elsewhere, I really prefer L'Amour's short stories to most of his novels. In this collection, I particularly like "West of the Tularosas"
Product Description
A collection of short frontier stories personally selected and introduced by the author.
From the Publisher
A collection of short frontier stories personally selected and introduced by the author.
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Author Information
870+ Works 99,523 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
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Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1986-03
- People/Characters
- Neill; Kimmel; Hardin; Kesney; Johnny Webb; Chat Lock (show all 9); Sutter; Short; Mary Lock
- Important events
- The killing of Johnny Webb.; Mary has breakfast ready for the posse.
- First words
- Thr dust of Dutchman's Flat had settled in a gray film upon their faces, and Neill could see the streaks made by the sweat on their cheeks and brows and knew his own must be the same.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Mary Lock was standing in the doorway, waving to them, and the sunlight was very bright in the clean-swept dooryard.
- Disambiguation notice
- There is a short story and a collection of the same name; unfortunately they have been combined and it is very difficult to distinguish which editions are which.
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- Members
- 552
- Popularity
- 53,563
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.45)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 22
- ASINs
- 8
