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Title: The Last of the Plainsmen
Series: ----------
Author: Zane Grey
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Western
Pages: 237
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Grey “chronicles” a time he supposedly had with a man named Jones, a hunter and trapper who tried to trap the animals he hunted so he could domesticate them, whether they were mountain lions or wild ox. Anything but bears.

My Thoughts:

This was very much a Man VS Nature story that happened to take place out West (in the United States) and wasn't what I think of when I think “Western”. There isn't a single showdown with pistols, no bare knuckle fights, no Indians trying to scalp anyone, no scheming cardsharps, no damsel in distress, no wily saloon keeper with a hidden shotgun behind the bar. None of that.

This is just a boys adventure story about a man who has a lust for trapping animals and domesticating them. The main story was about Grey and Jones and the group Jones had gathered, trying to catch some mountain lions. During that hunt (which lasted several months if not longer) Jones tells stories about himself hunting other animals. Wild stallions, some sort of Indian ox that they considered sacred, bison, etc. There was a lot of adverse Nature conditions which provides most of the tension of the story.

This was not a “bad” book, but once again, Grey doesn't give me what I was expecting in a Western and as such, I am done reading him. Maybe next year I'll try Max Brand? I'd like to keep some Westerns in my reading rotation, but I am not willing to sift through L'Amour's standalones.

★★☆☆½ ( )

This is the first Zane Gray I've read and I'm amazed at his ability to convey a love of the west - its scenery, animals and people. His depiction of animals does not really jibe with my sentiments. I'm a vegetarian and a dog lover and respecter of life in the wild. His Plainsman firmly believes in his god given right to dominion over animals. He trains his dogs by whipping them or shooting them with fine buckshot, he "civilizes" bears (so that campers will be safe in their territory) by tying them up and beating them with a stick, especially the females who will then civilize all their future cubs. He has no compunction about killing mother animals so he can "save" their offspring. But he shows a respect for and understanding of animals that could have saved the American Bison from eradication had enough others shared the view. The depiction of the eventual capture of a cougar made me cringe, that this proud, able wild animal was to be added to his menagerie, but he certainly works for his acquisitions. This book is not a one sided view of wild animals, but it's an eye opener for people wanting to know what the west was like before people turned it into one barren city after another. ( )

From using the library's public computer, I found this book through the Novelist research database.Just this past week at the same library's last used book sale of this year, I found the exact copy as listed here.Being a fan of Paul Theroux's travel journal essays,this is a great introduction to those readers into reading about the Soutwest during the 1800s.