My Father Loved Zane Grey

TO THE LAST MAN

by Zane Grey



When I was growing up, my mother worked nights and so my dad was responsible for the four of us kids. We grew up on westerns. Yes, my dad loved westerns. John Wayne, Jeff Chandler, Jimmy Stewart, Clint Eastwood. Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Palatin, you name it, we watched it. And that was okay because we all survived them. They weren't my mom's choice on the nights she didn't work, but it was my father's house so westerns ruled the roost.

But the one thing I remember most is the set of books that sat on a bookcase in the family
room - a Zane Grey series. My dad loved Zane Grey so much so that he was nicknamed Zane in high school. My mother bought those for my dad. There were lots of times I thought about picking one out and reading it, but they were my dad's books. I never asked if I could read one of them.

So what have I chosen to read for the landscape genre? You guessed it - a Zane Grey book. There aren't that many of Grey's books to select from at my local library and the ones they have are not in the best of conditions. I don't know if that is because they have been around so long or if they have been read a great deal or a little of both.

To the Last Man, written in 1921, is a novel based on a true story - the Pleasant Valley War. In this version, Gaston Isbel summons his son Jean in Oregon to come to Arizona and help with the cattle and horse ranch. The sheep herders have moved into Grass Valley and bad times lie ahead. Isbel needs his son now and tells him to bring guns and lots of ammunition. Jean is also warned to only listen and not talk when he arrives. Cattle are missing, which always happens, but not to this extent. Cattlemen and sheepmen don't mix. Not until Jean arrives in the valley does he learn the whole story - that the enemy is a long time foe from Gaston's earlier years in Texas, that this fight has been brewing for years. The trouble began during the Civil War. After Gaston left to fight, Lee Jorth moved in on Gaston's girl, marrying her before the soldier returned home. Gaston proved Jorth was a cattle rustler and ruined him. Now Jorth has come to make him pay. But how will Jean handle the situation now that he has fallen in love with Jorth's daughter?

There is no doubt that Zane Grey, for the most part, falls into the Western genre. First, the location is in the American west. For this book, it occurs in Arizona. Contrary to what our text states, the reader knows exactly where the story occurs. Grey reveals this information in the Foreword as well as throughout the story. It does, however, take place about twenty-five years after the War Between the States. Our hero is a loner for several years since his family moved to Arizona, living in the forests and fishing in the waters of Oregon. Not tied to anyone. He has well developed hunting and tracking capabilities, but when it comes to disagreements with other men, his guns are the last thing he uses. But it does come down to survival of the fittest in the end. Grey's storyline strategy is a developing one, where the reader may believe the plot is unknown when in fact it is just a cover for the real issue at hand. It is a story of revenge and the law is nowhere in sight. But how do you create laws to deal with jealousy?

It was a book I found difficulty in putting down and for several reasons. I wanted to know more about this man named Jean (reminded me of Johnny Cash's song), this half-breed as some would call him. Though I knew how the story would end and that the hero would get the girl, I wanted to know how it played out. And then there was Ellen Jorth, the only daughter and child of a man she never knew or understood. The only woman among a gang of thieves and killers who pawed at her and claimed her for their own, whether she was or not. She was fighting for her freedom as well - trying to find her own identity. The pacing began steadily and, just like anyone headed for trouble, it sped up more and more until the final shoot out. Yep, it was action packed! And it was just like sitting in front of the television watching the Matt Dillon try to talk the bad guy into laying down his gun before something bad happened. Reading some of the dialogue took a little getting used to. It reminded me of Festus, the old western slang and lingo.

Yes, it was a struggle of good vs. evil, with the good not always being good. But there was the internal struggle that both Jean and Ellen fought within themselves. The struggle to do what was right and forgetting that 'right' had nothing to do with family names. The struggle to put the past behind and move on. The struggle to just laying down the gun and walk away.

By the way, I picked up another western during my secret shopper investigation. It's not another Zane Grey though. This one is by Elmer Kelton, a more contemporary western genre writer who passed away just last year. It doesn't fit the usual western in that it begins in 1840 and ends in 1863. It takes place in Texas and is more of a cowboy-Indian story. So far, there hasn't been any romance (which doesn't bother me), but about the Comanches trying to take back their land. So far, so good. It is the first book in Kelton's Texas Ranger series. Perhaps I am my father's daughter after all.


Read Alikes - Authors (Fantastic Fiction): Zane's sons - Romer Zane Grey and Loren Zane Grey; Elmer Kelton; Louis L'Amour; Max Brand (outside of the Dr. Kildare series); Ralph Compton; William W. Johnstone; J. T. Edson; Ralph Cotton; Lewis B. Patten; Terry C. Johnston; Alan LeMay (Indianapolis native); Fred Grove.

Read Alikes - Books (NoveList): Dreams to Dust: a Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush by Sheldon Russell; Last Child by Michael Spooner; Redeye: a Western by Clyde Edgerton; Not Between Brothers by D. Marion Wilkinson.