Western Genre -- Journal of the Gun Years

Journal of the Gun Years

by Richard Matheson

Genre: Western

Publication Date: 1991

Number of Pages: 224 pages

Geographical Setting: Novelist places the setting as ‘Colorado’ but I would say ‘the Wild West’ – various places across the western United States

Time Period:  1864 to 1876

Series:  N/A

Plot Summary: This book is written in the form of a journal, edited by a journalist-friend of the supposed author after the author dies in a shootout.  The journal tells how Clay Halser, a young man who fought in the civil war, returns home to find he is bored with farm life.  He heads west in search of adventure, starting out as a bartender’s assistant, then a stagecoach guard.  After being injured while guarding a coach from Indians, he works briefly at the stagecoach depot, until he kills his abusive boss, thereby becoming a fugitive from the law.  Barely escaping a hanging, he lives the life of an outlaw for a time.  Eventually the lawlessness of it begins to grate on him.  For a time he works as a ranch hand, falls in love, and becomes involved in a ‘war’ between two ranches.  When he takes revenge on the killers of his ‘boss’ (a man who had become a father-figure in his life), he is once more facing the gallows.  Escaping his fate a second time, he continues on to a new locale.  There he eventually becomes the Marshal, marries the woman with whom he’d previously fallen in love, and has a child.  Still unable to settle down, Clay takes on a job in a new city that needs ‘taming’ despite his wife’s protests.  She ends up leaving him, his friends are killed in a shoot-out against the local villains, and Clay finds himself alone and on the move again.  After a stint on the east-coast in theatre (playing himself as the ‘Hero of the Plains’), he once more heads west, living off the earnings of gambling and moving from place to place.  He marries again, which turns out to be a mistake.  Not long thereafter he leaves his new wife and begins to travel once more, pausing in Silver Gulch with the idea of trying his hand at mining.  This is where his journalist-friend re-discovers him, only to witness his death.

Subject Headings: (From Novelist)  Gunfighters – Southwest (United States), United States marshals – Colorado, Nineteenth century, Gunfighters, Violence, Frontier and pioneer life,  (I would also add) Outlaws

Appeal:  Fast-paced, Character-driven, Bleak, Violent, Gritty

Terms that best describe this book:

·         Written like a diary, first person perspective, edited by a friend

·         Main character’s fate is mentioned in the beginning

·         While some cursing occurs, it is censored with dash-marks.

Similar Authors and Works (from Novelist):

Welcome to Hard Times by E. L. Doctorow – A town is all but destroyed by ‘the Bad Man from Bodie’, and another man attempts to rebuild it while remaining braced for his return.  This book is written in a ‘diary’ sort of style.  It’s a western involving gunfighters, violence, and pioneer life.

A Town Called Fury by William W. Johnstone – Settlers headed westward are attacked by Native Americans.  They prevail, despite their losses, and finally find a place to settle their new town.  This book is a western, written with a rather bleak outlook, involving gunfighters and frontier and pioneer life.

The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok by Richard Matheson – Written by the same author, the main character of this book, Wild Bill Hickok, is mentioned by name a couple times in Journal of the Gun Years.  This western also involves Untied States marshals in the 19^th century and pioneer and frontier life.

Deadwood  by Pete Dexter – Wild Bill Hickok and a friend return to the town of Deadwood hoping to settle down, but life just won’t let them.  This book is also a western, written with a rather bleak outlook, involving gunfighters in the 19^th century.