Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Frenchman's Ford ...

Nowadays, the mention of a novel about a western cattle drive usually refers to Lonesome Dove, but a century ago the book to read was The Log of a Cowboy, by a Colorado author named Andy Adams. Published in 1903, the book recalls a cattle drive from Texas to northern Montana ... it's fiction, but loosely based on some of Adams' own experiences.

The last few chapters of the book describe a northward trek across the middle of Montana, and include some of the volume's most evocative passages. Here's a frequently-excerpted section recounting a visit to a mythical town called Frenchman's Ford, which would have been on the Yellowstone River somewhere near present-day Custer:
We had left word with Honeyman what horses we wanted to ride that afternoon, and lost little time in changing mounts; then we all set out to pay our respects to the mushroom village on the Yellowstone. Most of us had money; and those of the outfit who had returned were clean shaven and brought the report that a shave was two-bits and a drink the same price. The town struck me as something new and novel, two thirds of the habitations being of canvas. Immense quantities of buffalo hides were drying or already baled, and waiting transportation as we afterward learned to navigable points on the Missouri. Large bull trains were encamped on the outskirts of the village, while many such outfits were in town, receiving cargoes or discharging freight. The drivers of these ox trains lounged in the streets and thronged the saloons and gambling resorts. The population was extremely mixed, and almost every language could be heard spoken on the streets. The men were fine types of the pioneer, -- buffalo hunters, freighters, and other plainsmen, though hardly as picturesque in figure and costume as a modern artist would paint them. For native coloring, there were typical specimens of northern Indians, grunting their jargon amid the babel of other tongues; and groups of squaws wandered through the irregular streets in gaudy blankets and red calico. The only civilizing element to be seen was the camp of engineers, running the survey of the Northern Pacific railroad.

Tying our horses in a group to a hitch-rack in the rear of a saloon called The Buffalo Bull, we entered by a rear door and lined up at the bar for our first drink since leaving Ogalalla. Games of chance were running in the rear for those who felt inclined to try their luck, while in front of the bar, against the farther wall, were a number of small tables, around which were seated the patrons of the place, playing for the drinks. One couldn't help being impressed with the unrestrained freedom of the village, whose sole product seemed to be buffalo hides. Every man in the place wore the regulation six-shooter in his belt, and quite a number wore two. The primitive law of nature known as self-preservation, was very evident in August of '82 at Frenchman's Ford. It reminded me of the early days at home in Texas, where, on arising in the morning, one buckled on his six-shooter as though it were part of his dress.

2 comments:

  1. Great book, available on Project Gutenberg

    ReplyDelete
  2. If this is fictional, and "loosely based", why did Adams set out to write to write a true account of a life he knew well? His book has been used by historians as fact. They retraced his story and found it to be accurate. Please enlighten me as to how you know the Frenchmans Ford was mythical.

    ReplyDelete