Hanging Woman Creek :: essays research papers

Hanging Woman Creek is set in an era of American expansion when the major conflict of the Indian population was not much of a worry. The bigger worry for most men on the frontier was other whites. Bandits were plentiful, and the law was dealt out by the people. The book starts out in Chicago, concerning a man who had just been released from an overnight stay in prison. This man is called Pike, and has a reputation for being a fighter. His reputation is not that well however, because it seems that he loses more fights than he wins. He is sitting with an African-American man and another man by a fire, Eddie and Van. He quickly became friends with Eddie, and realized that Van was more trouble than he was worth. He and Eddie hitched a train to the West, looking for jobs as cowherds. They reach a town on the edge of the frontier that Pike has visited in the past. He finds some friends and one that offers a job. However, this job is not a very safe one. It is to round up some cattle near a n outpost on Hanging Woman Creek and stay there.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pike and Eddie find much trouble, and one man is shot in the back by an unknown assailant. Pike escorts a lady out to her brother’s homestead, and a while later the lady’s brother’s estate has been burnt down. Bohlen, a local rancher, was suspected of doing it. Ann, the lady that Pike escorted earlier, was at the house. She had escaped however, and was now on the run. Pike caught up to her and they headed back to the town. Along the way Bohlen attacked the group and killed Eddie and Ann’s brother. Pike and Ann made it back to town and Pike got his revenge on Bohlen, but only after he went through a court hearing and the truth came out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book was very confusing and disorganized. It was very hard to follow and the author could have done a better job in explaining the plot. Facts were thrown in throughout the story about what was going on, sometimes with no real relevance. The author also stopped often to contemplate the meaning of life from the perspective of Pike. This was distracting, and made the book a very boring read. The book definitely could have used some more organization and a less complicated plot.