Bob Stockton, Counting Coup

Coup were the bragging rights earned by Plains Indians on the field of battle between tribes. Counting coup was the ceremonial recital of a warrior’s achievements, be they merely touching an enemy, striking, wounding or killing him and taking a scalp. This historical novel is a recital of episodes in the frontier life of trapper, scout, and Indian fighter, Kit Carson. 

Plot.  The central character is Tom Adams, formerly a captain in the Union Army during the War Between the States. Adventure has drawn him to California, and the novel is structured around his interviews with Jeb Ford, a man who knew Carson.

Ford is a crusty mountain man who fetches up in Carson City, Nevada, where Adams has taken a job as agent for Wells Fargo express. Much of the novel reads like a verbatim transcript of Ford’s graphic recollections of encounters with hostile Indians. The closing chapters retell the story of engagements between Americans and Californios in the war with Mexico.

Quite a number of other historical figures walk the pages of the novel, including John Fremont, Gen. Kearny, Sam Clemens, and Commodore “Fighting Bob” Stockton, a predecessor of the book’s author. They are joined by a dozen others, unknown or forgotten, ranging from a ship’s captain, a telegraph operator, and a barmaid to “Emperor” Joshua Norton I, a deranged but beloved man who roamed the streets of San Francisco. For me, the most fascinating part of the novel came at the end, where Stockton describes what happened in later life to each of his characters.

San Francisco, Portsmouth Square, 1851

Also of interest is what we learn of the Wells Fargo’s express business, running coaches and freight wagons between Sacramento and Carson City, Nevada. And readers get a short history lesson from the days of California’s Bear Flag Republic and General Kearny’s near defeat at the hands of Gen. Pico outside San Diego.

As winter descends in Stockton’s novel (and in Ann Parker’s Silver Lies, reviewed here recently), a reader is reminded of how westerners had to endure snow and bitter cold. The traditional Hollywood western, usually shot in Southern California or Arizona, made the West seem always summery. But the novelist, without needing to resort to special effects, can let the snow fly and the temperatures drop.

Kit Carson (1940)

The short-lived Bear Flag Republic of California came into being in 1846 with a revolt against the Mexican military authority of Gen. José Castro. Instrumental in that uprising were two figures well known from American history, explorer John C. Frémont and his scout, Kit Carson. Working together through the 1840s, they had opened up the West to immigration along the Oregon Trail.

This western portrays both men as heroes of westward expansion. Before tackling the Mexican forces under Castro’s command, they successfully escort a wagon train of settlers across hostile Indian country. For romantic interest, the two are involved in a love triangle with the daughter of a wealthy Californian.

Dana Andrews, Lynn Bari, Jon Hall

Plot. As the story begins, Frémont (Dana Andrews) is waiting with his troops and a wagon train bound for California at the fort of Jim Bridger (Raymond Hatton) on the Oregon Trail. Trapper Kit Carson (Jon Hall) and two companions (Ward Bond, Harold Huber) arrive, and Frémont tries to persuade Carson to take command of the train as wagon master.

Carson first declines, despite the appeals of a prominent member of the immigrant party, Dolores Murphy (Lynn Bari). They are fools, he says, to take women and children into Indian country. But apparently out of boredom, he changes his mind, and he and his two pals join the train.

The Shoshone waste no time giving them trouble and make a night attack in an effort to run off the horses. Two sentries on night duty are shot, and there is a fierce gun battle with numerous casualties. Meanwhile, we learn that the Indians’ rifles and being supplied by General Castro.

Capturing one of Castro’s lieutenants, Carson, Frémont, and Bond interrogate the man by tying him up and pitching knives and hatchets at him. And from him they learn what Castro has been up to. Seeing no need for a fair trial, Frémont calls up a firing squad and the lieutenant is soon disposed of. Barri is horrified at their cold-hearted savagery.

Kit Carson (1809-1968)

Determined to find a direct route through the Sierras, Frémont and his men part company with Carson and his wagon train. Carson argues that taking the long way around has numerous advantages, but Frémont cannot be dissuaded. And he marches off directly into an Indian ambush. The wagon train is soon under attack, too. Only after some heroics by Carson are the troops rescued and the Indians driven back.

Cut to the hacienda of Bari’s father in Monterey. There’s a fiesta in progress with dancing and drinking, but Carson is not much of a partier. Time to go check traps along the Platte, he says, and departs with Bond and Huber.

Discovering a camp of Mexican soldiers, they capture one of Castro’s officers, a congenial and rotund General Vallejo (Lew Merrill) who is an amigo of the americanos. He’s relieved to be taken captive, as it means sanctuary from Castro, who has grown suspicious of him.

Vallejo happily spills what he knows about Castro’s plans to run the americanos out of California and then declare himself emperor of not only California but all of Mexico. Someone brings out a bear flag, and the revolt is in full swing.  Attacking the hacienda where he believes the americanos have all gathered, Castro is held off by Carson, his pals, and a handful of others. Frémont’s troops then drive the Mexicans off, and the republic is born.