Western literature is a full genre, with many authors, books, magazines and such filling the reader’s mind with descriptions and stories of past and present. One of the giants in this crowded genre was A.B. Guthrie, Jr. Guthrie’s portrayal of the mountain men, wagon trains and the settling of the West is gripping.
Guthrie, who spent most of his life in Montana, wrote a series of books called the Big Sky Series. The series lasted for six books, and followed the story of the west from the age of mountain men to the early 20th century. Fair Land, Fair Land is the third book in the series, and tells of the final days of mountain man Dick Summers.
Dick Summers had appeared in the books published before Fair Land, Fair Land; The Big Sky and The Way West. In this book, Summers has grown tired of guiding settlers to the Oregon territory. He longs for the freedom of the mountain man once again. Setting out with a friend, Higgins, Summers sets out to find unsettled, untamed and wild country.
But his plans for a carefree life are interuppted when the duo comes upon Teal Eye, a Blackfoot Indian who Summers had loved in the past. Trying desperately to stay away from civilization, the three people lead a happy life in the mountains. Finding Boone Caudill, once a good friend of Summers before he killed a mutual friend, is a undercurrent of the story.
Fair Land, Fair Land provides an interesting commentary on the settlement of the West. The author tells of settlements, gold strikes, buffalo disappearing, covered wagons and more. Told from the view of an old mountain man, it is rather sad to see the world he once knew and loved shrink around him. Full of beautiful description of the country and the lifestyle, Fair Land, Fair Land is a book that everyone who knows and loves the West should read.
