| Title | : | The Death Of the Bravos |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 467 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1962 |
“By and large,” John Myers Myers writes, “what went on in the early days of the American West transpired while historians were looking the other way . . . the West’s prime movers had no idea themselves that they were doing more than following their personal bents. For most of them recognition of their national importance was postponed until they had been dead for anywhere from fifty to a hundred years. But as they had been remembered as men of mark in their own region, they had by then become citizens of tradition.” The tradition in which their exploits were preserved was the oral one, and many of the episodes that go to make up the epic of the Old West were passed from one memory to another before they were ever given written form. For THE DEATHS OF THE BRAVOS, Mr. Myers has plumbed this vast and heroic literature to present the story of the West not in a scholarly, formal manner but with something of the spirit in which it took place and became legend.
Mr. Myers includes many already familiar figures such as Sam Houston and John Frémont, and introduces a horde of colorful heroes and villains unknown to most of us: Hugh Glass, Jim Bridges, James Ohio Pattie, Jed Smith, Sam Walker, Sarah Bowman, Cynthia Ann Parker, Madame Fanny Perrier are only a few whose story is told in this remarkable narrative of Western lore.
The cast of characters includes mountain men, soldiers, gunslingers, Mexican bandits, Indians, camp followers, politicians and prospectors. The scene is laid in the period 1812 to 1878, the most individualistic, explosive period of our history. The drama is one of our country’s greatest.
Here in full dimension is the story of the bravos of the West “who turned a large but limited nation into one of continent-spanning dimensions.” These great adventurers were as diverse and manifold “as their occupations, their goals and their states of grace,” but they had a great deal in common, including a willingness to stake their lives against whatever they wished to achieve. Their story is properly one chronicle, a chronicle John Myers Myers has written in this magnificent panorama of the men and events that made the Old West.
The Death Of the Bravos Reviews
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Death of the Bravos (currently titled Bravos of the West) is an informal history of the old West, from 1812 to 1878, largely mined from oral tradition. "By and large, what went on in the early days of the American West transpired while historians were looking the other way...", writes Myers, and rather than attempting a scholarly treatment of the subject, he has drawn on the oral tradition to create a rollicking tale of the mountain men, scouts, Indians, bandits, filibusters, and shootist who lived and died there during that wide open and wild time.
Following a rough chronological order, each chapter sketches the story of one of these Western bravos, some well known characters, others more obscure. A substantial portion of the book is about the various mountain men and the fur trade, covering such legends as Jed Smith, Hugh Glass, Jim Bridger, Old Bill Williams, Joe Meeks, and many others. Sam Houston and the rest of the men who made Texas are covered well, as are those who blazed the Santa Fe Trail, and those who opened up and settled the Oregon Country. There is hardly a significant event or person in the time period that he covers that Myers does not bring to life through his lively prose. Myers skillfully weaves all of these separate stories into a great tapestry of the claiming of the West for the American nation.
Myers knows his subject well, as most of his life was devoted to researching and writing about the American West. Yet he is primarily a storyteller, not a dry academic. His writing is playful and idiomatic, and if you let yourself fall under his spell, you may find you are searching out his other books regardless of subject.
Bravos of the West falls somewhere between history and legend, and hence must at times be taken with a grain of salt if pure historical accuracy (is there any such beast?) is what you are looking for. But to learn of the many amazing people whose stories combined to win the West and create an American mythology, John Myers Myers' fascinating book is just the thing. -
W Mye
