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Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Summary

The outfit works up the Powder toward the Bighorns, subdued by Deets's death and jumpy about Indian sign Call keeps cutting. Newt turns over Augustus's remark that Call is his father and finds he is too numb to care. Then a grizzly walks out of a creek thicket and the entire outfit comes apart: horses bolt, the wagon runs three miles with Lippy aboard, half the hands are thrown, and Call and Augustus are both dumped by mounts that will not go near the bear. The mottled Texas bull charges it. Bear and bull roll in the dust, roaring, until they break apart bloodied and the bear ambles off. The bull is left one-eyed, one-horned, with the skin ripped off his neck; Po Campo sews him up, the whole crew holding him down, and a week later he is back at the head of the herd, ornerier than ever. Night herding becomes still less popular.

Analysis

Grief immediately followed by farce: the grizzly scatters the entire outfit, and the mottled bull fights it to a draw. The scene rewards two hundred pages of setup and gives the drive its one unambiguous victory — won by an animal everybody wanted shot.

Plates

The outfit trails the herd up the Powder River, the snow on the Bighorns showing to the west.
00 The outfit trails the herd up the Powder River, the snow on the Bighorns showing to the west.
Newt rides the drag, too numb since Deets's death to care about the snow, the mountains, or Augustus's remark that the Captain is his father.
01 Newt rides the drag, too numb since Deets's death to care about the snow, the mountains, or Augustus's remark that the Captain is his father.
Ranging far ahead in Deets's place, Call dismounts over the tracks of some forty Indians heading northwest.
02 Ranging far ahead in Deets's place, Call dismounts over the tracks of some forty Indians heading northwest.
Expecting Indians, the hands gamble over who takes which watch; Needle Nelson trembles so hard he can barely get a foot in the stirrup.
03 Expecting Indians, the hands gamble over who takes which watch; Needle Nelson trembles so hard he can barely get a foot in the stirrup.
Riding together past Crazy Woman Creek, Augustus tells Call they were fools for living the lives they lived; Call says he has enjoyed his.
04 Riding together past Crazy Woman Creek, Augustus tells Call they were fools for living the lives they lived; Call says he has enjoyed his.
A grizzly walks out of the creek thicket; Dish Boggett's horse bolts under him and the whole herd turns to look.
05 A grizzly walks out of the creek thicket; Dish Boggett's horse bolts under him and the whole herd turns to look.
The outfit comes apart — the mules bolt three miles with Lippy aboard, the remuda runs south, thrown hands crawl about with pistols drawn, and the two pigs eat the potatoes that fell out of the wagon.
06 The outfit comes apart — the mules bolt three miles with Lippy aboard, the remuda runs south, thrown hands crawl about with pistols drawn, and the two pigs eat the potatoes that fell out of the wagon.
Bear and bull roll over and over in the dust, bellowing and roaring, while Call and Augustus stand dismounted with their rifles and decline to shoot.
07 Bear and bull roll over and over in the dust, bellowing and roaring, while Call and Augustus stand dismounted with their rifles and decline to shoot.
Roped and thrown, the bull is held down by the whole crew and five horses while Po Campo sews the flap of skin back onto his neck.
08 Roped and thrown, the bull is held down by the whole crew and five horses while Po Campo sews the flap of skin back onto his neck.
A week after the fight the bull is back at the head of the herd one morning, one-eyed and one-horned and ornerier than ever, and the hands give him a wide berth.
09 A week after the fight the bull is back at the head of the herd one morning, one-eyed and one-horned and ornerier than ever, and the hands give him a wide berth.