Summary
Chapter 46
Augustus sends Newt to guard Lorena until Jake returns. Call comes back and announces that he found a cook who will join them the next day. Augustus tells him about encountering Blue Duck. Augustus already sent Deets to track Blue Duck, and Call disapproves. Deets's return brings a great deal of relief to Call.
Call reflects on the nights he spent with Maggie (Newt's mother) years ago. He regrets going to her, and his memory of Maggie is the most bitter that he has. Maggie fixated on Call to save her, but he was unable to provide what she desperately needed. Augustus tried so hard to convince Call to spend time with Maggie that Call considered breaking off from Augustus. When Newt was born, Call thought about leaving the Rangers to marry Maggie, but he could never bring himself to do it. Newt's very existence reminds Call of his failure. He feels empty and sad inside, but spends some time alone to feel better.
That night, Call lets his favorite horse, Hell Bitch, graze at the end of a rope. Call ties the other end to himself.
Chapter 47
Newt anxiously rides towards Lorena's camp. When he arrives, he awkwardly introduces himself. Lorena tells him to go back to camp because she wishes to be alone. Newt rides a little ways off and decides to keep watch from a distance. He separates from Mouse (his horse) and falls asleep against a tree, dreaming of being the top hand in the outfit. A stampede of cattle wakes Newt. He runs toward Mouse, determined to help get the cattle back on track, and starts crying when he finds Mouse missing. Distant shots indicate that the boys are getting the cattle back on track.
Pea Eye rides up with Mouse and tells Newt that the Captain assumed that Newt got trampled by the herd. Pea Eye and Newt see who they assume is the new cook. The man introduces himself as Po Campo. Po Campo refuses to ride animals, which Newt finds strange considering that he will be cooking for cowboys. Po Campo also tells Newt that he plans to fry grasshoppers in molasses and make butter from worms.
Chapter 48
Call discusses Blue Duck's motivation with Augustus. Po Campo and Newt finally arrive, having collected bird eggs. Po Campo greets everyone in the crew and cooks a delicious egg pie. After some banter, Po Campo suggests that he killed his own wife. As they journey onward, Po Campo walks and collects ingredients. That night, (true to his word), he fries grasshoppers to dip in molasses.
Jake rides up and asks about Lorena. Augustus goes off to look for Lorena. Jake's drunkenness and general uselessness disgust Call and garner disrespect from the other men. Augustus returns and assumes that Blue Duck took Lorena and the horses. Dish and Jake angrily face off while Augustus prepares to go rescue Lorena. Jake's insolence causes Call to kick him out of camp.
Chapter 49
Blue Duck ties Lorena up and rides away with her. They travel harder than Lorena ever has in her life. She experiences a terrible thirst and urinates on herself. When they finally stop, Blue Duck threatens her with torture if she tries to run away. They continue on with this exhausting routine until Lorena feels she cannot go on. She feels an intense hatred towards Blue Duck.
Eventually they ride up to a gang of outlaws holding human scalps. The four men in the group rape Lorena.
Chapter 50
July decides to stop in Fort Worth to look for Jake and to post a letter to Elmira. He's determined to catch Jake quickly so as to return to Elmira. The postal worker in Fort Worth gives July a letter from Peach informing him about Elmira's disappearance and Roscoe's incompetence. Joe tells July that his mother never stays in one place for too long, and that she likely went off in search of Dee.
July and Joe ride off to find Roscoe because July believes that his deputy may know something about Elmira's whereabouts.
Chapter 51
July hears a herd of cows being driven by cowboys nearby. They approach and ask to speak to the boss of the operation, who introduces himself as Wilbarger. In his impatient manner, Wilbarger informs July that he heard Jake Spoon was in Lonesome Dove and is now heading in their direction. Wilbarger offers Joe a job, but Joe declines out of loyalty to July. July offers to accompany Wilbarger ahead of his outfit to test the freshness of the Red River, but then decides not to go. Joe becomes annoyed with July's depression and indecision, but decides to say nothing about it.
Chapter 52
Janey's navigation and foraging skills impress Roscoe. He offers her a ride on his horse, but she prefers to remain on foot unless they have to cross a river. At night, Janey suffers from nightmares and whimpers in her sleep. On their travels, the pair comes across a family of 16 people heading west. They also run into a group of rough men who later follow Roscoe with the intent to murder him. Janey (who disappears when other travelers come close) guides Roscoe into a gully. She takes Roscoe's gun and fires it at the men, but one of them manages to capture her.
The men force Roscoe to strip as they search his meager belongings. Janey escapes and throws rocks from a distance. The men prepare to kill Roscoe, but before they can, July appears with a loaded gun. He and Joe handcuff the outlaws, and Roscoe calls Janey to join them now that the situation has de-escalated. When they start riding, Janey jumps onto the back of Roscoe's horse. When July sees her watching the men and holding the horse's reigns, he arms her with a shotgun.
The crowds at Fort Worth upset Janey until she gets used to it enough to curiously look around. A woman who owns a livery stable makes breakfast for Janey and Joe. Later at a saloon, July and Roscoe reluctantly discuss Elmira. July intends to prioritize finding her before going after Jake. Roscoe insists on going with him, and they decide to take Joe with them while Janey boards at the livery stable.
The next morning, Janey shows up at their campsite 20 miles away. It is clear she intends to accompany them on their journey.
Chapter 53
Elmira knows that she will have a problem with Big Zwey. She believes that her small size attracts unwanted attention from large men, and Big Zwey is even larger than the buffalo hunter that caused her to marry July. Fowler brings Janey food and, once they disembark and travel for a while, arranges for her to have her own small room in a place called Bent's Fort. Although she does not regret leaving, she did not expect to end up in such a dead-end place.
Fowler brings Elmira the news that Big Zwey wants to marry her, and that he would be willing to take her to Ogallala. Since Elmira's pregnancy is already showing, she expects to have a hard time finding clients as a sex worker. Her ultimate goal is to find Dee.
Elmira realizes how much power she holds over Big Zwey, who seems to be under a spell. She agrees to go with him to Ogallala, and he says that he has to get the blacksmith to repair a wagon first. They travel with a gambler named Luke. Luke and Zwey kill buffalo and place the hides in the wagon that Elmira rides in, which she hates due to the smell. Out in the large empty prairie, she feels apprehensive since no one would hear her if she screamed for help. Storms pass, bringing thunder, lightning, and rain. Elmira knows she must get used to hard travel.
Chapter 54
Augustus struggles to begin tracking Blue Duck. Eventually he finds the three horses' tracks, indicating Blue Duck's route. Augustus blames himself for the kidnapping and focuses all his efforts on finding Lorena. He recalls past experiences chasing Blue Duck, who always retreated to the Palo Duro Canyon since he knew the issue of water access would prevent Call and Augustus from pursuing him. Augustus keeps going, and a few days later finds the remains of Lorena's mare.
To Augustus's surprise, he sees a man that he knows named Aus Frank. Aus wheels buffalo bones and makes giant piles. When Augustus inquires whether Aus knows anything about Lorena, Aus responds with hostility since Augustus and Call once arrested him and had him locked in jail. After Augustus asks a series of questions, Aus tells him that Blue Duck is quick and violent. Blue Duck already killed a man named Bob that Aus used to live with. Augustus tells Aus that he plans to kill Blue Duck.
Chapter 55
Monkey John threatens to cut out Lorena's tongue since she refuses to talk. He also beats her with wood from their fires, but another man named Dog Face prevents the abuse from killing Lorena. The trauma of being kept, threatened, abused, and raped by the men causes Lorena to lapse into extreme silences so that her mind can shut out what is happening. Lorena knows her only hope is Dog Face because he does not beat her with the intensity that Monkey John does.
One night, Blue Duck brings bottles of whiskey for the men to drink while they gamble. After Blue Duck wins the other mens' animals, they gamble over Lorena as property. All the Kiowas apart from the youngest put in their stake. Blue Duck shoots the young man for his refusal to gamble. He wins Lorena but gives both her and the horses back to the men in exchange for their promise to kill Augustus.
Chapter 56
Augustus chides himself for his blunders in the pursuit of Blue Duck. He remembers rescuing other captives who, especially if they were women, did not recover. The Kiowas attack him while he rides along, distracted in his worry for Lorena. He charges his horse forward until he finds a suitable place to make a stand. Once he throws his equipment into the wallow, he kills his horse to use for cover. The horse's blood slows down his pursuers' horses, giving Augustus the time he needs to target a few of them. Once the remaining pursuers retreat, Augustus feels plagued by a desire to talk to someone. Although he came within an inch of death, the worst part of the experience is having no one to speak to about it.
Another man sets up a 50-caliber buffalo gun to shoot at Augustus, and keeps him pinned until darkness falls. As Augustus collects ammunition and a rifle from the men he killed, he hears shots among the remaining men. Hopeful that whoever shot the Native men would give Augustus a ride to the river, he walks toward the sounds. There, he introduces himself to July, Roscoe, Joe, and Janey. July strikes Augustus as sounding very young.
Augustus gives Joe the rifle he picked up from the dead man, and the group heads to the river. There, they spot the camp where Lorena is hostage. Augustus intends to rescue Lorena alone, but July insists on accompanying him in case Elmira was also kidnapped. They ride off, leaving Roscoe, Joe, and Janey to rest. Augustus plans to charge into the camp and kill the men there. July's nervousness makes Augustus wish that July stayed behind with the others.
Chapter 57
Blue Duck questions Dog Face as he lays dying. Dog Face is unsure whether their bullets hit Augustus. Blue Duck kicks him when he protests Monkey John's brutal treatment of Lorena. Lorena vomits from fear of the Kiowas, since Blue Duck gives her to them to "carve up." When Dog Face protests, the Kiowas scalp and castrate him. Augustus and July ride in. Augustus asks Lorena whether Blue Duck was there, and she cries and nods. July has to keep himself from vomiting, and Augustus kills all the men.
Chapter 58
Roscoe and Joe discuss whether there are more "Indians." Roscoe wakes to see Janey standing and holding a rock. She throws the rock at the big shadow standing there, but whoever it is strikes her. When she tries to reach Roscoe's pistol, the man kills her. All the while, Roscoe remains disoriented until his own death.
July feels horrible inadequacy and grief at the sight of the three bodies. Augustus and Lorena ride up to find July digging the graves, and Augustus tells July to sit with Lorena while he (Augustus) finishes burying the others. July wishes to go with Augustus in search of Blue Duck, but Augustus decides it is better not to pursue Blue Duck.
Augustus advises July to go to Kansas in search of Elmira, and then gently tells Lorena that they will ride to find some shade and wait for Call and the others to catch up.
Chapter 59
Call begins to worry at Augustus's prolonged absence. He lets the boys carouse in Fort Worth since some of them may not survive to see Ogallala (the next town on their journey). The boys feel sick of Bert's bragging and Dish's sense of superiority.
Po Campo definitively states that Augustus will not catch Blue Duck. The cook further reveals that Blue Duck killed his three sons. They all miss Augustus and feel anxious at the big emptiness of the plains. Call begins to have nagging doubts and regrets.
Po Campo makes a berry cobbler for the hungover men to eat when they return from town.
Chapter 60
Two days before the outfit arrives at the Red River, it rains hard again. Dish blames Jake for Lorena and Augustus's disappearance, which makes Newt uncomfortable since he used to look up to Jake.
Deets finds a good place for the outfit to cross the river. Allen and Po Campo sing songs, and Call makes his camp apart from the others. While alone, he speaks out loud to Augustus, wishing that Augustus killed Blue Duck when he had the chance and that Jake never brought Lorena along on the journey.
Analysis
Of everyone in the outfit, Call feels the most affinity with Deets due to his careful observation, memory, tracking abilities, and intelligence. While Deets respects Call, he does not demonstrate the hero worship that other men such as Pea Eye show towards Call. Call feels a duty to lead other men, but he also represents the American notion of rugged individualism. His self-reliance and preference for solitude led him, for example, to reject Maggie's need for his company years before. In Chapter 46, Call recalls a past argument with Augustus in which the latter questioned why Call runs around "with this bunch of half-outlaws," some of whom "won't piss unless [Call points] to a spot." This also aligns with rugged individualism because although the Rangers were a loosely organized military force, they also embodied certain freedoms from the law.
Call's memory of Maggie is the loose thread that could pull apart his entire sense of self. In Chapter 46, Call states that his shame regarding how he handled the situation with Maggie "made all his trying, his work and discipline, seem fraudulent, and caused him to wonder if his life had made sense at all." This unease that Call feels concerns both his intrinsic sense of self and his external reputation (formed by others' opinions of him). Call's shame drives his current behaviors, such as his avoidance of women and his desire to accompany Augustus to rescue Lorena.
Foraging appears in these chapters as an essential and creative way to make meals. Jenny forages prairie chickens, possums, rabbits, fish, and squirrels to cook for herself and Roscoe. Po Campo (the new cook that Call hires to feed the Hat Creek outfit) gathers plants and insects to make delicious meals that everyone in the outfit enjoys. He even serves fried grasshoppers with molasses for dessert. Both these characters prefer to travel on foot, which enables them to stay close to the ground.
Racial tensions underlie the years-long conflict between settlers and Native people. As Rangers, Call and Augustus are tasked with protecting settlers and delivering justice to lawbreakers. Though there were many bandits, horse thieves, and general robbers from diverse backgrounds, the way that the characters in this novel speak about Native people often construes violence as though it were one-sided. For example, when Augustus finds an empty cabin, he thinks about how the Comanche's "massacres caused plenty of settlers to retreat" (Chapter 54). Call expresses annoyance that the white settlers "gave up and retreated" because if they stuck around, "there'd soon be enough of them to beat back the Indians" (Chapter 54). This expresses the American notion of Manifest Destiny, which is the belief that the expansion of white settlements across the continent was justified, inevitable, and entitled. In earlier chapters, other characters casually discuss how the Native people were forced onto reservations. This shows that the settlers' perspective does not take into account the historical context of invasion.
Out of both choice and necessity, some of the folks that the main characters in the novel encounter lead alternative kinds of lifestyles. In an earlier section of the novel, Roscoe meets a woman named Louisa who lives alone and enjoys farming (Chapter 37). In Chapter 54, Augustus meets an old man named Aus who lives by himself out in the wilderness of the plains. At all hours of the day and night, Aus gathers buffalo bones and makes giant pyramids. The Native men who pass through these lands and prevent white settlers from staying there spare Aus mostly out of amusement at his strangeness.
Augustus reflects on the shifting American landscape and ecosystem in Chapter 54. Years earlier, he and Call rode through the Great Plains and witnessed the great southern buffalo herd, which consisted of hundreds of thousands of animals. As Augustus rides through the plains in search of Lorena, he is shocked to see "the road of bones stretching over the prairie" (Chapter 54). This contributes to the theme of obsolescence and extinction in Lonesome Dove. The sight of the empty plains causes Augustus to feel empty. Just as the millions of buffaloes and countless Indigenous tribes were removed from these lands (through death or forced relocation), the former Rangers face obsolescence and extinction.
