Summary
Chapter 61
Augustus cuts out a crude poncho for Lorena to use in the rain, but traveling is still rough. They take shelter in an abandoned building, and Augustus makes a fire. Lorena cannot bring herself to speak after the ordeal she went through. They play a few games of cards, which prompts Lorena to talk a little until she tires out. Augustus holds and comforts her. Although Lorena wishes they could stay longer, Augustus says it is time to go before a group of renegades attacks them.
Lorena cries uncontrollably while they ride, and Augustus comforts her. They come upon Wilbarger's outfit. Wilbarger offers to bring them food when Augustus makes it clear that Lorena cannot eat with other men. Wilbarger also brings a tent to give Lorena privacy. The men sit outside to drink and talk. Wilbarger's journey has not been smooth; he was separated from part of his herd and his foreman died. Augustus warns Wilbarger about Blue Duck and shares the news about what happened to July Johnson's crew.
After breakfast the next morning, Augustus and Lorena head off. When Lorena sees her body while bathing in the river, she cries harder than ever, and Augustus tells her that it is good to cry it out, and that she still has a long life left to live.
Chapter 62
Many members of the Hat Creek outfit begin to worry about hostile encounters with Native people once they reach the Territory. They specifically fear getting scalped, but they also find the great emptiness of the Plains unsettling. Po Campo becomes popular among the men because of his delicious cooking, but he also keeps his distance from the others.
Lightning flashes down on the plains and eventually strikes some of the herd. The cowboys try to turn the herd, but the terrified cows run west through the rain. At dawn, Dish rides off to look for the rest of the herd. He locates them six miles away, and brings back the news that the lightning killed Bill Spettle.
After a quick meal break, the outfit pushes onward since Call is anxious to cross the Canadian River before the rains return. They all remove their clothes to keep them dry. It begins to hail as they cross the river. The men take cover from the hailstorm until it subsides. Pea Eye spots a rider in the distance who he assumes to be Augustus.
Chapter 63
Augustus rides up and tells Call and Dish that he succeeded in returning with Lorena, but that Blue Duck escaped. When Augustus informs Call that he met July, Call states that he will not defend Jake since Jake allowed Lorena to be stolen and then immediately returned to his gambling.
Augustus's presence is the only thing that soothes Lorena. Call and Augustus ride out of earshot of the others in order to catch up. Augustus tells Call he wishes he could ask Call for advice about what to do concerning Clara and Lorena, but that Call (having never married) has no sound advice to give.
Augustus also tells Call that he should sell the cattle, pay off the boys, and go hunt Blue Duck.
Chapter 64
Jake spends his days gambling in a saloon. He spends time with a woman named Sally Skull, who manages the saloon's sex work service. Jake pays $10 dollars a night just to sleep in her bed. In general, Sally prefers mule skinners and buffalo hunters because she likes her men to be dirty. Jake spends time with other prostitutes but cannot help remembering Lorena since she is the most beautiful woman he has ever encountered. He blames Lorena for getting kidnapped.
Jake ignores the men from the Hat Creek outfit when they pass through town because he also holds them responsible for Lorena's kidnapping. Sally confronts Jake about Lorena, but he brushes her off. When Sally tries to escape from jail, she and the deputy (whom she seduced) fatally shoot each other. This scandal leads to a general uproar in the town, and Jake decides that it would be prudent to move on. In Dallas, Jake hears that July is looking for him. When the three Suggs brothers enter the saloon where Jake is playing, they ask him about Augustus and Call. This irritates Jake because he feels that he deserves the same reputation as the other Rangers. Dan Suggs offers Jake a job as a regulator responsible for collecting taxes from cattle drivers. Jake tells the Suggses that he is no friend of Call's, but that he does not expect Call to pay a tax to cross rivers.
Although Jake does not like the Suggs brothers, he decides to ally himself with the bandits in order to put distance between himself and July.
Chapter 65
July rides hard without seeing other people for days. The deaths of his companions weigh heavily upon him. A couple of days later, a small spiky cactus wounds July's horse, eventually leading July to have to shoot the animal and continue on foot supplied with no food and little water. July's depression leads him to consider shooting himself. The duty to tell Elmira about her son's death prevents July from pulling the trigger.
July finds a trickling spring where he can drink, bathe, and wash. He later comes across a small cow herd and buys a horse from the trail boss. Four days later, July rides into Dodge City.
Chapter 66
Elmira questions whether her journey is worthwhile. She feels like a fool for putting herself in such a hard situation just to escape life with July. So far, Zwey has treated her well, but Luke harasses her without Zwey's knowledge. The threats worsen into physical violence, and Elmira points Zwey's rifle at Luke. She tells Zwey about it as they eat dinner one night, and someone tries to shoot Zwey but misses. On another morning, Elmira wakes to find Luke trying to rape her. Zwey smashes his head in but does not kill him. Elmira takes pity on Luke and helps nurse him back to health. Luke tells her that it was not him who tried to shoot Zwey the other night.
Chapter 67
Newt discusses the prospect of encountering Native people with the other cowboys. Lippy shares that an Apache man was responsible for putting the hole in his stomach. The immutability of the plains depresses Pea Eye. He asks Deets and Po Campo about the distance they have left to travel. Po Campo warns Pea Eye to worry more about drought and lack of water.
Augustus feels irritated that his pigs prefer Po Campo's company. Po Campo reads Augustus's fortune and informs him that he is not fated to marry any more women.
Before crossing into Kansas, a group of five Native men show up. Call gives them a steer to eat, and they ride off. Call takes care not to camp too close to Lorena's tent. Her appetite returns and she sleeps late into the morning. Augustus does not rush her, and she often naps in his arms while he reflects about the chain of events that led them there.
Lorena worries that Augustus will soon abandon her and that she will have to face other men and their appetites. She offers Augustus a poke, but he tells her she should avoid doing that for some time.
Augustus sees a cloud of grasshoppers in the distance. He and Lorena take cover in the tent, while Newt and the other cowboys deal with the onslaught while on horseback. After the swarm, Newt finds himself and sixty cattle separated from the others. A group of Native men ride up and speak to him in a language he does not understand. Laughing, they begin to drive his cattle westward towards the main herd. Newt wants to thank them but does not know how, so he just smiles.
Dish commands Newt to ask Call about sending someone to check on Lorena. When Call points out that Augustus's tent likely spared him and Lorena from the worst of the grasshopper swarm, Newt turns away in dejection because he feels that he never knows how to speak properly to Call.
Chapter 68
Jake almost immediately regrets accompanying the Suggs brothers. They mention hearing talk of July capturing two outlaws, who now wait to be hanged. Dan Suggs speaks hatefully about everyone, but he despises cowboys in particular. He proposes stealing a herd of cattle to sell. As they pass around a bottle of whiskey, Jake worries about having slipped into such a rough crowd. Now that he is in, he does not know how to extricate himself from the group without risking his life, so he resolves to slip away at the earliest opportunity.
At Doan's Store on the banks of the Red River, Jake approaches a beautiful young girl aiming to talk to her. An old man angrily slams Jake down for talking to the girl, who turns out to be his wife. When the man moves to hit Jake again, Jake shoots him twice, and he dies. The other traveling farmers come out of the store, and Jake asks the girl to tell them that he shot her husband in self-defense. The girl smiles at Jake, which puzzles him.
Jake feels a mixture of regret and self-pity at having, once again, unintentionally killed a man he did not know.
A few days later, the group decides to rob a family of settlers. Dan rides up and tells the man of the family to pay $40 of gold in return for protection from the herds of cows that would come eat the man's crops. When the man makes it clear that he does not speak English, Frog Lip rounds up the man's wife and child. They stand there crying until the young boy runs into the house and returns with a few gold pieces.
As the bandits ride away, Frog Lip runs the family's milk cows onto the sod roof, causing it to cave in.
Chapter 69
July spends a day figuring out that Elmira is not in Dodge City. He sends a letter to Fort Smith explaining the reasons for his prolonged absence. July no longer feels interested in catching Jake; his only desire is to find his wife and return home. His original flash of optimism gives way to bitter depression and grief as he remembers the deaths of his companions. He returns to the post office to mail a letter to Peach, his sister-in-law.
The post office clerk informs July that Dee Brown did not in fact die of smallpox as Elmira had said. July goes to look for a sex worker named Jennie, who was an old acquaintance of Elmira's. As he waits for Jennie, he drinks numerous whiskies. This loosens his inhibitions so that when Jennie finally arrives, July tells her that he is the deputy that Elmira married, and that three people have died during his search for Elmira. Jennie advises July to move on, but July feels determined to tell Elmira what happened to her son.
July vomits and later talks to Jennie after recovering somewhat. She tells him that he ought to return home since he will likely not succeed in convincing Elmira to stay with him if he finds her.
Chapter 70
North of the grasshopper plague, the herd finds grass and clear skies. Ben Rainey switches horses with Newt to cut out a beef for Po Campo to cook. Out of nowhere, a cow rams into Mouse's side, and Deets and Po Campo judge that Mouse will not survive. To spare Newt from having to shoot his own horse, Dish shoots Mouse.
In the morning, Newt has coffee with Augustus and Lorena, who smiles at Newt. She seems to be in a good mood since she enjoys traveling with Augustus. She dreads arriving in the town where Clara lives since it will mean that Lorena's travel routine with Augustus will come to an end. Lorena plans to try to marry Augustus before they reach Ogallala.
The other cowboys question Newt about Lorena.
Call and Deets ride off to find a way to cross the Arkansas River. As they examine the river, Deets asks Call if he thinks they will ever return to Lonesome Dove. Deets longs to return to Texas, but Call expresses doubt that he himself will go back. Deets mentions that he found the tracks of Jake's pacing horse.
Chapter 71
Jake, the Suggs brothers, and Frog Lip approach Dodge, where Jake intends to escape from the group. Dan's decision to rob a group of travelers herding twenty-five horses immediately dampens Jake's spirits. The group turns out to be Wilbarger's crew. Jake points out that stealing horses is a hanging crime, but the others threaten to kill him if he does not participate in the robbery.
Under the cover of darkness, the bandits shoot at Wilbarger and his men. They kill Wilbarger's companions but Wilbarger escapes. Frog Lip gets shot, and Dan shoots him to prevent a prolonged death. Later on, Dan murders a pair of farmers and steals their belongings. He shoots them point-blank, hangs them from a tree, and burns the bodies.
Chapter 72
Deets comes across Wilbarger's horse. Crossing the river turns out to be complicated when Dish's horse smells the blood on Wilbarger's saddle. The horse might have drowned Dish if Deets had not intervened. A few hundred cattle veer off course and swim down the Arkansas. Call and Augustus discuss who must have killed Wilbarger. Deets returns from scouting and tells them that he found Wilbarger dying of three bullet wounds from the horse thieves.
Augustus assures Lorena that he is not abandoning her by going to speak with Wilbarger and then hunt down the crew of bandits. Dish is tasked with looking after Lorena while Augustus is away, and is also put in charge of the outfit since Call decides to accompany Augustus.
Call, Augustus, Deets, Pea Eye, and Newt ride to find Wilbarger, who tells them that it was the Suggs brothers and their companions that attacked him. Augustus and Call stay with Wilbarger while Deets keeps watch and Newt and Pea Eye guard the horses.
When Wilbarger dies, Deets marks the grave with a cow buffalo skull. Augustus comforts Newt about witnessing the death by making jokes and pointing out the omnipresence of death.
Chapter 73
Dish goes to check on Lorena and bring her a plate of dinner. When Dish returns to the camp, Lippy tells him about the time Augustus paid Lorena $50 for a poke, and then gave Lippy $10 for his silence. Dish chastises Lippy for his indiscretion.
Over the next few days, Dish brings Lorena food and she rides close to the wagon during the day, all the while waiting for Augustus to return. Dish tells Lorena that he would protect her if something happened to Augustus. Lorena's distance saddens Dish, but he does not give up hope that she will one day return his affections.
Chapter 74
Augustus, Call, Newt, Deets, and Pea Eye find the remains of Wilbarger's crew. They see a badger carrying Frog Lip's hand away, which disturbs Newt. Deets figures out that Jake was with the Suggs brothers by studying their tracks. A few hours later, they find the burned bodies of the settlers that Dan Suggs killed. Deets tracks down Jake and the Suggses. While Newt and Pea Eye guard the horses, Call, Augustus, and Deets go confront the murdering bandits.
Jake feels depressed and drunk, but he feels he has no choice but to continue accompanying the crew since he knows that Dan will kill him if he tries to leave. Call, Augustus, and Deets surprise the drunk bandits. In the process, they shoot Eddie and tie up the rest. Jake feels hopeful that his old crew mates will realize where his true allegiance lies, and he tries to explain his actions. Call finds trees and Deets ties nooses. They hang the Suggs brothers.
Jake feels glad to be among his old companions one last time. He gifts them the money in his pockets and tells Newt to take his horse before he spurs his own horse, effectively hanging himself.
They bury everyone except Dan, attaching a label to his hanging body identifying him as a murderer and horse thief. Newt feels conflicted about taking Jake's horse and saddle so soon after the death, but weariness soon overtakes him and he falls asleep while riding. Pea Eye rides close to catch him in case he falls.
Chapter 75
Chapter 75 begins Part III of the book. As Clara milks a mare, her eldest daughter Sally runs up to tell her they have visitors. Her other daughter Betsey also expresses excitement since they hardly ever receive visitors living so far from town. Clara tells her daughters to go care for Bob, their father, who was kicked in the head by a mare he was trying to break. The family was so sure of his death that they dug a grave near where Clara's three sons are already buried. Clara changes her husband's soiled bedclothes day after day, and sends the girls in during the afternoon to sponge his face.
Clara's three sons all died before she could send them away to school. Over the years, Clara had refused to use her own inheritance because she intended to invest in her children's education. Clara knows that her husband still wants a son, even in his damaged state. Bob's helper, a man named Cholo, now makes the morning coffee. Cholo is devoted to Clara, and he protects her and her daughters. Clara deeply appreciates Cholo, who is highly skilled and sensitive.
Clara has a passion for reading and an interest in writing, though she lacks the company to share these interests with. Work always prevented her from writing anything, and after her sons died, the whole endeavor felt useless.
The wagon approaches, and a pregnant woman (Elmira) asks if Clara knows Dee Boot. Cholo quietly states that Dee is a pistolero. Elmira faints and Zwey brings her into the house. Cholo assists Elmira in giving birth. It is clear to Clara that Elmira does not want her son, so she takes the boy. Elmira intends to find Dee or kill herself trying. She, Zwey, and Luke leave that evening, and Elmira leaves her son behind.
Despite her exhaustion, Clara feeds the baby with a milk-soaked rag and then heats soup to feed to Bob. Talking to her husband in his comatose state reminds her of all their years of marriage, since he never spoke much even when he was healthy.
Analysis
The United States "Territories" in the 1870s (when this novel takes place) consisted of the Organized Territories (Washington, Idaho, Montana, Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico) and the Unorganized Territories (Oklahoma or Indian Territory, and Alaska). When everyone in the outfit experiences anxiety upon entering "the Territory," this likely refers to Oklahoma. The men fear getting scalped, which refers to the action of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp (with hair attached) from the head. This was a common practice at the time, as scalps were considered war trophies. Although both white and indigenous people engaged in scalping, the practice had a spiritual significance to the various indigenous tribes whereas white settlers used it to prove the death of a specific person.
To Jake, the craziest thing that Sally ever did was have sex with a Black man. Despite the fact that she drinks all throughout her waking hours, uses unspecified drugs, and earns her living as a sex worker, Jake is most shocked at the fact that she had intercourse with someone from a different racial background. This shows how deeply and violently entrenched the racial divisions of the time were, especially since the Black man that Sally slept with was killed because of the incident. Sally also expresses a wish to trade places with Lorena because she wants to experience being brutalized by Native men.
Although violence underscores a great deal of encounters between strangers on the plains, there is also a culture of helping fellow travelers. For example, when a group of five Native men approach the Hat Creek outfit, Call sends them off with a steer to eat. Years earlier, one of the men (named Bacon Rind) supplied Call and Augustus with buffalo meat, so Call returns the favor when Bacon Rind and his crew are in need (Chapter 67).
After unintentionally killing a man who hit him for speaking to the man's wife in Chapter 68, Jake vacillates between self-pity and regret. He never feels responsible for the situations that he finds himself in despite it now being a pattern. The more that Jake runs from his problems, the more he seems to create difficult situations. He outsources any sense of accountability, such as in Chapter 71 when he thinks about how "he had slid into bad luck in Arkansas the day he accidentally shot the dentist, and now he was about to...resume the kind of enjoyable life he felt he deserved." Other characters are put off by Jake's entitlement. For example, in Chapter 70, Call makes the decision to permanently cut Jake off and have nothing more to do with him.
Crying is considered an unusual trait in men. As July looks for Elmira and runs errands in Dodge City in Chapter 69, he is still processing the grief of losing Roscoe, Joe, and Janey. He tries to hold back tears after walking out of the post office, but later is unable to keep himself from crying when he goes to mail a letter informing his sister-in-law about the deaths that occurred. People in the town look at him strangely since he is so clearly upset. In earlier chapters, Newt also attempted to prevent others from witnessing his tears. In Chapter 70, he trades night shifts with the other cowboys so as to have the chance to cry privately in the dark without being seen after Mouse dies. Newt also tries not to cry at the sight of Wilbarger dying in Chapter 72.
