Summary
Chapter 76
Zwey does not understand why Elmira wants to leave Clara's house without the baby. It occurs to Luke that Zwey does not understand human conception and consequently thinks that the baby is his. Luke makes fun of and laughs at Zwey, while back in the wagon, Elmira comes down with an intense fever. Once they arrive in town, Elmira commands Zwey to carry her to the jail where Dee is being kept. The sheriff wakes Dee up, and his poorly kept physical appearance surprises Elmira. Dee tells her that he is waiting to be hanged.
Zwey feels Elmira bleeding as he holds her up to the window to talk to Dee. Dee tells Zwey to bring Elmira to the doctor. She is so weak that cannot hold her head up anymore.
Chapter 77
July's newly-bought horse turns out not to be well broken, and as a result, the horse becomes injured while trying to throw a hobble. July is left with no choice but to walk back to Dodge. He buys a new horse and hurries on his way, terrified that something has happened to Elmira. One night, heavy with sleep, July gets bitten by a snake and believes he will die. When he does not, he manages to get himself close to the river to replenish his water supply.
July replenishes his strength over the next few days, and continues on his travels, feeling extremely lonely. In Nebraska, he arrives at Clara's house to find her reprimanding her squabbling daughters. Once July introduces himself, Clara makes the connection that the baby she is caring for is likely his. She tells him about Elmira and that the baby might be his, which shocks him.
Chapter 78
Lorena still waits for Augustus three days after he left, worried that something happened to him. Augustus returns and tells them about catching the Suggs brothers and hanging them along with Jake Spoon. That night, Lorena has a nightmare in which Augustus dies. They go outside to cool off, and Lorena shares her concern about losing Augustus to death or to Clara. They sleep together outside.
Chapter 79
Newt reflects on the shock of Jake's death. Dish wonders aloud why they do not kill the aggressive Texas Bull before he kills one of the men or animals. The cowboys speculate about Jake's intentions, and Dish defends Lorena when Bert suggests that it was Jake's relationship with Lorena that brought about his downfall. The confrontation escalates into a physical but ineffective fight. Call allows the mocking laughter from the other hands to discipline the two men.
Newt finally voices his concerns about Jake's death to Deets. Deets comforts Newt and tells him not to think too much about the dead. Unbeknownst to Newt, Call also feels terrible about Jake's death. He thinks back to a point when Jake could have been saved if Call forced him to stay with the herd. Augustus and Call discuss how best to deal with pain and mistakes, and also how to respectfully talk about women. Augustus points out that Call never uses women's names when referring to them.
To Jasper's relief, the outfit crosses the Republican River without incident. The cowboys discuss the different debts they accumulated over the course of the trip, and how those debts will affect their ability to purchase goods, alcohol, and time with prostitutes when they arrive in Ogallala. A delegation approaches Augustus concerning whether Call will actually pay them a portion of their wages in Nebraska. Call agrees to pay half wages. Everyone feels happy except Po Campo, who claims that they will soon deal with drought.
Chapter 80
Elmira's fever breaks and she sees Zwey standing beside her as the sick town doctor treats her. The doctor suffers from an intense cough. When Elmira asks about Dee Boot, the doctor informs her that Dee was hanged for killing a nine-year-old boy. Elmira tries to refuse medicine or food, but the doctor and Zwey are extremely patient in caring for her. Eventually, she improves, but intends to one day ask Zwey to shoot her. The doctor refuses payment for treating Elmira.
One day, July walks into Elmira's room. He tells her to concentrate on getting well rather than strain herself trying to talk. Elmira responds snidely in her mind as July informs her about everything that transpired, including her son Joe's death. July does not understand why Elmira refuses to look at him even when he tells her about finding their baby alive and well with Clara.
As soon as July leaves, Elmira tells Zwey that she wants him to get the wagon ready so they can leave. Zwey feels proud that she chose him to take her. As they set out for St. Louis, a man warns them about the Sioux. After Dee's death and Elmira's own brush with death, she feels unafraid of possible disasters. Her only fear is that July will follow.
Chapter 81
After his unsatisfactory talk with Elmira, July feels so depressed he cannot speak, let alone remember the errands Clara had asked him to run. Although Clara shows July another kindness by refraining from asking any questions, she feels irritated by his depression. Later, Clara asks July to help her turn Bob over. Afterwards, July's headache becomes so severe that Clara forces him to let her sponge his face with a cool rag.
Clara excuses her own bluntness as she confronts July about how Elmira clearly does not want anything to do with him or their child. She tells July that she wants to raise Martin, and she offers him a job handling horses. July is too overwhelmed to make a decision, but realizes he has to see Elmira again. The doctor tells him that she left the day before, and that she was suffering from unhappiness.
Back at the house, Clara immediately guesses that Elmira left. She asks July to help her shuck corn as a distraction.
Chapter 82
The next morning, July still feels extremely weak. Clara and Cholo resolve to geld the horses, and Clara insists that July stay with the girls. He remembers that he has to go after Elmira. While looking at Martin, July cannot understand why Elmira left him there. He goes outside to help Clara and Cholo, and finds that Clara is the one castrating the horses.
July asks about the relations between travelers, settlers, and Native tribes in Ogallala. Clara tells him that her family has good relations with Red Cloud, a Lakota leader. Later, Clara drops Martin into July's lap and confronts him about his aimlessness. She tells him to stay and work for her horse operation, which would allow him to play an active role in Martin's life. Martin begins to cry and July helplessly holds on to him. Clara states that maybe Martin is crying since July ignored him up until that point. When Martin calms down, Clara tells July to talk to or sing to the baby. July hums an old saloon song called "Lorena."
Later, July and Clara have a gentle conversation about how it is better not to sacrifice for others who do not want it.
Chapter 83
The men of the Hat Creek outfit discuss sex workers above all else. Po Campo brings up the issue of sexually transmitted diseases, which dampens the conversation. He encourages the men to spend their money on a haircut instead.
Deets informs the group that they are near Platte. Call, who is puzzled by Deets's subdued mood since he is normally cheerful, asks Augustus what he thinks about the situation. Augustus points out that Deets might be keeping quiet about something that he knows the outfit will soon have to face.
As they get closer to Clara's house, Augustus tries to reassure Lorena that he will introduce her to Clara, and that Clara will treat her well. But nothing calms Lorena's agitation.
Deets and Augustus spot cavalry riders nearby. The captain, a man named Weaver, angrily asks the outfit what they are doing riding through a war zone. After exchanging insults, Weaver reveals that American Indians killed Elmira and Zwey as well as another family. Weaver also states that he will take their extra horses, which they can later replace on the Army's bill. Call and Augustus refuse, but Weaver insists. He threatens to have them hanged for treason. Call does not submit, and further refuses to let them take Deets since they are bound to mistreat him.
Chapter 84
That afternoon, the outfit arrives in Ogallala. Call allows six of the men at a time to go enjoy themselves. Augustus invites Lorena to accompany him into town, but she refuses. Since Call also decides not to go, Augustus goes into town by himself. He buys clothes for Lorena and then searches for an adequate place to have dinner and enjoy a few card games. A young sex worker approaches Augustus and offers her services, much to the displeasure of a gambler named Shaw. Augustus hits Shaw when he acts rudely towards the girl.
When Augustus returns to camp, he finds Lorena crying because she assumed that he had gone to see Clara. Augustus tries to comfort her but is unable to.
Chapter 85
Newt, Pete Spettle, the Rainey brothers, and Pea Eye take their turn going into town. Augustus promises Lippy a ride into town to hear some piano-playing. Call joins them to stock up on provisions. Po Campo insists that Call buy a water barrel to fill at the next river.
Newt and the Rainey brothers run into Dish, who tells them where to go to find sex workers. Dixon rides in with half a dozen other soldiers. He asks how much Dish would charge for his horse (named Sugar), and Dish tells him that his horse is not for sale. When Dixon spits tobacco juice on Dish, Dish tries to retaliate physically, but Dixon knocks him out with the butt of his pistol. Dixon tries to take Dish's horse, but Newt hangs on to the bridle bit. Dixon lashes Newt with a rawhide quirt and then breaks Pete Spettle's nose when he tries to intervene. Eventually, Sugar's squeal catches Call's attention.
Call spurs Hell Bitch toward the scene and collides with Dixon's horse, effectively throwing him. Call kicks Dixon in the face and then smashes his head repeatedly against a nearby anvil. Augustus finally succeeds in stopping Call, who tells the soldiers to depart with Dixon. It takes all of them to load Dixon onto a horse.
Dish thanks Newt for holding on to Sugar. With everyone staring at Call, he states that he will not tolerate rude talk, and then he promptly rides out of town. The men speculate about Call's intense reaction. Augustus tells them that he saw Call kill a man in this same type of furious outburst once in the past. The man had scorned Call.
Chapter 86
Pea Eye returns from getting a haircut. Augustus gives each of the boys a tip to spend with sex workers. The older man feels wistful and nostalgic as some of the younger men are about to enter the world of women. Newt tries to ask Pea Eye why he does not seek out the company of women, but Pea Eye does not give a detailed answer. Lippy unthinkingly reveals that Augustus once paid Lorena $50. To try to cover up the situation and make the boys forget, Lippy brings them alcohol with the intention to get them drunk.
Once drunk, Newt enters the saloon with the others trailing him. They find themselves upstairs with the sex workers, who take their money. Pete Spettle keeps his money and goes back downstairs, making Newt wish he had done the same. Newt gets paired with a big woman named Buf. Each of the boys (except for Pete) has a quick experience with the sex workers. Afterwards, Ben points out that the women made $30 in just a few minutes, whereas it took the boys a month to earn the money. But to Newt, the experience was worth it, and he expects to seek out women as much as Jake did and Augustus does.
The boys find Lippy attempting to play the accordion. Lippy buys the boys a beer before they head back to the camp. Something spooks the horses, causing Newt and Ben to be thrown and Pete Jimmy to be carried off by their frightened mounts. When Newt arrives at camp, he finds his horse grazing. Po Campo is the only one awake, and he offers Newt a piece of meat. Newt falls asleep holding the meat, too tired to eat.
Chapter 87
Clara sees four riders approaching the house. An earlier visitor brought the news that the Army found Elmira and Zwey's bodies. Sally and Betsey try to convince their mother to be more patient with July, but Clara looks down on the fact that he let himself be "tromped on" and never bothered to stand up for himself. Clara tells the girls that July needs to step up if he wants to stay in the household.
Clara hears Augustus's voice outside, and the sudden burst of memories fills her eyes with tears. Clara sees Augustus, Call, Lorena, and Newt speaking to her daughters. When Clara walks outside, she immediately kisses Augustus on the mouth. This shocks Sally and Betsey and fills Lorena with despair. However, Clara then treats Lorena with more friendliness than she usually receives from other women. Clara feels elated at seeing Augustus again, and she organizes a picnic. Call, July, and Cholo walk over to the lots, where Call intends to buy horses. Clara places Martin in Augustus's arms, which puts Lorena at ease.
Clara recounts how she ended up with Martin and July in her household. Lorena begins to enjoy herself despite her fears. Since Clara handles all the business transactions, Call comes in to close the deal on a few horses. Clara leads him outside and lists extremely high prices, unwilling to bargain. This puts Call off, which Newt notes with surprise since he never witnessed anyone stand up to Call.
It amuses Augustus that Clara does not like Call. Clara indicates her anger with Augustus for not keeping up properly over the years. What rankles Clara the most is not that Augustus formed a relationship with Lorena, but the fact that he spent so many years with Call as his partner.
They all enjoy the picnic. Augustus, Lorena, Newt, Betsey, and Sally wade in the Platte, and they all consume the food with gusto. On the way back, Clara voices something that Augustus himself had been thinking: that Lorena should stay at Clara's ranch. She urges him not to take Lorena to Montana because she will either be killed or will age quickly from all the labor that will be required of her.
Clara also tells Augustus that she intends to never marry again. She asks why Call does not claim Newt as his son, and her opinion of Call worsens. Later on, Call agrees to pay Clara's price for the horses. Despite not relenting in her listed price, Clara deducts one of the horses in order to gift him to Newt.
Chapter 88
Newt and Call leave with the horses. Lorena, July, Sally, and Betsey sit at the table playing draughts while Clara brings Augustus upstairs to see Bob. After, she tells Augustus that she dislikes the fact that he brought a younger and prettier woman into her home. Augustus reveals that he would leave Lorena and the entire Montana endeavor if Clara wanted to be with him. Clara repeats the fact that she intends to never marry again.
Once downstairs, Clara invites Lorena to stay on the ranch when the rest of the outfit moves on. Lorena agrees, and Clara soon goes to bed to give Lorena and Augustus a private moment to discuss the turn of events.
When Augustus departs, Lorena feels blank and confused, and Clara cries. Finally, Clara puts an arm around Lorena and brings her inside so that they can both go to bed.
Chapter 89
It shocks Dish to see Augustus return without Lorena. Newt names his new horse Candy. Though he does not regret his decision to leave Lorena, Augustus feels surly and misses both Lorena and Clara. The heat makes the cows sluggish, and Po Campo hates leaving the river. He thinks about his dead sons with some guilt since he did not kill himself to be buried with them. Call is the only one who feels cheerful.
As Deets scouts ahead to look for the nearest body of water, the cowboys lounge and play cards. Call sets out himself to look for water when Deets comes back. He finds water in shallow pools, and rides eighty miles back to camp.
Despite having soldiered together with Deets for years, Pea Eye does not know what to talk to the other man about apart from Call's love for Hell Bitch. The task of driving cattle across 80 waterless miles is daunting, but Call decides to push forward.
Augustus bathes in the stream before the group heads out. They drive the herd all night to travel in cooler temperatures, and Call keeps the tired men and animals going until midday. A sandstorm starts up, making the journey even more difficult. The cowboys struggle to keep the animals on track since the cows are reluctant to travel against the wind. Deets travels around the herd, trying to keep the cows from straying. But once night falls, even Deets is helpless to keep the cows from getting lost. Augustus rides along feeling regret at having left both Clara and Lorena.
When the storm blows out, Call pushes everyone to keep going despite their exhaustion. They finally stop for a three-hour rest, but find it difficult to get most of the cattle moving again. The next day's extreme heat only makes matters worse. Po Campo rations out the rest of the water. Allen O'Brien suffers delirium, and even Call begins to feel disoriented after being awake for three nights. To Call's great embarrassment, he slips into exhaustion and Deets has to lead his horse.
They finally arrive at the river, and spend a day there recovering. Call is surprised to find that they only lost six head. In the distance they see mountains that Augustus assumes are the Rockies. Call hypothesizes that they will hit the Yellowstone River within three weeks, which shocks the other men into silence.
Chapter 90
They rest on the Salt River for two days to give the men and animals time to recover. Call feels unable to rest despite his exhaustion. He wishes to already arrive in Montana. A few days later, he comes into camp to find that a group of Natives stole six horses. Deets blames himself, and he, Augustus, and Call head out to follow the tracks. They leave the others to keep moving, terrified that they might be attacked.
When the hunting party finally tracks down the group that stole the horses, Deets finds that they stole the horses to eat. The small tribe contains women, children, and old men, all concentrating on eating and processing the rest of the meat. Call shoots into the air, determined to reclaim his horses. They walk into the camp and Deets sees a young blind child left behind. He picks up the boy and holds him out in a friendly way, and a young man charges him. Everyone assumes the man will understand that Deets means no harm, but the man drives his lance into Deets's chest before Call and Augustus shoot the man dead.
Call leaves three horses for the tribe, and he and Augustus ride away with Deets's body. Augustus's mind is blank but Call feels sick with regret for having let Deets be killed. They take the body to the camp so that the other men can pay their respects. Newt wakes up in time to see Dish holding Deets's body while Po Campo attempts to pull the lance out. Newt wishes they would all just die, or that he would wake from a bad dream. Nobody notices when Newt cries. Many of the men reflect on how they hardly talked to Deets. Allen sings a song of mourning that causes all of the cowboys to cry, even the Spettle boy who did not cry at his own brother's death.
They all regret not calling Deets Joshua (his first name). Augustus reveals to Newt that Call is his father, but Newt decides to ignore the comment. They walk over to where Call carved a headstone onto a rough board.
Analysis
As has been made clear in many previous chapters, crying is not an acceptable social norm for men in the world of Lonesome Dove. In Chapter 77, when July bursts into tears upon hearing that Elmira stayed at Clara's house, Clara's daughters express shock at seeing a man cry. Their own father, Bob, is described as a minimally expressive man who rarely talks, let alone cries. Clara tells her daughters that "men have tears in them too."
When July finally finds Elmira, he cannot seem to accept the truth that she does not want anything to do with him. In previous chapters, Elmira expressed irritation at how July was such a stickler for the rules. July believes in closely following rules and in modeling his standard of behavior based on social norms. When July finally finds Elmira and she ignores him, he cannot figure out what to do, thinking that he had never heard of a wife doing any of the things Elmira had done. Without an external guidepost or marker, July is lost.
Clara mentions that her husband Bob established a good relationship with Red Cloud by supplying him with horses to eat during a hard winter when buffalo could not be found. Red Cloud (1822 - 1909) was an Oglala Lakota chief known for being the only Native American leader, statesman, and strategist of the Plains Indians to win a war against the US government. Some Native people find the word "Sioux" to be derogatory since it originated in a French-colonial term derived from an already-existing offensive term given to the Lakota by their enemies.
When Lorena expresses shame at being a former sex worker, Augustus assures her that Clara will treat Lorena like the "human being" that she is (Chapter 83). This shows that Augustus humanizes her amidst the trauma and objectification that she experiences in her life. However, Augustus's feelings are complex. Even as he cares for Lorena, he longs to have his freedom back.
Clara teaches her daughters an unusual model for forming relationships. When July grieves Elmira's death in Chapter 87, Clara informs her daughters that "a bond has to work two ways. If a man don’t hold up his end, there comes a time to quit.” Instead of encouraging the girls to endure relationships with partners who do not uphold their side of the bargain, Clara tells the girls to leave. This portrays Clara as an independent and strong-willed character. Her unusually strong personality fueled her decision to marry Bob instead of Augustus. Clara told Augustus that "Two racehorses like us would never get along. I’d want to be in the lead, and so would you" (Chapter 87). When he reunites with his old love, Augustus understands what a "formidable" woman she is.
When Deets sustains a fatal wound, he reflects on how it was a mistake to come "into other people's country" (Chapter 90). The senseless violence resulting from misunderstandings deeply disturbs Deets. For example, he hates that Call and Augustus shot the young man who lanced Deets despite the fact that he will not survive the wound. While other characters may feel entitled to settling in a new place, Deets feels only sadness and regret. In this way, he rejects Manifest Destiny, or the notion of American expansion. Of all the characters, Deets is the most explicit in criticizing the prospect of settling in other people's land.
