Frontier Partisans

The Adventurers, Rangers and Scouts Who Fought the Battles of Empire

Working The Trapline — From Comancheria To Panther Gap

July 11, 2022, by JimC

Palo Duro Canyon.

There are few things I love more than imagining a landscape back to a historical event. Some places are better for that than others. Spent Saturday’s breakfast with a fine video exploring Comancheria. I found this strangely stirring…

*

Got to wondering what the author of the estimable enviro-thriller Bearskin is up to. It’ll be a while yet, but he’s got a follow-up coming.

Siblings Bowman and Summer were raised by their father and two uncles on a remote Colorado ranch. They react differently to his radical teachings and the confusions of adolescence. As young adults, they become estranged but are brought back together in their thirties by the prospect of an illegal and potentially dangerous inheritance from their grandfather. They must ultimately reconcile with each other and their past in order to defeat ruthless criminal forces trying to extort the inheritance.

Set in the rugged American West and populated by drug cartels, shadowy domestic terrorists, and nefarious business interests, Panther Gap shows James McLaughlin’s talents on full display: gorgeous environmental writing, a white-knuckle thriller plot, and characters dealing with legacy, identity, and their own place in the world.

*

Literary influences are powerful. I’m pretty sure that daughter Ceili and her new husband Jarod chose to honeymoon in Wyoming because of C.J. Box. It was a good choice, if the pictures they’ve shared are any indication. Mountain Man country. I’ll see if she’s willing to let me post some when they return…

*

I’ve developed a bit of an obsession lately with a couple of frontier symphonies….

Filed Under: Chapters

Previous Post: « Working The Trapline — Shotguns, Cannons & Murder
Next Post: Cuttoe, Machete, Espada Ancha »

Comments

  1. John Bullard says

    July 11, 2022 at 7:26 am

    Saw the “Empire of the Summer Moon” vid on my recommended list on Youtube last week and watched it. I thought it was fantastic and it has given me some more places to travel to when/if gas prices get affordable. Highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

    I also recommend this Youtube site for tales on Frontier culture clashes from American and Texas history: “Unworthy History”

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmCdvdsjVFCHicCOVEdwpcg/videos

    Reply
    • JimC says

      July 11, 2022 at 7:33 am

      Yeah, my immediate desire was to get in the truck and GO.

      Reply
  2. David Wrolson says

    July 11, 2022 at 10:09 am

    In 2012, we did a family trip to Texas and made the Palo Duro Canyon part of the trip.

    We attended a outdoor historical pageant there (Canyon, TX, I think) and me and the kids climbed from the bottom of the canyon to as high as we could go on one of the waterways or whatever it was.

    Reply
  3. Joe says

    July 14, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    Palo Duro park is absolutely breathtaking. I visited with the family as a child, but I wasn’t as appreciative of its inspiring vistas and historic links to the Comanche and the Southern Plains Tribes, and the Red River War as I am today. Would highly recommend to any author, artist, or layman looking for a landscape that truly does appear to be straight out of a Western painting.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Frontier Partisans

  • Introduction
  • Jim Cornelius
  • Trading Post
  • The Muster (Links)
  • Search this Site

Podcast Campfire Sparked

Introduction to the Podcast,
or head on over to listen:
Frontier Partisans Podcast

The Trading Post is OPEN

Frontier Partisan t-shirt: Balen-Powell's illustration of Frederick Burnham on front; "The only partisanship we tolerate in these parts is Frontier Partisanship" on back.

Trading Post Cart

Cart is empty $0

Support Frontier Partisans

What I’m Aiming For

Go Fund Me

go fund me frontier partisans

Receive Frontier Partisans Posts Via Email

Categories

  • Chapters
  • Frontier Partisan Bookshelf
  • On Your Own Hook
  • The War Chest

Recent Posts

  • A Tale Of Two Jamies
  • Working The Trapline — Montana Mayhem; Scottish Slaughter
  • Rangers & Wardens
  • A Storyteller Makes His Final Journey
  • Working The Trapline — Baptized & Buried On The Terminal List
  • Chasing Horse Bust
  • Working the Trapline — Bayou, Bullet Garden & Big Ponderoo
  • Warriors Of The Dawn

fp@frontierpartisans.com

© 2023 FRONTIER PARTISANS, Jim Cornelius