Buckskin Run: Stories

by Louis L'Amour

For the westerner trouble came with the territory. Long grass valleys, merciless deserts, sheer rock cliffs, icy streams, hidden trails, dusty towns. These were the proving grounds of daily life. At any time violence could explode and on the frontier there was no avoiding its sudden terrible impact. In this collection of his stories Louis L’Amour guides us to some of these untamed places where men and women faced the challenge of survival. And for the first time, L’Amour also presents a selection of riveting scenes from western history that are every bit as exciting as his stories.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Action

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1981

About the author

Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this collection of short stories, first published in various magazines in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when I visited Big Bend National Park and west Texas generally. I was looking for a book that would give me a sense of place. I’m sure I never read a western before, so this was my first. I was in a used book store in Alpine, TX and rummaged through the western section and saw there were a lot of books by Louis L’Amour, a name I associated with westerns (I guess this is how advertising and branding works). I had the sense from the large number of books, that he didn’t write great literature. I presume some works he wrote were adapted to western movies (which I’ve seen my share of). Not wanting to get sucked into a book that I might not like, I picked up this collection of short stories. Here’s my tale.

The title story, “Buckskin Run,” was my first experience with L’Amour. The writing is fairly straightforward and sparse. It seemed that I’ve heard this language in movies before, beginning to confirm my suspicion that some of his work was adapted to movies. My snarky comment is that whoever wrote every “Scooby Doo” mystery back in the day (back before Crappy, I mean Scrappy Doo stories with real (lame) ghosts and monsters) was clearly influenced by this story. Besides the western elements, the key item relating to Scooby Doo is the valley that holds a secret. There’s lost gold. There are rumors of ghosts. There are mysterious killings. Rascally Henry Childs would have gotten that gold if it wasn’t for those meddling kids, I mean, the wits and frontier spirit of Rod Morgan. It’s a fine, fine popcorn read that met its goals. It’s not literature and you could sort of see it coming. Having finished my first contact with L’Amour, I knew what I was getting into.

The second story also had a mystery surrounding it. Not quite Scooby Doo, but the same sort of idea. Does L’Amour write mysteries with a western theme, or does he write westerns?

As I read more of the stories, I began to see a theme develop: Tough, moral, upstanding, skilled protagonist finds himself in a situation against entrenched interests that are not quite what they seem (or in a mustache-twirling villain sense, exactly what they seem). A secret exists. An initial fight occurs. Each side re-groups. A climax occurs. The hero and the girl start a ranch together (or the hero and some other guy in a vaguely homoerotic way get together, with the hero running the ranch and the other guy as a helper). Also I can’t forget the element of a lost brother or relative or friend.

The stories get better, or at least are better structured, near the end. Stories like “Jackson of Horntown” and “Down the Pogonip Trail” are less mysteries to be solved or uncovered, but straight ahead stories that don’t seem as forced.

Perhaps L’Amour has a novel that I would like to read, that is considered a classic. I would like to know so that I can read my first western novel and enjoy it. This book was fun for its purpose and I would recommend it for reading only one of the first few stories, then to concentrate on the last four-ish stories.

[Zoe Croman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of western stories - both fictional and real.

[Oleta Blaylock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have already written reviews for these stories when I read the Collected Short Story volumes. So I won't write any additional reviews for this book. I will say that if you want a collection of stories that won't take a lot of time then you will enjoy these stories. Enjoy!!

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey it is Louis L'Amour

Hey it is Louis L'Amour what more needs to be said. Now some people might call these western to be formulaic, but I say they are just damn fine stories. In this there is a strong sense of men, who are facing the challenges of nature and others. Yes they are strong men, but they had to be in each story you see that a man's word was the most important thing he had. To keep his word was an honourable thing. Now I have read a lot of Louis L'Amour western over the years many of which were short stories like this collection. These stories were new to me, which was a great because what usually happens to me is a get a collection of short stories and find out that the majority of them I have read before not this time these are all new ones for me. So saddle up and hit the trail to the Bucks in Run. You won't go wrong.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in a while, when I have a few minutes to spare, I'll pick up a short story and give it a whirl. These particular stories were first published in magazines but for this book collection, he's added a small (1-2 page) historical note that, while not directly related to the stories, does serve to provide further flavor to them. Overall I really liked this collection, counting some of them among the best L'Amour short stories I've run across. That said, as with all collections like this, some are better than others. But overall, I rank this among the best of his collections of shorts.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I have read twenty some of the L'Amour westerns, it goes without saying that I find them colorful, entertaining and relaxing. It's probably my age since this genre is not often on the bestseller lists. This collection of short stories simply extends his well known theme of strong, rugged, brave, high integrity men that championed western America during the last half of the twentieth century. If your reading values come from best seller lists, MSNBC or Fox News, don't waste your time on Louis L'Amour.

[Kevin R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buckskin Run features an eight series of short stories on Western novellas, each with short historical notes to depict the historical essence of the Wild West generations. I personally dig more into this format of short stories compilation as it makes it more of a page-turner than one full story which more often than not, drags on. In this aspect, Louis L' Amour really did no wrong with the stories, all captivating and entertaining both in terms of its pacing and its characters.

[Conan Tigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the tales in Buckskin Run are short stories, they are very well developed and fun to read. Like most L’Amour characters, these guys are all tough problem solvers. The kind of men that our country was founded on.

If you just want to just sit down and read a quick western, Buckskin Run is the way to go.

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.

[Scott Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up while sitting in a VA waiting room. I have read many of L'Amour's books in the past and really liked the stories from this book. The down side to this book was me wanting more about each of the main characters than what the stories provided. This is a good sign of great characters and that is something which I have always enjoyed from a L'Amour book.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

All solid stories, not a dud in the bunch which is what you would expect from L'Amour. Tales about men making their own way in the west, with little to no help from any kind of established law or society. Some are outlaws, some are men just doing the best they can, some are both.

Highly recommended, haven't read a bad short story collection from L'Amour yet.

[Michael Sigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories and a bit of history

This is a good collection of western short stories with a bit of history thrown in before each story. Ideal to read while riding the bus or on a lunch break.

[M.J. Groves · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first Louis L'Amour in my reading history. These are very readable short stories and perfect for a trip through the Wild West. We had dinner one night in the bar in Durango where Louis used to sit and write.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining reading 📚

Eight will written western novellas with interesting characters. Each story line is fast moving with lots of twist and turns leading to each conclusion. I would recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys westerns. Enjoy reading 🔰 2020😄

[Jay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a group of short stories with historical notes. I liked this group of stories and found only one that I had previously read. I have stated it many times that L'Amour is in his element with short storie.

[Alberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories about the old west. In between stories there are historical notes of the 1800's western life.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite of his short story collections

[Villager · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of short stories. Louis L'Amour was a prolific writer with a special love of western stories.

[bill reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining

Involving you quickly into the stories. End
s before you .are ready to let go. Very quick read. Makes you want to read one of his novels

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories and interesting historical notes.

[Michael Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of very nice short stories, with bits of historical lore between.
I can recommend this, especially to lovers of Western stories.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really a good series of short stories. I am an avid L'Amour fan. He was a great author. If you like western novels, you will like his stories.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the mix of fact and fiction. L'Amour was definitely a great writer whether you liked his subject or not.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite my last review of a book of short stories, I have to admit that I have hugely enjoyed this compilation. That is in part due to the stories themselves, which were interspersed with snippets of factual historical events, and particularly as I have also been reading a biography, about someone who lived in the 18th century, which has been somewhat harder to get through than my usual fare.

My favourite story was the last in the book, called "What gold does to a man".

[Stephanie Ricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid collection of L'Amour short stories, interspersed with historical notes on events or people that L'Amour found interesting. Because of that, the collection can feel a little random, and none of the stories knocked my socks off, but they were all enjoyable.

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories. I didn't understand everything because I'm not familiar with the vocabulary of the West-era. Interesting stories (fiction but based on the real life events and history of the West).

[Zach Gibeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice for short stories, which I generally don't like too much. With shorter narratives L'amour leaves out some worldbuilding which is my favorite part of his writing. these stories serve their purpose well and pack a punch. it's impressive how much suspense Louis L'amour can fit into short stories.

[Cole]

good

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed almost all of these stories about the West! The author interspersed some biographies in between the stories.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mix of short stories that are fine but not L'Amour's best.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of short stories with historical research notes.