Monte Walsh

by Jack Schaefer

Monte Walsh has never met a horse he couldn’t ride, and Chet Rollins has never met one he couldn’t rope. For a decade they are unbeatable and inseparable, working as trail hands throughout the West until finally settling with Cal Brennan’s Slash Y. Their rough cowboy ethics see them through every imaginable blizzards, rustlers, outlaws, and card games gone wrong. Partial to pretty women, gambling, and practical jokes, Monte is often on the receiving end of trouble, while Chet is always there to break him out of jail or serve as a decoy until Monte can get out of town in a hurry. As the West begins to change, however—the automobile replacing the horse, the herds breaking up—the two friends part ways. Chet marries and goes on to become a successful merchant, banker, and politician; but Monte, unable to imagine anything but the cowboy’s way of life, refuses to the end to leave the range.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novels, Classics, Historical, American

501 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Schaefer was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of an attorney. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1929 with a major in English. He attended graduate school at Columbia University from 1929-30, but left without completing his Master of Arts degree. He then went to work for the United Press. In his long career as a journalist, he would hold editorial positions at many eastern publications.

Schaefer's first success as a novelist came in 1949 with his memorable novel Shane, set in Wyoming. Few realized that Schaefer himself had never been anywhere near the west. Nevertheless, he continued writing successful westerns, selling his home in Connecticut and moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1955.

In 1975 Schaefer received the Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement award.

He died of heart failure in Santa Fe in 1991. Schaefer was married twice, his second wife moving to Santa Fe with him.

Schaefer's novel Monte Walsh was made into a movie in 1970, with Lee Marvin in the title role, and again in 2003 as a TV movie starring Tom Selleck. Shane was also made into a movie and a series.

from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Sch...

Reviews

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

REREAD

(I added the book to my shelf in 2014 when I joined Goodreads. I didn't publish a review until today (07/26/2022)

Cowboy Elegy

Jack Shaefer’s (1907-1991) novel, Monte Walsh, is the story of a man who never wanted to be anything but a cowboy. He came of age during the peak of the open range cattle business, when cowhands were in great demand to carry out roundups and trail drives to Kansas rail heads or even all the way to the northern plains in order to stock ranches in that area.

Unfortunately, as time went by the cattle business changed and it became harder and harder for Monte and other cowboys to find work. They found themselves in lesser and lesser demand for several reasons: the building of railroads that made long cattle drives unnecessary; the fencing in of the open range which made annual roundups with fewer cowboys much easier; and the combining of smaller ranches into huge conglomerations owned by land companies, whose absentee owners located in the East often cut expenses by reducing the number of cowhands.

In Schaefer’s novel, the beginning, heyday, and decline of the cattle business is symbolized in the lifetime of one man, Monte Walsh.

It is also the story of two inseparable friends, Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins. Monte is a loose cannon, but in a mostly good way, while Chet is of a more practical bent and is often called on to rescue Monte, who is his own worst enemy, from doing something foolish – though he isn’t always successful in that endeavor. They rode the range together for fifteen years and remained friends for an additional nineteen years, which only ended when one died.

Monte Walsh was published in 1963 and was loosely adapted for film in 1970, with Lee Marvin as Monte Walsh and Jack Palance as Chet Rollins.

Just as the best line in Cool Hand Luke is not in the book that it is based on, the best scene and best line in Monte Walsh, isn’t in the book either. It happens when Chet tells Monte that he and Mary, a widow who owns a hardware store, are going to get married, and I think it is so good I’m going to include it here:

CHET ROLLINS (Jack Palance): Mary and I are going to get married.
MONTE WALSH (Lee Marvin): How’s that gonna work out?
CHET: What do you mean?
MONTE: You being a cowboy?
CHET: Well, I aint gonna be much longer.
MONTE: What you gonna be?
CHET: A hardware man.
MONTE: Oh, you mean you’re gonna live in town?
CHET: Look, Monte. You have any idea how many cowhands there were in this country ten, fifteen years ago? Well, there’s a hell a lot fewer now. Pretty soon there won’t be hardly any, the way things are going. It’s gonna get tougher.
MONTE: Now come on, Chet. Things ain’t that bad.
CHET: Yeah, they are, Monte.
MONTE: You aint suggestin’ that I become a hardware man, too, are you?
CHET: Hell, no. But nobody gets to be a cowboy forever.

Nobody gets to be a cowboy, forever; sadder words were never spoken in a movie – not in a Western movie anyway. But Monte wasn’t buying what Chet was selling.

The novel is over four hundred pages long and therefore the screenwriters had to do much cutting and shaping and compressing in order to wrestle the story down to a movie of less than two hours. Therefore, the film isn’t just loosely based on the book; it is very loosely based on the book.

That’s okay, however; because they are different, neither ruins the other. I love the book and I love the movie.

Jack Schaefer summed up his novel in a preface to my edition of the book this way:

. . . I was writing a multiple story of two men both of whom, each in his way, lived significant and successful lives. That the book turned out to be primarily Monte’s is the result of the fact that I happen to have more respect for the kind of success Monte achieved.

Chet and I, we think that Monte gave a consistently good account of himself in life’s sweepstakes – and that this world is now a lonesome, lonesome place without him and the way of life and the attitude towards existence he represented.

******
By the way:

Jack Schaefer’s best known novel is Shane, which is considered to be a classic, and it was made into a classic film. But when Schaefer was asked to name his favorite among his novels, he named Monte Walsh.

If you would like to watch the movie there is a good print on YouTube. Here is a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRiUC...

If you don’t want to watch the entire movie but would like to see the wonderful scene between Marvin and Palance that I described in my review, go to about the 50 minute mark. (They are sitting in chairs on a front porch.)

"The Good Times are Coming," sung during the opening credits by Mama Cass Elliott, was composed by John Barry and Hal David, and is the musical soundtrack for the rest of the movie.

You can hear Mama Cass singing "The Good Times are Coming" here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jdLi...

[Emily Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I'm not usually a Western kind of person. But this isn't really a Western. This is the story of a man, who happens to live in the West. Monte Walsh is, as it says at the end, A Good Man With a Horse. You live his life with him, and the sights, smells, and wonder of the old, untamed West seep in, like the first melt of the snow, creeping through the soil, starting the new grass for the year. I cried at the end. I have been out West, I have seen the open spaces, the deep, crushing sense of being nothing more than a tiny speck in the big country. I have never encountered a better memorial for that land, and the men and women who made it, than this book.

[Robert Arl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read. One of the best (the best?) novel of the 19th and 20th century American ranching west (cows, horses, cowboys) I've read.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

MONTE WALSH BY Jack Schaefer chronicles the life and times of a man who makes his life as a cowboy working for the Slash Y outfit, and begins with Monte leaving home as a young boy after escaping a beating from his stepfather after injuring a prized stallion he wasn’t supposed to ride.

Monte comes upon a stage driver who is sympathetic to his situation, and takes him along so that he can find work along the way.

Soon Monte establishes what becomes somewhat of a lifelong pattern; which is leaving a job at the end of a drive or season, only to quickly run through his earnings in record time with no regrets.

Chet Rollins is Monte’s life long friend and sometimes sparring partner, and is often in the position of bailing Monte out when he finds him in debt, jail, or both.

Cal Brennan is the boss of the Slash Y, and both Monte and Chet are among the several hands that make up the successful cattle operation, often in spite of the interventions of the board members and accountants who have little understanding of the day to day operations and expenses.

Monte is a wild spirit, who has an unmatched ability to break and ride wild horses, often with the quote “shucks, it’s a horse, ain’t it?”

I’m surprised that I waited this long to get around to reading this western classic that is a wonderful story that paints the picture of a time gone by, and the effect of modernization on lifelong cowboys and their resistance to change, along with illustrating the simple straight forward lifestyle of life on the ranch and range along with the struggles and dangers experienced along the way.

Humorous at times, heartwarming at others, it compares to Lonesome Dove and similar classic epic western novels, and while two movies are based on this novel, it would be a perfect fit for a mini series similar to Lonesome Dove, Centennial, and others taking place over a long period of time in the American west setting that illustrates the growth and changes taking place along the way.

5 stars.

[Pate Hubbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only my favorite western of all time, but probably my favorite book of all time. Monte Walsh is a criminally underrated western which I think every one should read. The way in which the chapters are formatted, with every chapter almost being a self contained story, gives the reader a sense of scope and allows the book to easily skip around the life of Monte Walsh. We see Monte and his fellow cowboys at Slash Y go through the ups and downs of ranch life in the old west and really get to know the characters. By the end of the book, I felt like I had really witnessed Monte's life unfold before my eyes and the ending brought tears to my eyes. I Highly recommend reading this book.

[Malum · Rating 2 out of 5]

A series of vignettes following the life of cowboy Monte Walsh. Neither the various plots nor the main character were interesting enough to carry the book.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were things I liked about this book and others I did not. I didn't care for the colloquial language. It felt like it was going for the stereotypical innocence of the west. That kind of slang eventually grew on me once I got to know the characters, then it felt a little more authentic. I think it wouldn't have bothered me so much if I had read this verses having done the audio.

This was a little slow for my liking, but I liked the story. It was easy to follow along and follow the lives of these friends.

[Steve S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monte Walsh, along with Lonesome Dove, I consider the best westerns written. Monte Walsh has a lot of western cliches, but Schaefer's portrayal of the protagonist Monte Walsh, his best friend Chet Rollins, and many other characters plus his depictions of the landscape completely rescue the book from those cliches.

Monte Walsh along with Gus McRae [sp.] from Lonesome Dove are two of my fictional heroes.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story of a man, his horses - with a decided preference for buckskins - and the coming of the wire to the West. I've read this book at least 10 times, and it still breaks my heart.

[Ruby Maggard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A journey.
A lifetime.
A way of life, long since gone from the big land.
When Monte Walsh sets out as a young boy to work with cattle, his path is set. He’ll wind up and down the western US, all the way up to Montana, but mostly around New Mexico, herding cattle.
This book claimed my heart, I took a long time reading it, taking in a little bit at a time, never wanting it to end, but as always, all stories must.
Each chapter ends with an anecdotal story that reflects the character of Monte Walsh, and the character of the cowboys of the range. These men who, although living across great distances, were tightly bound.
I know I’m not a cowboy, I know I never will be. I count on books like these to give me that experience.
It was a tough, thankless job, a lifestyle of hard work, made better by better men, made hard by bad ones. And bad weather.
I cried like a baby at the end of this, the ending of an era, a way of life,
A lifetime.
A journey.

[Kem White · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could say I like this book more than I do. I gave the book 3-stars... but it's more like a 3.5-star book. The writing is outstanding. There's no doubt about that. It's one of the best-written westerns I've read. Very similar in style to A. B. Guthrie, Jr.

I just have issues with the story. The book itself is really a collection of short stories rather than a typical novel. There's some cohesion from chapter to chapter. And story elements occur roughly in chronological order. But I found the book has a disjointed feel to it. You could almost read the chapters in any order and it would make little difference.

You will also get your fill of horses: horse riding, horse breaking, horse wrangling, horse describing. Yes, "Monte Walsh" is, himself, a horseman. And, yes, "Monte Walsh" is a western. But Schaefer takes the horse discussion to extremes. There's way more discussion of and about horses in "Monte Walsh" than is usually encountered in a western. For me, this got a little tiresome especially as the author gives short shrift in describing the beauty of the American southwest.

Then there's Monte Walsh. Throughout the story, people comment on how Monte is how Monte is. That he never changes. This is true. Unlike most people in the novel, Monte Walsh shows no growth at all. He's strong and fearless but he's also a giant ass. I had hoped for something more in my main character than an overgrown teenager who's able to endure significant hardships. Chet, Hat, Dobe and others all grow as humans. Not Monte. That he seemed unwilling to grow irked me.

So if you're a fan of westerns as I am, "Monte Walsh" is a must read. As a novel, the writing is superb. Just don't expect to come away in awe of Monte Walsh the character. Recommended.

[Doubledf99.99 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monte Walsh is the most likely best cowboy western I've read and boy it's a great one. Mr. Schaefer writes in great detail about what it meant to be a cowboy in the cattle business of the last 30 some odd years of 1800's. It's about friendship, loyalty, working hard and playing hard. He tells the story with humor, grit, drama, from the bunk house, the open range to the towns. And Monte was the man people knew and relied on. ---- "Just about anything needs doing, you holler for Monte. You lose some stock that wanders off and you can’t find it, you holler for Monte. If he ain’t already come on it and’s bringing it in. You got a horse needs gentling, you holler for Monte. You get a sick animal and no vet’ll come up in here, you holler for Monte. You can’t get your deer or your elk for some winter meat, you just mention it to Monte, and he’ll take you where they are. You get yourself into any kind of trouble in the back country, and more like than not it’ll be Monte comes riding along and gets you out of it. You got a branding job on your hands, you don’t even need to holler, likely he’s already there ready to help. One thing he won’t do. That’s help string a fence.”

Schaefer, Jack; Schaefer, Jack. Monte Walsh . University of New Mexico Press. Kindle Edition.

[Ray Pierson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't care what others say, I say it is a wonderful history in novel form of the American cowboy from just after the Civil War until early in the 1900s. The two movies made from the novel are quite good (Lee Marvin and Jack Palance were in one, Tom Selleck in the other), but the book is better and has a different ending. (I wish to add that the first time I read this novel it was an edition much earlier than this particular book.)

[brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another good one for the books! I loved the writing style here a lot--funny, empathetic, and poetic all at once. This story basically followed the life of one seriously cool cowboy, and I loved the whole ride of it (no pun intended). It got extremely nostalgic/melancholy in the final chapters, which was sad but also a real testament to the author's skill. However, it was also laugh-out-loud funny in a bunch of places, even in the last chapters, and Monte Walsh himself is just such an icon. This has been on my list for a while, and I'm happy to finally be able to cross it out with a glowing review.

"My oh my," this is definitely worth a read.

5 rugged, hardy stars from me.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There ain’t no way to say it,” said Monte. “So don’t try.”

Monte Walsh is the only western I’ve read, but I feel as though I unknowingly started from the end.

Jack Schaefer is a true, true poet.

[Megargee · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published in 1963, Monte Walsh is considered by many to be one of the great classic Westerns. Written by Jack Schaefer, who also wrote Shane, Monte Walsh will disappoint those who seek blazing action or steaming romance. Instead it is a story of the decline and eventual disappearance of the free ranging American cowboy, a species increasingly endangered by barbed wire fences, railroads, industrialized ranching, and gasoline engines from 1872 - 1913. It is told through the life of Monte Walsh, an old time horseman and cow puncher, who never met a man he feared, a horse he wouldn't ride, or a town he wouldn't hooraw, although he would gallop away in terror from any woman with matrimony on her mind. Along the way we are also told the stories of his associates, Chet, his long time companion who eventually moves to town, marries, and becomes a merchant, his fellow hands at the Slash Y, the woman "...known to him and all too many other men...as Yellow Hair Hattie," and even some of their horses such a Hellfire, Monkey Face, and his faithful dun cow pony as they cope with blizzards, stampedes, rustlers, and the encroachments of Progress.
This is a book to be savored, as much for its language as its story. Each of the 19 chapters is relatively self contained... no cliff hangers here... making it easy to read episodically when one is in the mood for an authentic depiction of a bygone era.

[Karen Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished and I'm crying like a baby. Best book I've read since Lonesome Dove. Ten stars.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read because of Dana Stabenow's rave reco,
https://stabenow.com/2013/08/30/top-1...

Eh. It's the same well as McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove", and McM's a *much* better writer. I stalled for a long time, went back and got about half-way. It's still .... just OK. Too many cliche barroom brawls, offset by some nice stuff when the book moves to NM Territory. I just don't care enough about these people to keep reading. YMMV, but not for me.

[Vít · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tohle je moje srdeční záležitost, ani nevím, kolikrát už jsem tuhle knížku od 80. let četl. V tomhle žánru je to pro mě jasné číslo jedna, těch pět hvězd tam bude vždycky.

[Robert VanBuhler · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you only read one Western novel, read Monte Walsh. if you have ever had a friend, or maybe a brother or sister, who is full of character flaws, and yet exhibits a sense of honor integrity and loyalty at the same time, you will relate to Monte Walsh.

Monte is not one of Louis L'Amour's killers with a heart, but is just a good man with a big heart, who is "good with a horse," larger than life and prone to mischief in a lost, romantic age of American history. Although two films have been made based on Jack Schafer's masterpiece, they do not really capture the full essence of the novel. Monte Walsh, of course is about Monte, but the character development of all his friends is amazingly elaborate. As screenwriters have found, the scope of the book is difficult to capture. If you do read it, don't go into it with an image of Lee Marvin or Tom Selleck (who played Monte) in your mind. Start fresh and enjoy one of the finest stories about early American New Mexico Territory ever written. If you know and love the State as I do, you will enjoy it even more.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really impressive novel about the life of a cowboy from his teen years through his 50s. I know a movie was made with this name but I'm so glad I never saw it; there is no way it can be even close to the novel. Realistic characters and scenarios, many of which are now tropes in Western novels and movies, kept me wanting to read more. I cannot recommend this highly enough, even if you don't like Westerns. This is so much more.

[Jim Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monte Walsh was a man who lived freely, as he wished. His story is made up of the day to day life of a cowboy in the 1870s to 1900s. No twists of fate; just life in New Mexico as it was a long time ago. At the end, i missed him. A very satisfying novel of the old west and it’s early settlers.

[Scotty Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting tale of the old west. Takes a long time to read. Cool to hear the story of a character’s entire life. Felt his struggle with identity when he never settles down/starts a family. Just wanders a long in life but leaves an impression everywhere he goes

[Christine]

Surprising well-written. Interesting sentence structure.
Characters are tropes, especially women.

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a wonderful novel telling the story of likable cowboy Monte Walsh and his faithful friend Chet Rollins in a series of vignettes that can be humorous, exciting, or touching. Shaefer provides a truly vivid and likely accurate portrayal of cowboy life in the latter half of the 19th century from the simpler times when ranch and cowboy activity was at it’s prime to when the influx of technology such as automobiles began to signal their coming decline and the end of a way of life. This is a special book that made me laugh and made me cry. It transcends the Western genre, much like Lonesome Dove, or The Time it Never Rained. Highest recommendation.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for my daddy. He loved to read, but he was particular about his book choice. He read the Bible, golf books, and nonfiction, especially history. But he did not read literary novels. In fact, he only read one genre of fiction, westerns. Louis L'amour, Zane Gray, and Jack Schaeffer were among his favorites. My mind's eye can easily see him relaxed in his old leather rocker, coffee cup in one hand and a paperback western in the other. Hardly a day went by without him reading at least half a book, usually a whole one. He passed his love of books on to his daughters, but I never read westerns.

Last week I decided to try one. I remembered having seen and enjoyed Tom Selleck's movie Monte Walsh. I enjoy comparing books to the film versions, so I reserved the title from the library. Schaeffer's colorful dialogue, imagery, and narrative style hooked me from the first paragraph. The more I read, the more I wondered if the movie scriptwriters had even read Schaeffer's wonderful book or if they merely borrowed his character names and a few excerpts. Much of the action in the film is nonexistent in the book, which is an epic tale of one cowboy's life in the waning years of the Old West. I am so glad I took the time to read this, and I can truthfully say, "The book is so much better!"

[Michael Tankersley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't consider myself a regular book reader. In fact, I can't remember when I read a book from cover to cover. I've tried non-fiction books because I thought they would hold my attention, but I would drop them soon after the first chapter. Enter Monte Walsh. Recommended by one of my sons. I was tired of watching TV. I read about 20 pages per night and finished in about a month, 540 pages. I was careful not to study the details and get bogged down, which I am prone to do. The setting interested me, the wild west after the Civil War and the life of a cowboy, from the early days of open range cattle drives to the sad but inevitable arrival of fences and automobiles. Monte and his peers of the Slash Y worked hard and played hard. Monte knew his horses and how to drive cows. As with everything, time marches on, times change, and acquaintances move on. Monte and his friends at the Slash Y were a sort of band of brothers. They all loved their horses, driving cattle, ranch work, fair play, and each other. They worked together, sacrificed for each other, helped others in need before themselves, and would not back down if messed with. Monte may have made a bad decision now and then, but he lived a full, honest life and could look anyone straight in the eye knowing that he was a cowboy's cowboy. If you like westerns, this is one for you.

[Amanda Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's nothing like a Western, and this one was my favorite fiction read of 2014. It isn't a quick read by any means; Schaefer loves his wide open West and takes every opportunity to describe it as well as the various towns, buildings, and minor characters who populate it and give it its soul. A faster pace would rob the epic. The larger-than-life writing style fits the story well.

I love reading about this rugged time when cattle rustling was a capital offense and men lived and died for land and loyalty. But this isn't only a story of the West. It is also the carefully detailed portrait of one man: tough, stubborn, loyal, mischievous, independent, a good friend and a good man with a horse.

[Chris Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me, this book is flawless. The writing is like magic. Every character is deep and alive. The dialog is crisp and real. And the story; the story is captivating. It is at times exciting, at others it is funny and at all times it is authentic. It is the story of a man's life. A man who knows who he is and what he wants to do and he does it, without compromise. It is not an easy life, it is not always heroic, but it is honest and full.

By the time I got to the end of this book I felt like I knew Monte Walsh and I was sad that I had never met him.

[Vifikifi · Rating 5 out of 5]

(When I I joined Goodreads I didn’t publish a review until today.)
What you need love for when you can read books about cowboys and friendship. Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins broke my heart on pieces many times during their lives captured in the book. I felt like one of the boys back in time in the wild wild West and I never wanted it to come to an end. This story (that definitely belongs to my favorites) woke up a cowboy down in my heart that will always remind me of /Y