End of the Drive

The Sacketts #6.5

by Louis L'Amour

BEST OF THE WEST

A veteran trail driver, who has survived thundering stampedes and Comanche raids, discovers there's nothing so dangerous as courting a beautiful woman. . . .

A brutally beaten homesteader crawls off to die--only to stumble upon an ancient talisman that restores his will to live. . . .

This treasure trove of stories captures the grit, grandeur, and the glory of the men and women who wielded pistol and plow, Bible and branding iron to tame a wild country. A mysterious preacher rides into town to deliver a warning that leads to a surprising revelation. . . .

And in the full-length novella Rustler Roundup, the hardworking citizens of a law-abiding town are pushed to the edge as rumors of rustlers in their midst threaten to turn neighbor against neighbor. Each of these unforgettable tales bears the master's touch--comic twists, stark realism, crackling suspense--all the elements that have made Louis L'Amour an American legend.

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

260 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 5, 1997

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

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually only read the one short story out of this compilation, the one that was about the Sacketts, called The Courting of Griselda. I have to be thorough in my reading of the saga.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 1 out of 5]

My dad loves all his books and I read over a hundred while staving off the night terrors when growing up.

It is a strange fact about the old west, Indians, and the genocidal take over of the land now called the United States that fiction writing about them is often taken for truth (see Ward Churchill's Fantasies of the Master Race). The back of almost every L'amour novel lauds his knowledge of "how it really was" and the fact that he could've been one of the tough, honorable, lonely fighting men he wrote about. This is complete crap. L'amour was a seller of fantasy, of lies, and of ideals that white men like to think they possess.
He uses Indians simultaneously as "noble warriors" and "bloodthirsty savages" and justifies the take over of their land with the old "their time was passing..." illogic--as if there wasn't an agent behind their passing.
Reading one of his novels, one gets the feeling he never did any research required of historical novels. Details are always vague. Little reference is made to historical events, ways of doing things, or period details that would lend credence to his imaginings. His stories could just as easily been set on Mars for all the research that shows through his writing. But Americans are already disposed to believing all this romantic Old West bullshit, so you don't have to try very hard.
When a writer taps into our national myths, they don't have to be accurate or true, because most of our national myths are lies already believed.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of 7 short stories and one long novella written by Louis L’Amour. It’s part of the “follow-on” collection of short story collections published via his son Beau and allowing L’Amour’s unpublished manuscripts to see the light of day. Normally when this kind of thing happens, I am wary. There’s often a good reason why unpublished stories are unpublished. But with L’Amour it appears that he wasn’t always the most organized person and left behind plenty of stories that he never even sent in. In the case of the novella included here, “Rustler Roundup”, it apparently had been sent in and came back with some minor suggestions from the editor but L’Amour just never got around to correcting and re-submitting.

I enjoyed most of the stories here, including the novella, but there were a couple that seemed a tad too short or incomplete. The afterward, written by L’Amour’s son, describes the history of each story and indeed, several of them either grew into published novels later or at least planted the seed of an idea that was later fleshed out, although often with completely different characters. One of the highlights for me was the tale, “The Courting of Griselda” which is a Tell Sackett yarn describing a particularly telling moment during his gold mining days. Sackett completists will want to be sure and read that one.

[Clyde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published several years after Louis L'Amour died. (He left a lot of both finished and unfinished work behind. To say the man was prolific would be an understatement!)
This book contains seven short stories and one novella. The novella, Rustler Roundup, forms the bulk of the book. I suppose it is a rather typical Louis L'Amour story as it has hard men both good and bad, a headstrong young woman, a devious crime boss, and an old mystery. Also of course, the western landscape plays an important part in the story.
Interestingly (according to his son), Louis L'Amour submitted Rustler Roundup for publication early in his writing career. It was returned for some minor revisions and he just never got around to resubmitting it.
Anyway, good book with interesting stories.
Solid 4 stars.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of short stories, only one of which was a Sackett story. Just not enough there to really engage me except in the last story, which was more of a novella. There's another shirt story book next in the Sackett list, but I s'pose I'll just skip that one. I can't remember exactly when I finished this. I've been too out of lately to keep up with keeping track.

I had the computer read it to me on the Internet Archive. Sadly, the only voice was female, which just wasn't right. All the hubbub over AI in recent days has me only hoping for leaps and bounds in text-to-speech quality.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book consists of old L'Amour stories that never were published; several of which were later re-written into novels such as Tucker. Its a pretty wide variety of different stories, published after his father's death by Beau L'Amour.

Some are real gems, some are not very memorable, and there is one novella that is nearly a full length novel about rustlers which is a pretty good story. Overall its a nice collection but I miss the intros by Louis giving historical background.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I didn't love the novella, I did enjoy almost all of the short stories. Some might say they are simple, but I liked them nonetheless. Many apparently became the genesis for novels, and were thus discarded until revived by the author's son. In normal times I may never have even picked these up, but with the virus I grab whatever books I can and I am glad in this case I did.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were a collection of short stories. Well written and fun reading.

[Frode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randomly I will pull a Louis L’Amour book off my shelf for diversion. Recently a number of his books were returned to me, and End of the Drive caught my attention. I remembered it only as a series of short stories, and that was the case although one was really a novella. I enjoyed them but didn’t remember them at all. Well, it has been a few years since I last cracked the book. Interestingly enough the afterword explained that the short stories in this book were all seeds for later novels. Upon reflection, some of the connections made sense; others I would not have thought of.

L’Amour’s short stories are just that, quite short and no character development. The settings varied somewhat from desert to cow country, but it was all Old West stuff, and that was just fine. Plots were pretty simple; basic survival in the desert was the main issue in a couple of stories. Tell Sackett’s story told how he realized Griselda was not the girl he should marry. The title story was similar in that again the main character realizes the girl he had his eye on wasn’t what she seemed to be. The story about the preacher coming to town was a bit different and revolved around figuring out just what his game was. The novella had a romantic side to it along with some rustlers, gun slingers, a devious fellow who was the brains of it all, and the good guy and a former friend who wants the hero dead. It was packed with action; it had a showdown gunfight, and the hero gets the girl in the end, all very much what L’Amour delivers in most of his books.

In sum, it is standard stuff for Westerns; it was fun to read and a good diversion but nothing exceptional.

[Angie Lisle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a lover of short story collections though, to be fair, this is a collection of seven short stories and one novella. My biggest complaint is printing typos; a good editor should've caught them.

L'Amour gets a lot of beef for using stereotypical ethnic tropes, particularly in regards to Native Americans, but I know there's a big difference between a Hollywood Indian and a real Native American and I expect other readers, with exception to the very young, to also know the difference.

L'Amour played with the tools of the trade that were available to him. He wrote these books in a time when ethnicity wasn't emphasized (or sometimes erased) by the arts industry and L'Amour still found small ways to work in real information about Native Americans. For instance - Hollywood gave us the image of an Indian greeting -with no specification to tribe- by saying how and bobbing a hand over the mouth. In this book, L'Amour works in the correct way to use the Lakota greeting hau kola, "how kola," with no hand bobbing.

His predecessors most certainly did not attempt this so L'Amour may have played a role in breaking those stereotypes within the arts community. He also preserves some of the atrocities that have been done to ethnic groups. You have only to read his books to see what Native Americans are talking about when they discuss persecution and I wish these books were more often utilized as a tool for that means.

[Cora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good look at L'Amour's development of material. He was a storyteller and did not revise texts the way many author's do, but there are several short stories in this collection that later served as the foundation for novels. The novels were published during the author's life time, but the short stories were left in a box of materials that were published by L'Amour's children after his death. The changes were both subtle and severe in the shift from short story to novel. The author did not just start with the same story and add on; he made changes in the stories also as part of the larger work. Both are enjoyable and reflect the storyteller's skill.

[Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories. 'Rustler Roundup' was the best of the bunch. Interesting reading the afterward knowing many of these stories were the seeds that grew into more prominent books. Very interesting to read the list of people at the end that his son is trying to contact for developing a biography of Louis. Amazing life path. Singapore and Indonesia in the 1920's & 1930's, prize fighting, tour guide in Egypt, Oklahoma in the 1930's, California, European theater in WWII... All kinds of people and places. Amazing.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another collection of L'Amour's western stories. Several of these were the genesis for what later became novels so they're well worth reading.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading some of his books. Right now the Sacketts in order.

Excellent stories in this book.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is labeled Sacketts 6.5 in the series. There are seven short stories and one novella in this volume, most of them L'Amour's early efforts that later turned into complete novels. The only one that concerns the Sacketts is called "The Courting of Griselda." It stars William Tell Sackett looking for gold, but other miners finding gold and leaving him in the dust so to speak. Even the miner's daughter he has his eye on is swayed by the amount of gold in each man's pockets. Sackett may find gold, but he also finds that a woman who is only after the money is missing the heart of the matter.

Otherwise, there were some good short stories. The novella concerned a range war and had way too many characters. In the same sentence, a man might be referred to by his first name, his last name or his position. It was very confusing, although in the end it turned out to be a good story.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great shorts collection supporting really a novel length tale, Rustler Roundup. The novel was well written western tale full of the usual tropes but is written so well with just an air of mystery. Plus the characters are so interesting, you dont care that you read this story many times before (range war/cattle rustling tale). Speaking of read before, if you are a veteran L'Amour fan then some of these tales may seem familiar since he expanded\changed some for novels or took the essence of the story for the ideal for a novel. This is shown well in an afterword by his son.

Highly recommended, a solid collection of various quality but it's L'Amour and its hard to find badly written stuff from him.

[Shawny O'Leary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much to say on this collection of short stories. Majority of them entertaining and a good short read after a lengthier endeavor. I did find myself rather liking L'Armour's style of writing and in my continued adventures into westerns, I may or may not pick up more of his legendary and well loved stories.

Not anything that wowed me, but then again I don't think this was meant to be a "wow" of a read, just more or less entertaining and the afterward was interesting having been written by his son about his father's writing and character development style and processes through the years in these short stories.

4/10

[Wilson E. Stevens Sr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories never published while Louis L'Amour was living, but found in his papers and published by his son after his fathers death. Several are short stories that later were reworked into full length books. All are worth the time to read, but you can skip this book with out missing any thing. It is listed as part of the Sacketts series, but I couldn't find any reason why it should be listed as part of the series.

[Barbara Lee Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT ADVENTURES OF LOUIS L'AMOUR

A wonderful collection of stories by Louis L'Amour
Everyone story was a pleasure, all quick reads..you know interesting, intriguing characters with interesting names. They weren't born with those names, but as they ride around the West, these were used to label these men and women. The only disappointment is that William Tell Sackett, will sadly disappear, because Mr. L'Amour didn't write any more about him. GREAT ADVENTURES...

[Lloyd Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories and one novella, I find End if the Drive difficult to rate. Like a few other of L’Amour’s collections I didn’t find it as rewarding as many of his books. Either the story seems over before it starts and you wish it was developed into more or you are glad it was a quick read.
In this case it was more of the first - wishing stories had been further developed — so a bit higher mark than most collections.

[Michael Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

These short stories were box finds by the family of Louis L'Amour after his passing. There were some treasures in this box, along with a curtain call by one of the illustrious Sackett boys. The stories are variable in perspective, writing styles and length. I picked this up because one guide to L'Amour lists this as a Sackett novella. Tell Sackett makes an appearance in "The Courting of Griselda," but other stories, such as "Rustler Roundup," take top billing in this collection.

[Sue E · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories confirms my belief that L’Amour wrote short stories best of all. He can create characters, story line and drama in just a few pages like no other. The only story in this collection that I didn’t care for was Rustler Roundup (a novella) because it had too many characters to keep track of and because the conclusion seemed trite like he didn’t put much thought into the very end.

[Danica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally like westerns but needed to read one for my #ReadHarder2018 challenge. This was a great one to pick! Filled with multiple short stories and one multi chapter story, this book is a great taste of life on the range. Published posthumously, this book is a great introduction into the legend that is Louis L'Amour.

[Randy Tramp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-Four and fresh off the trail, Tom Gavagan looked for a girl. The one he picked could get him in trouble. Strong character and a dangerous plot make for a great read. All trail hands are told not to enter the south end of the town. Of course, Tom wouldn't follow that order. What a great read. Takes me to yesterday.

[Wil · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are so many characters in "The Rustler Roundup" and yet the characters first and last names were changed constantly even in the same paragraph. If this is a new style of writing, it stinks. I have only read 47 of Louis L'Amoirs books so far and this is the first time I have encountered such a problem

[James Biser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good tale of a young man who has worked (24) who has worked as trail-hand for several years and is ready to move on to something more. He starts by the idea of courting a woman at the town at the end of the drive, but ends by becoming a partner to a professional cowboy who can run a herd that they own with him. It is the story of becoming an adult.

[Thomas C.Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very pleased with this collection of short stories created by Louis L'Amour. I found them to be entertaining, pleasant, and even a little inspiring. I cherish the books that make me want to be a better person.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of six short stories, and one novella of the old west as told by Louis L'Amour. This collection features the life and times of men and women who made up the west, and the hardscrabble from which a life was formed.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A posthumous collection of short stories unearthed by L'Amour's son, some of which were "studies" for later novels, e.g., we meet William Tell Sackett in "The Courting of Griselda", which was my favorite, I think, because of its humorous imagery.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great collection of short stories with one novella. I love L’Amour’s characters. And his stories are a good blend of romance and action.

A true hero is
Good but flawed and honest with
Themselves about it.