Texas Rifles

by Elmer Kelton

The new Confederacy, facing into the Union cannon, had too much on its hands to send troops to the Texas frontier to hold back the Indians. Instead, it authorized the State of Texas to raise its own troops.

Many kinds of men drifted into the Texas Mounted Rifles. Some thought it might be safer than fighting in far off Virginia. Many were merely young men a-thirst for adventure. Some were settlers who saw this as the best way to protect their families and homes against the murderous thrusts of the Comanche. And some were men who still loved the Union, who had lived too long under that gallant flag to turn their guns against it now. Such a man was Scout Sam Houston Cloud...

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Elmer Kelton (1926-2009) was award-winning author of more than forty novels, including The Time It Never Rained, Other Men’s Horses, Texas Standoff and Hard Trail to Follow. He grew up on a ranch near Crane, Texas, and earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas. His first novel, Hot Iron, was published in 1956. Among his awards have been seven Spurs from Western Writers of America and four Western Heritage awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. His novel The Good Old Boys was made into a television film starring Tommy Lee Jones. In addition to his novels, Kelton worked as an agricultural journalist for 42 years. He served in the infantry in World War II. He died in 2009.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/elmerk...

Reviews

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

An average western by Kelton is way better than most westerns. Sam Houston Cloud joins the Texas Rifles to avoid having to fight against the American flag and to avoid having to fight against the Confederacy. In his first real action he rescues a white woman who had been captured by the Comanche many years earlier. Their relationship and her attempt to rejoin the white world makes up the plot of the rest of the book. Recommended to western fans, especially Kelton fans.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was in high school and reading a lot of Louis L'Amour novels, I heard somewhere that Elmer Kelton was an even better western writer.

After (finally) reading one of his books, the jury's still out, but there's no question that he's a fine storyteller and a good prose stylist.

Texas Rifles takes place in 1861. The Texas Mounted Rifles, which are a precursor to the Texas Rangers, are making the frontier safe for settlers by warring against the Comanche. Or at least they're trying. They're a small outfit, led by a hard, unbending captain named Barcroft. They're also an uneasy mix of Unionists, Confederate loyalists, and Texans with no interest in fighting in the War Between the States.

Cloud is a member of this last group. He dislikes Barcroft, but knows he doesn't have another choice, and figures serving with the Rifles and fighting the Comanches is better than serving in the Confederacy and fighting the Yankees.

However, when the Rifles discover a white woman named Easter who was kidnapped by the Comanches as a young girl and forced to take a husband, Barcroft takes her back with them, but forces her to leave her half-Comanche baby behind.

This inhuman action sickens Cloud, but there's little he can do.

Like all good storytellers, though, Kelton adds layers to Barcroft's character as the novel goes on, and while he never becomes fully likable, he does grow to be sympathetic.

Texas Rifles is a bloody novel, but never gratuitous. Kelton writes good dialogue, well-crafted prose, and is able to describe the west lovingly without ever lapsing into Zane Grey-style hysterics.

Texas Rifles isn't a great novel, but it's a good one, and the next time I feel like reading a western I'll probably pick up one by Kelton.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was some swearing, but overall my family really enjoyed it!

[Craig Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelton is becoming a favorite western novelist of mine. A nice plot, character development and social commentary for this genre.

[Nathan Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelton has become my favorite western writer. This is one of his early works and written in 1960 it definitely has a 50's feel to it, but truly a good saga.

[Buck Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written Western novel by one of the premier Western writers of the 20th Century. Kelton does a great job of blending historical tidbits into his stories, and his characters, even though flawed, are likeable and you connect with them. Surprised that this never made to the silver screen, but it is a story that was quite common in the early Western frontier. Well worth the read and the action keeps the story flowing.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be my last Elmer Kelton novel, at least for a long while. This is the second I have read and, like the last one (The Smiling Country), it is an OK read, but also like the last one, it simply retreads numerous tropes from Western movies and novels and adds nothing new or original. Maybe I will eventually read one of his novels that actually won the Spur Award (he is a 6-time winner from the Western Writers Association) but there are lots of better books to read in the meantime.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good Western. I learned a little of Texas history. The story line was good and made me care for the characters. I would recommend this book to anybody. Mr Kelton was as good as my other favorite writer of Zane Grey, Louis Lamour, and Max Brand.
It was hard to put down.

[sarg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Texas rangers during he civil war. Little bit of fighting the Indians and a little bit of romance with a rescued from the Indians white woman. Not my favorite Elmer Kelton story but gave it 4 stars anyway.

[Heath Lowrance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Houston Cloud wants no part of the War Between the States, and so joins up instead with the Texas Rifles, fighting Comanches in the wide open scrub prairies of North Texas. Serving under a captain made bitter by the loss of his daughter to Indian raiders, Cloud makes new friends, battles for his life against Comanches and a hostile land, and falls in love with a white woman raised as an Indian.

There's a lot to like about this novel. The characters are finely drawn and there's just enough realism to keep you invested in the story. The action sequences are excellent. To a modern reader, the attitudes about Indians can be jarring; the savagery of the Comanche is highlighted and the white settlers are portrayed as innocent souls merely protecting their homes. The reality, of course, is far more complicated. But to Kelton's credit, he presents in TEXAS RIFLES characters who behave and think in ways that are consistent with their time and place. If you can accept that, you'll no doubt enjoy the hell out of this book.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Texas Rifles (1960) This is a strong (can’t say I’ve read a truly weak one)Elmer Kelton western novel about the Texas Mounted Rifles in the Comanche wars in 1861. He distinguishes here between the Rifles and the Rangers and, elsewhere, the State Police. But the difference between the Rifles and the Rangers seems negligible. The same tension between secessionists, Unionists, and non-interventionists he describes in his Texas Ranger trilogy is at play here, as is the reality of the frontline between Texan pioneers and Comanches. He seems to strive for realism and objectivity and seems to pull it off. Sam Houston Cloud is a young scout for the Rifle here and as such is on the front line. The ending battle with Comanches is vividly and heartbreakingly rendered, and the denouement has an emotional punch that shouldn’t have surprised me but certainly surprisingly affected me. This is still within the formula western but way more realistic than most genre pieces manage to get.

[Exanimis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read many westerns but of those I have read I have noticed something, westerns are, in a way, romance novels for men. I find this to be truly amazing and have to admit that I am enjoying them a lot.
We read this story from the point of Sam Houston Cloud who joins a confederate troop called the Texas Rifles, not to fight the union but to fight the Comanche who are raiding and killing throughout west Texas. We meet a wide variety of people along the way with their own opinions, likes and dislikes that don't always blend. Riding with the Rifles, Cloud believes he is ready for anything that comes along, anything that is until he meets Easter.
Westerns are pure fun to me, they are a break from the hardness and violence of so many novels. Sure there is violence but it seems to be something that can't be avoided not the main purpose for every action.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was racist.

[Jeff]

pdg