Bar-20

Hopalong Cassidy #1

by Clarence Edward Mulford

Cassidy could fan a gun like a Bill the Kid...

Six rounds in three seconds was his slowest time. No one in the state of Texas could beat him.

Until he met Slim Travennes, head of the Sandy Creek Vigilante Committee. Slim was snake-fast. No man could go up against him and live. No man.

Hoppy could stand or die. He had no other choice. None at all.

Genres: Westerns, Literature, Fiction

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published October 15, 1992

About the author

Clarence Edward Mulford was the author of Hopalong Cassidy, written in 1904. He wrote it in Fryeburg, Maine, United States, and the many stories and 28 novels were followed by radio, feature film, television, and comic book versions. Clarence was born in Streator, Illinois. He died of complications from surgery in Portland, Maine. He set aside much of his money from his book for local charities.

Reviews

[Dan McNeil · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to like, and a lot to pick at. The stories were exciting and Mulford really captures the biting wit work crews end up sharing. I loved the battle descriptions too.

I know this novel was written in 1906, so society was different, but there is some casual racism thrown around a few times, mostly directed towards Mexicans, although there are some shots at Native Americans as well. (I know he came on the scene later, but this feels very different from Louis L'Amour, who often wrote very respectivelly of Mexicans and Natives.

And there were also very few female characters, and the ones presented were either a jezebel cliche, or a former love who got fat and was no longer desirable.

I know the times were different, but this is still accurate and something to be aware of. If you like Westerns, give this a read but I recommend keeping these issues in mind.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listend to this one on my Kindle. I'm sorry it took me this long to get to it. There's lots of hilarious dialogue and situations. Note that this isn't really a novel per se. It's more a collection of individual incidents, althoguh some of them are marginally related. The characters are fascinating, larger than life. It's much in the tradition of the Texas Tall Tale. At times you almost expect Pecos Bill to show up.

[Jeffrey Powanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first of Mulford's 28 Hopalong Cassidy novels, this one is about cowboys from the Bar-20 ranch dealing with rustlers in the Texas panhandle and in Mexico. This book, which was originally published in 1906, is more a series of linked short stories, most of which feature the limping, ginger-haired Hopalong, who is a sure shot with his Colt revolvers and his Sharps rifle. Due to the enormous popularity of the Hopalong movies starring actor William Boyd, Mulford continued publishing novels in the series until 1941. (In 1950, the Hopalong movies were still going strong, so Doubleday tried to lure Mulford out of retirement to write more novels featuring Hopalong, but he declined, and they instead hired Louis L'Amour to write four more Hopalong novels under the pen name Tex Burns, which he denied writing for years, even though they were his first published novels.)

Characterization in these stories is shallow, but Mulford fleshes out Hopalong more than the other cowpunchers, as shown in this excerpt:

"The last, Hopalong Cassidy, was a combination of irresponsibility, humor, god nature, love of fighting, and nonchalance when face to face with danger. His most prominent attribute was that of always getting into trouble without any intention of so doing; in fact, he was much agrieved and surprised when it came. It seemed as though when any 'bad man' desired to add to his reputation he invariably selected Hopalong as the means (a fact due, perhaps, to the perversity of things in general). Bad men became scarce soon after Hopalong became a fixture in any locality. He had been crippled some years before in a successful attempt to prevent the assassination of a friend, Sheriff Harris, of Albuquerque, and he still possessed a limp."

Hopalong, therefore, resembles other supremely competent protagonists of modern action thrillers, such as Lee Child's series featuring Jack Reacher, Tom Clancy's series featuring Jack Ryan, and Elmore Leonard's series featuring Raylan Givens. The genre is more broadly known as Competence Porn, and Taylor Sheridan, creator of the TV series Yellowstone, is today's most able practitioner.

Despite the shallowness of the characters, Mulford's amiable stories are rich in atmosphere, gunplay, rodeo skills, and vaudeville humor. The cowboys have no respect for law enforcement, especially south of the border, so they often behave like brutal vigilantes. The colorful dialogue aims to be realistic Western vernacular speech, but it's often ridiculous, as in this excerpt:

"He was huntin' yu hard an' you thought yu'd stop it, so yu came in to lay for him. When yu saw m an' him together yu saw di' chance to wipe out another score. That's how I figger it out," replied Hopalong quietly.

The book is undeniably lively and well-paced, but its apparent racism (against Native Americans and Mexicans) hasn't aged well. I'll stop here after completing the first Hopalong Cassidy ebook, which I downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg. I've sampled enough.

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is the first appearance of Hopalong Cassidy. I've been struggling to pin down the first publication date (these were initially published as serials, most likely), but it is somewhere between 1906 and 1911. In other words, this is one of the earliest examples of Western Fiction (along with The Virginian and Riders of the Purple Sage).

Bar-20 hits the ground running. There is loads of bantering between characters and a focus on comradeship. There is also lots of hell raising and gun play, as the Bar-20 outfit tangles with claim jumpers, rustlers and other ne'er-do-wells. The novel is occasionally silly, and not particularly strong in characterization, possibly because of its episodic / pulp origins. However, these early entries were clearly very influential, and Hoppy became a legend of the genre.

[Joseph Loehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ohh, this a proper Wild West shoot-em-up! Well different from the Hopalong movies, but well worth reading. This version is Uncensored, with not PC words, so, Beware, if one is easily offended.

[Forrie Lowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved "Hopalong (Bill) Cassidy" since I was a child (1950) strictly through the movies. Watched everything collected all audio and videos of.
Now for the first time I decided to go back to his roots and the written word of "Clarence E. Mulford". This was the greatest discovery in my lifetime joy of Hoppy!
Mulford had the true gift of spinning a western tale and giving us the Bar-20 and all those wonderful colorful characters. This is his first and it was awesome! Clarence wrote 28 Hoppy Western Novels. (I'm beginning the 2nd (The Orphan) as soon as finish this review) Louis L'Amour loved Mulfords stories so much he wrote 4 Hoppy Novels after Mulford retired. (Mulford picked L'Amour as his successor!)

So how can you lose two great western writers in kahoots

[Ceejay]

I didn't rate this book because I didn't finish it. I picked up this novel because it was one of the original books featuring Hopalong Cassidy, a baby boomer cowboy hero from the 1950's. This story was written in the early 1900's, and it seems like everybody talked with a "cowboy accent".A quote from the book,"It shore look thataway." is an example of what I mean. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm sure that folks who like this style of western will enjoy it. I just can't handle page after page written in this manner.

[Arlen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fancy dude words so the three stars are for language. But it was a shock to apprehend that we were glorifying what today would probably be defined as lawless, racist, sexist, destructive gang behavior. No need to read any more for me, thanks. Clearly written, I believe (and could be way, way wrong) from the comfort of a seat by the fire somewhere in New England? :-)

[NuNu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction into the the realm of western fiction of Hopalong Cassidy who was later to become a hero of early western films. The hero of the films was basically a far cry from the rough and tumble character of the Bar -20 books. An interesting insight into the original character of a Saturday Matinee hero of the 40's.

[Paul Frazee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoppy in the Old West

Having grown up watching William Boyd playing Hopalong Cassidy, it’s an interesting read to see the comparisons between Clarence Mumfords’ Cassidy and that portrayed by Boyd.
The writing is archaic, and therefore somewhat challenging but also interesting to compare to modern novels.
A fun book for sure!

[Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting read, rather indicative of early western lit. A real shoot-'em-up of a book, with lots of us-vs-them situations, More of a collection short stories than a full-fledged novel. I'm glad I read it, but it satisfied my itching for a Hopalong Cassidy book.

[Amy Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very light, witty, and entertaining read. Not much in the way of character development, just a lot of entertaining action and, of course, the introduction of the best pistol shooter on the Bar-20, Hopalong Cassidy.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my review at my blog.

[Michael P. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This early Hop-along Cassidy book is for fans only, and I mean fans of author Clarence Mulford, not the Cassidy films which have little in common with this book. It is very badly written. Very.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining

[AG Fishman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first novel of the Hopalong Cassidy saga. It doesn't get much better than this.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice start to the series with several feuds. Over a hundred years old with some word usage a bit hard to follow, but still a fun read. Hopalong is barely the lead character.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good old fashioned western

[H Jesseman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but the hero does display unrealistic accuracy with a six-shooter.

[Michael Sigler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps an extremely generous 3 stars...

[Susan Janneck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful. Mr. Mulford used the vernacular of those times and transports you instantly to the wild west.