Showdown at Yellow Butte

by Louis L'Amour, Jim Mayo

"Killers were loose in the land. Only Kedrick could stop them."

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Action, Novels, Audiobook

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

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

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I noticed this with a few other L'Amour books I've read: Within twenty pages the reader finds themselves dumped in a sea of names with little to no background as to who they are. In this case it was worse for a couple names are similar. Worse, as the book goes on, some switch from good to bad and vice versa. Many characters are hardly explained throughout the book except for what side they are. I had trouble keeping track of who was through throughout the book. Here's further credit I can give for the William Johnstone clan and their westerns that are often peppered with lots of characters as I've yet to get so confused.

However, I thought the story was a good one even if I did get lost at times. There's a good mystery that can keep you guessing until the end and plenty of shootouts. I kinda wish L'Amour had done more with series, because I do like the main character, Kedrick, and wish there was more of him. Especially outside the Western genre as referred to in the book.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best L'Amour story, but still a solid effort.

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I don't know...I guess you can outgrow an author. When I read this as a teenager just discovering Westerns, I ate it up, but re-reading it now all I can see is a quickly-moving mechanical plot, a lot of bite-sized commentary on the characters of various men without any of them ever seeming fully lifelike, and chiefly, a lot of violent gunfights. I suppose I'm just a little tired of the over-used gunfighter trope in general. There are moments of interest, and an occasional shrewd observation, but mostly it felt like the skeleton of a story with nothing really expanded upon in detail...except those gunfights.

[Bruce]

This is the second book that Louis L'Amour wrote under his own name (the seventh book he had published). I liked "Hondo" better, but this one was very good. Reading L'Amour is a way of experiencing the Old West as it was (except perhaps for the blinding speed of all the gunslingers). You learn so much about the times, and the story is always a good one. This is another good read by L'Amour. Recommend it to all who are fans of Westerns.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Kedrick is a fighter. No, he’s not the type to loudly brag about his prowess with a gun, but he doesn’t fear a hard fight when he has no choice. He has come to town from New Orleans, and he’s a veteran of the war between the states. Tom has been hired to evict squatters on land that belongs to the Burwick Land Company. It looks like a simple cut-and-dry done-deal kind of job. He helps evict those who aren’t legally supposed to be there, he gets paid, and it’s on to another town somewhere. But things are never as simple as they initially seem. Tom is immediately smitten by the lovely Connie, who is new to town herself, and who provides Tom with a second more detailed look at the squatters—a second look that makes him begin to recognize he’s on the wrong side of the battle.

Ok, so this is a pretty formulaic horse opera. I haven’t read one of these in years. There is the silly insta-love thing between Tom and Connie; I never understood why someone with L,Amour’s talents would fall back on simplified insta-love techniques, but so he does in this book.

What’s to recommend it? The author skillfully reminds his readers that things are rarely as they appear to be in the first glance, and that’s a reminder well worth having. As is often the case with these simple westerns, villains are particularly villainous (often fat, slovenly men of wealth and power), and heroes are particularly virtuous. But you aren’t reading this as part of a graduate-school in-depth English final. This is designed to be a quick read that moves you on to the next book. It’s an action-packed somewhat suspenseful book, and you’ll enjoy that feel-good ending.

[Dale · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Real Stinker

Originally Published in 1953.

Tom Kedrick is a professional soldier who doesn't have a war to fight in right now. But, he has been hired by an acquaintance to lead a crew of hired guns to clear out a group of horse thieves and ne'er do wells from a big parcel of land that is opening up for settlement.

But, when Kedrick arrives the whole thing just doesn't feel right so he starts to nose around some on his own. When Kedrick checks out his opponents, he discovers that they are settlers with families, not thieves and Kedrick is sure that things are not the way that he was told when he was hired on...

This is, by far, the worst Louis L'Amour book that I have read and it is my understanding that it was one of his first. The beginning of the book is dreadfully slow and L'Amour adds characters at a furious rate throughout the book. There must be at least 40 named characters in this 188 page book and most of them deliver only a line or two and then just disappear from the story or are killed off.

My 1953 edition had 188 pages and I quit after 120 pages. I just couldn't stand it any longer.

I rate this book 1 star out of 5.

[James Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Man Can Make a Difference.

The storyline is about Indian Bureau corruption and voter fraud, highlighting this above-average Western by one of the best authors in the business. It shows the government rarely has the citizens best interests in mind and the necessity of checks and balances to prevent harm to others.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the range wars of New Mexico, Tom Kedrick is hired to drive the outlaws out of the territory off government lands set aside for the Indians. He soon learns that he might be on the wrong side in a swindle.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early L'Amour originally written under the pen-name of Jim Mayo. Man is hired to run out some squatters but quickly realizes he is on the wrong side. This early book is not quite up to the standards that L'Amour would later set, but it is still fairly good. Recommended to western fans.

[Judge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this one. Only drawback I found was there were a lot of characters that I felt were added in rather quickly. At times I was a little a loss for who was who on some of the minor characters. Besides that, it was another good Louis L'Amour book.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A L'Amour book is always a great read, but this is the first one I've finished in less than 24 hours.

While the author gets most of his praise for the Sacketts novels, he really cemented his reputation early on with other novels like this one. Probably his most famous book outside the Sacketts series is Hondo, which was later adapted into a John Wayne film.

Here, the author brings out a time near the end of the 'Old West' when the first and second wave of pioneers had to deal with large cattle companies that stole their homes out from under them. For a real-life description of what happened then, look up just about anything on the Johnson County War or Range Wars in general. It's a real punch in the gut, so be prepared.

Tom Kendrick reads like a hero, but he is a pretty good representative of the men that inhabited the West back then. Self-sufficient and tough, but looking for something that even they don't quite understand themselves. It still happens today, but there are far fewer frontiers than 140 years ago.

The two female leads, Connie Duane and Sue Laine, are (IMHO) excellent examples of how women should be written. They are just as self-reliant and tough as the men, but rely more on their powers of observation than punching someone in the face. That doesn't make them any less dangerous, as one of the villains discovered near the end of the book. Never underestimate a woman!

The rest of the cast is just as well-written with even some of the toughest bad guys realizing that there are some lines you don't cross. A few of them make it out alive to (hopefully) show up in future books.

This novel could have easily ended at page 160, but L'Amour gives us another twenty pages with a twist that I honestly never saw coming. It seems outrageous at first, but makes complete sense by the end.

A must-read for fans of L'Amour, Westerns, and anyone else who just loves a good book. It might even be even a perfect novel for a rainy afternoon.

FIND IT! BUY IT! READ IT!

[Martha Swiercz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may be a little blunt with this review since this was the first book I've read from Louis L'Amour. However, I will say that this wasn't the best starting choice. I've never even read a Western-themed book, so this was also something new.

At best, this book was very barebones. I barely had any idea what was going on, and scenes went by way too quickly to have any authentic development. As for the characters, there are too many of them, even for short story standards, and most of them feel one-dimensional and have no real significance whatsoever. For that matter, they seem to be pretty indecisive on what side of the white-gray scale they're on, which confuses the conflict even further. Now, don't get me wrong. Having a western with morally ambiguous characters is a neat concept, but it barely works here, as the characters tend to switch sides a lot, sometimes for no real reason. I could get what L'Amour was trying to go for, but had there been some moral consistency between the characters, this could've worked better.

In summary, this was an ok story for what it was. It's definitely not L'Amour's best work but probably not the worst either. It's probably the type of book I'd read if I'm in the American Southwest, granted it's associated with the Wild West, which was L'Amour's specialty. Either way, I wouldn't mind reading L'Amour's other books for a change, particularly "Conagher," which I heard is fantastic, possibly even L'Amour's magnum opus.

[Pat Mettler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great story that allows for a lot of action while also having room for a well fleshed out plot and setting. I especially loved the way the ending was set up. Probably one of L’amours better novels that I’ve read.

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story. L'amour deserves the following he has. If I knew more about guns, some of this would make more sense to me. I just can't tell, from a description of the guns they carry, which fighter has the advantage. This was fun, and the next time I'm in the mood for some light reading, I may pick up another L'amour.

I finally borrowed this book from a friend, since I couldn't find it in bookstores. I'm about halfway through. So far, so good. Never having read a western before, I was surprised to find that the plot reminds me of other authors I've read--a little romance, a little political intrigue, a little adventure, and a LOT more gunfighting than I'm used to.

[Deborah Boutwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this one and quickly realized that it was the same story as Showdown at the Hogback. I like the narrator for that version better than this one.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed a dose of a good western tale to listen to while butchering a deer. I knew I couldn't go wrong with a Louis L'Amour story.

[Ted Cartier · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very slow paced western. Not up to Louis L'amours usual level

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is the first "western" novel I've read; I chose it because I was looking for a story set in New Mexico to read on a trip to the Land of Enchantment. Published in 1953, this was just the second book by L'Amour, who wrote more than 120 across his career.

The story involves gun-for-hire Captain Tom Kedrick, who is an expert marksman and also possesses finely honed tactical fighting skills, all gained across his experiences as a soldier in three wars on three continents. He's been hired by the partners in a shady real estate syndicate to lead a small band of ruffians in a seemingly straightforward mission: to forcibly remove squatters from a large parcel of land the syndicate is maneuvering to purchase. Kedrick has a strong moral compass and soon comes to realize that the men who've hired him are bad and deceitful, and that his sympathies lie with the so-called squatters. He follows his instincts; violence ensues. There's also a love story subplot. The action is set in the northwestern corner of New Mexico a decade or so after the end of the Civil War.

The quality of the writing is quite good. The story is efficiently plotted, and L'Amour has an apparent talent for creating unique, believable characters with brief but vivid descriptions and colorful dialogue. He's also adept at describing the natural landscape.

I enjoyed the book and came away with two unexpected observations. First, the plot structure is very much like that of a certain kind of modern crime novel: a brave loner with elite skills comes to town and inserts himself into a conflict, assisting the underdog good guys in their battle to defeat the bullies. Second, and more surprising, the novel struck me as anti-capitalist: the squatters' settlement comes off as a sort of socialist paradise, and it's the ruthlessly rapacious capitalists who turn out to be the bad guys.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read western genre and thought I would give it a try. Of course when I say western genre, I mean the older versions. I have read most of the Longmire books and other books written with a western theme but took place in a more modern time frame.
I figured Louis L'Amour would be the author to read if I was going to read a western. I found this book a good book. It had all you would expect in a western: gun fights, greed, love of a beautiful woman and jealousness from another woman, etc. The author had a lot of characters and at first I had a hard time keeping track of who they were and if they were good guys or not so good. But that changed as the story took hold.
In books that have fight scenes in them, I normally scan through the fight scenes. In L'Amour's book, I found I missed something integral in doing that and read them. They read like a movie being played. I could quite visualize and rout for the good guys in the gun fights and be disappointed when they didn't win, which they didn't always.
I do recommend this book. It is short and is a good read. Yes, I will try another one down the road.
On a side note, I read a little about Mr L'Amour on his Wiki page and found he was born on the same date as I was. Interesting. I also found he was a prolific writer and was the writer of several books made into movies that I have seen and loved.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 1953 standalone western by author Louis L'Amour, writing as Jim Mayo. Veteran soldier Tom Kendrick was recruited in New Orleans to come to New Mexico and remove a group of outlaws, drifters and squatters from a large parcel of land being sold by the government. On site, Kendrick finds conditions different than what was described to him. Rather than a swamp, the land is dry high desert and is occupied by subsistence farmers, some having settled there for over 10 years. Kendrick switches sides and when the dust settles, the chief speculator has vanished. This leads to a second story arc concerning the mysterious rider of a mouse colored mustang. An enjoyable read.

Tom Kedrick earned his stripes during the Civil War, fought Apaches, and even soldiered overseas. But in the high desert country of New Mexico, the battle-hardened Kedrick is entangled in a different kind of war, fueled by greed and deception. Hired by Alton Burwick's group to drive a pack of renegades and outlaws off the government land recently set aside for an Indian reservation, Kedrick begins to notice that things are not as they seem. As his suspicions grow, he realizes that he may be fighting on the wrong side of a land swindle. Disillusioned and outraged, Kedrick must take action against the very people who hired him–or be forced to witness the bloody massacre of innocent men and women.

[John Reis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Kedrick has been hired by Alton Burdick to run off squatters on a piece of land he plans to purchase from the government. Kedrick is accosted in town and snubbed by a beautiful woman, Connie Duane, who catches his eye. That sets him wondering. He also wonders about a grulla mustang he sees in the area now and then.

He and his men-mostly murderers- head to Yellow Butte to scout out the squatters, who try to kill him when he enters the town alone. They are not squatters and rustlers, but farmers and ranchers. He concludes he is on the wrong side. He hides out in the mountains for several days before making it back to Mustang.

Tom is ambushed when he heads out again to Yellow Butte. He is gravely wounded; the rest of his party killed. He is hidden in a cave for several weeks by a friend, Laredo Shad.

When he finally returns to Mustang, he learns Burdick has hired more men and sent them out again. Kedrick must act.

The book becomes quite confusing. We learn the names of many of Burdick’s men and those in Yellow Butte. There are just too many names.

After all of the fighting is done, the search for Burdick is on.

[Ward G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice ride into the west.
One thing L'amour always seemed good at.
Is painting a landscape in your mind. Using only a brief amount of space to do it.

We have the main character getting into a position. Does he keep working for the men that hired him.
As things come to light or join the people on the other side.
That seem to be more on the side of right. In what was going on.

Has some traditional western themes.
Land based power struggle.
Outlaws, fast gunmen, and nice detail to the landscape and setting.

Usually having one mystery element.
A secret rider, a character with hidden agendas or secret past.
One of the things that took this down a star for me however.
Happened to be part of that.
The mystery character revealed, at the end.
I just could not accept. After the build up, for the unknown rider.
In contrast with the person it turned out to be.
Just do not see it as being possible.

Other than that, a decent western tale.

[Sean Cozart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Kedrick served his country in many wars against the world. When he is hired to drive off "outlaws, renegades and squatters" off of land designated for an Indian reservation, he investigates the problem and realizes he might be fighting for the wrong side.

I'm not saying this was a bad book but it's definitely not my favorite. There's not much I can say about this except it's pretty generic. Typical military veteran, bright and quick thinking. Several smart, tough and independent woman, mob boss antagonist with rolls of fat and hired guns with big tough guy attitudes. Predictable ending and overall, I'd rate this a four-star at the most.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the entire book is the previous L'Amour novel I read makes me wonder if the Mrs. Taggart in this novel is the Mrs. Taggart.

[Josh Galbraith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, and I think I would have rated it a 4 if I hadn't just read a really good book hat was a strong 5. I liked that the main character had notable strengths and weaknesses. Westerns can tend to have hero main characters- exceptional at everything- and can stroke your ego if you feel you relate. This one, I loved the main, and felt we could be friends, and it was fine that we had differences. It made it feel better because it wasn't a false egotism, but a character who felt real.

This book also did a nice job at making small deviations from the obvious path and that kept it interesting too.

Over all I think I'd recommend this book more than the last two (Where the long grass grows, and last stand at papago wells) if someone already liked westerns and wanted something a little fresh.

[Cindy Harvell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed that this book was so confusing, had flat characters and a storyline that was twisted to such a degree. It is loaded with characters who showed up, stood around and twiddled their thumbs and then left. Reading the other reviews I see that I wasn't the only one to get lost, and that this book was one of the first L.L. wrote under his own name. This book apparently was just practice for some of his truly great books. I am so glad it wasn't the first I ever read. I gave it one star because it is a lousy book but considering it was one of his first's I will give him an A for effort. From a true Louis L'Amour fan, if you are starting out with this particular story, don't be fooled, this man knows how to write and this is just one of more than a hundred. It should have been burned but it's still 20 times better than most of the crappy westerns in print.

[Honza Prchal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The property and Congressional influence peddling angle make this a lot of fun, and it's one of L'Amour's most woman-centered books, with three very different visions of women standing up for themselves, and one setting herself up early for the role of villain even though she generally presents bloodshed. It's intriguing ... and yet ... the combat scenes were not as good as they sometimes are and the descriptions of the landscape were, while still far, FAR better than those of most writers, not up to L'Amour's very, VERY high bar.
Perhaps if I were familiar with this particular landscape, it could come alive for me, as other books have, but I actually think his descriptive writing here is weaker than it usually is.

[Kaylee Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read 97% of L'Amour's work, I can say that this one is fairly well detailed with clean cut characters. It carries excitement through the book, mainly in thr conclusion. His endings are known for being extremely concise in a page or two and pretty openeded so long as there is justice.
Not one of his better pieces in my opinion. Too many characters are included with a few unclear character judgments like Sue Laine.
Intriguing way to build the action when everything was going on at once. Sort of worked but some puzzle pieces were not very clear ultimately.
Overall a good reason but not one of his memorable ones.

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains one of the most gentlemanly western shootouts I've ever read. Polite conversation as they shot one another, the winner poured the loser one last whisky drink, and then the loser even shook hands with the winner before he died. I'm actually genuinely impressed that it didn't read as ridiculous, but instead came across as very, very cool.

The overall plot left me a bit confused, but I think that's largely due to me having a bit of audiobook burnout, and thus I struggled keeping up with the large cast. The shootout and the twist at the end make it all worth it, though. This is one of the good ones!

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed spending an easy Saturday morning reading this book. I love a story with a good clean fight and a solid hero to save the day. I admit it. I like happy endings, and I like morally honest and generally decent heroes as the main characters. I think this is one of the reasons people really like and continue to read this authors prolific number of books. Another thing I like about these books is that villains are generally given a chance to turn around and start a new life, to turn away from what they’re doing wrong. If they don’t, justice is usually Swift.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I read a l’amour novel and I was pleasantly surprised by the world-building and characters. Of course, there’s plenty of action. I found myself caring about the main character, the larger-than-life Tom Kedrick. The secondary characters, too, had believable backstories and interesting quirks that moved the story forward. It struck me that L’amour is as much a world-builder as any sci-fi or fantasy writer. His world has a moral code that probably still influences boomers.