The Cherokee Trail: A Novel

by Louis L'Amour

A woman ahead of her time, Mary Breydon knew how to get things done. Raised on a Virginia plantation, she learned how to care for livestock, respect her workers, and keep good books. But after her husband is killed, Mary must provide for her young daughter by running a stage coach station on the Cherokee Trail. With the help of an Irish maid and a mysterious stranger, Mary faces challenges that even the men eagerly anticipating her failure would have a difficult time overcoming. After firing the previous station manager with the aid of a bullwhip, she must track down stolen horses, care for a wayward boy, and defend against Indians. If that wasn’t enough, she also has to protect herself from the man who murdered her husband—and is coming for Mary next.

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

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1982

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

[Eva-Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5

OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST LOUIS L'AMOUR BOOKS EVER.

For those who dislike the fact that there are so few good female characters in the Western genre (you know who you are!), take heart. The main character in this book is a woman and she. is. the. BOSS. (Literally, figuratively, and everything else.) There's also an awesome side character - Matty - who's Irish and amazing. The women in this book are the some of the best female western characters I've ever 'met'. <3

(The guys in this book are amazing, too.)

READ THIS BOOK.

[Laur · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read the jacket, the story is all there, and it’s a good one that doesn’t disappoint!

Strong, intelligent, and believable female character(s) who stand up to danger, prejudice, and dangerous men with their own agenda who want this station master dead and gone.

Really enjoyed this…. made my favorites list! ❤️

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Western book I have ever read. In this day and age, they tend to seem passé, but I'll tell you what: not only did I love it, but it was refreshing, a welcome change of pace, and a story that made me cheer out loud several times. The emotional connection to these characters is strong, and almost immediate. I think part of that has to do with the situation they find themselves in--they're really on their own, and it is very much 'sink or swim.'

One of the things that enamors me to the Western genre is that it fits into a very real historical niche in American history...yet leaves so much potential for adventure and world-building--a term most often used for fantasy. And this is fantasy, of a sort, though without the wizards and dragons and made-up kingdoms. I mean that in a totally good way. In the mid-1800s, the American East coast was settled, well-defined, and totally ho-hum. But the fabled West...man, can't you feel adventure calling? Wild, rugged countryside. Unexplored lands as far as the eye can see. Who knows what is lurking out there, waiting to be discovered. Danger and beauty, luck and ill fortune, triumph and heartbreak, all of it waiting there for you. Every man - and every woman has a chance to remake her- or himself, if they have the drive and the strength to do it.

Now, admittedly, I'm no expert on Westerns, but from the stories I've heard about and the movies I've watched, most of the time it's a boy's club. Stories about some legendary cowboy and his sidekick up against bandits and Indians and what-have-you. That's not surprising, I guess. But this story caught my attention because the protagonist is female, and she isn't just some warrior woman from page 1, either; she's a high-society belle from Virginia, recently widowed, coming to a stage station along the Cherokee Trail in Colorado to take up the position given to her recently-departed husband. And she has her young daughter along for the ride. In my experience, this isn't your typical Western protagonist. And even better is the character development that Mary Breydon undergoes throughout this story. From the very first scene she's introduced, she kicks a*$ and takes names, and it is so awesome to behold! It did not seem like a tired cliché, and did not seem dated in the least. It felt, again, refreshing. This book was written in the early 1980s, about a time period 120 years further back into the past, a time when women were arguably respected in some ways, but not in ways that acknowledged them as equals. Mary has to fight, hard, for everything in her life, and does she ever fight! At first she wonders what she's doing out here in the middle of nowhere, she misses her life, and the talk of art and culture and popular music and world events...very similar to the same things someone of our age might miss if they too were stuck somewhere very remote with little contact to the outside world. That is yet another thread of connection between Mary, and the reader. She misses that old life...but as time goes by...she grows into the new life she is creating for herself, for her daughter Peg, and their newfound family of misfits.

Because this book was written over thirty years ago, and again because it was written about a time even further back, I had expected some of the stereotypical damsel in distress nonsense. To my utter delight, there was none. Not a bit. Mary doesn't cower, she doesn't shy away from what needs to be done like shooting dumb old Luther Scant after horsewhipping him doesn't teach him a lesson enough! Go, Mary!! Every time there was a situation where there might have been a stereotypical response like when Peg and Wat were bumbling around in the woods and ran into Luther...I felt sure Peg would be kidnapped and taken away...instead she helps roll rocks down the hill to defeat the bad guy! L'amour pleasantly surprised me and gave his female characters the strength and gumption that they usually lack in stories such as this.

The other characters were enjoyable as well. Matty was another strong female character in her own right - not only is there one in this story, there are two! - and a woman even farther away from home than Mary (Matty comes from Ireland, heading West to seek her own fortune). I was really concerned that Matty was going to get killed near the end...I thought I could send it in the way L'amour was playing up emotional sympathy for her character, her sage advise, wise beyond her years; her talk of her dreams to own a little piece of land with some forest and stream; the way she sponsored a gold miner with her entire savings in return for a third of his mining profits...I felt sure she was a goner. But she wasn't! Which made me very happy.

Boone is the drifter type, one I gather is fairly common in these types of stories. He comes and goes, has his own agenda, yet always seems to be nearby when he's needed. But in this story, although he is the legendary cowboy, he very much plays second fiddle to Mary (not to mention Matty!)

The story itself was very engaging. Again, for those of you who have read a lot more Westerns than I have, I can see how some of the plots might start to seem recycled after a while, but they're interesting, and engaging, and can make for a lot of excitement if done well. I was completely invested in Mary's struggles to make a name for herself in what is very much a man's world...the character development was a joy to watch...and I really felt like I was right there with them. It was a dangerous, hard life...but a good life, too. The story ended all too soon for me. Yes, the whole ending with Denver Cross and all that did seem extremely rushed and almost anticlimactic, but I was more interested in Mary and the events at Cherokee station than I was in the scheming of the bad guys, anyway. I was fine with getting that part out of the way so that these characters could go on with their lives. The characters were so vivid, so real to me, that I think a lot about what happened next to them, after the events of the story. Even in the West, the times were changing; the railroad was only a few years away, and with it with come even more change. Their lives would never be the same. Yet there was potential for more adventure, more exploration, more growth. And I'd like to think that Mary, Peg, Matty, and Wat were at the forefront of it, in the land that they came to love and call home.

This was an excellent read and I know I will think about these characters for a long time to come. I'll definitely go back and re-read this again sometime to visit them again.

[*Stani* · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story tells a tale of a wealthy plantation owner’s daughter - Marie, whose life changes dramatically when her father’s plantation gets robbed and burned to the ground during the civil war.

She travels west with her daughter and her husband, who decided to accept the position of a stage coach manager. When her husband gets killed by the guy who destroyed her father’s plantation, her resolve to manage the stage coach and bring her husband’s killer to justice only intensifies.

The life on the frontier wasn’t easy - there definitely was a 1000 way to die. Marie fights to make something of her life with her daughter, far away from the place she knew and grew up, while running a tough business and fighting bad guys along the way.

The supporting characters really made this story - from the Irish young made that helps Marie at the stage coach, the orphan who gets hired on and becomes part of the family, to the dark and handsome stranger, who surprisingly hangs out around the stage coach a lot since Marie moved in.

[Shatrujeet Nath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one treads the familiar and formulaic trail of a Louis L'Amour Western, but the good bit is it has a woman protagonist for a change. The story is about Mary Breydon, a widow who comes to run a stage station on the Cherokee Trail. This is strictly a man's job in a country that is rough and wild, filled with native Indian raiders and outlaws of every conceivable hue. Yet Mary does a more than competent job running the station with the help of an Irish woman named Matty, a young boy named Wat, and Temple Boone, a dark, lonely drifter who is also great with the gun. The story is quite simple: Mary falls afoul of local never-do-wells, and to add to it, the man who killed her husband is now running for governorship of Colorado, and Mary can seriously harm his prospects, so he needs her out of the way. There's the usual ambushes and gunfights, and needless to say it all ends well. In fact, not once do we get the sense that Mary may not be able to get out of trouble this time, and that is one of the failings of this book. The good guys win, the bad guys lose, end of story. What I liked about the book were the authors musings (through the characters of Mary and Boone) on the kind of people who built the American West with their bare hands, and how different the American West was to New England with its rich plantations, its politics, its traditions and its ballroom parties. Mary, who has come west after her father's plantations in Virginia were destroyed by the Civil War, is an interesting character who wants to return to Virginia, but as the story progresses, we see her settling into the job of running the station and contemplating a life in this rugged land of opportunity. In Mary, L'Amour has a character who shows the grit and determination (and the grace) that made the American West so unique and rewarding. All in all, a decent read with 1 extra star for Mary Breydon.

[Rosalind · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has a woman protagonist, need I say more? I love Mary Breydon's spunk and courage as she attempts to make a living for herself and her daughter after her husband is killed. After reading novels where women were perceived as weak and needing to be protected, it was great to see a woman buck that mindset and be successful at it.

One of the first novels I read by L'Amour and it helped to make me into a true Louis L'Amour fan.

[Amber Voskuil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A widow and her young daughter take over the running of a stage station despite the harshness of the west and the men who live there…
Excellent story.. The ending was a bit abrupt but still solid. I think i liked this one better than Ride the River..

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dad was a big Louis L’Amour fan so I decided to try it. It was a fun read with great characters

[Katie Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

The characters are FABULOUS, but the writing style didn't grab me like some of his other books (To Tame a Land, The Daybreakers) do. I like L'Amour best when he writes in the first person. This story is 3rd-person, it's a more "removed" POV, and that's just not my favorite kind.

Howeverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. That being said, MARY BREYDON IS A GLORIOUS AND WONDROUS HEROINE AND ALL SHALL BOW BEFORE HER.

Far too many Western novels (and this is true even of many of L'Amour's stories) treat women as either side players, or stereotypes, or both. They aren't allowed the spotlight, and they aren't allowed their own uniquenesses. Not so with Mary Breydon.

She's her own person entirely, with a distinct voice and perspective and set of goals. This story is about HER. Not about any of the men around her. She comes West to take over her dead husband's job, and nobody believes she can do it . . . but that doesn't stop her; and in the end, she proves herself more than competent. And that's her triumph, that's everything she wanted for now. She's not interested in a new husband, and the narrative doesn't force her to take one. Romance is an entirely peripheral concern here. Which I approve of. 100%.

I'm not saying that Temple Boone isn't a pretty cool dude, or that I don't see him and Mary possibly developing a romance in the future--sure, I do--but the key to this story is that Mary doesn't want one YET, and neither does he, honestly. They're two fiercely independent adults, each carving out their own path. Some day, those paths may converge. But there's time enough for that later on. No need to rush it.

So thank you, Louis L'Amour, for not rushing it :-) And thank you for telling the story of a strong, independent woman without trying to force her into a box she doesn't fit.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you ever get tired of the world we live in today? With all the stress of day-to-day life compounded with news of how bad the economy is, no end in sight, terrorism, crisis after crisis, etc. don't you just want to hide in a little cubby hole and not come out until it's over? Well if that sort of day ever comes your way then I heartily suggest a good western novel by Louis L'Amour. I've just completed Cherokee Trail and it took me to another place and time that somehow made our current predicaments fade away, at least for a while. I've probably read 40-50 of L'Amour's novels now, interspersing them throughout all of my other reading and I just never get tired of them.

Cherokee Trail is about a widow who takes over the management of a stagecoach stop in northern Colorado during the years of the Civil War back east. She is a very strong female character and it is a pleasure to see how she copes with the wildness of the times in a man's world and succeeds with her business. Now these novels will not win a Pulitzer prize, of course, but I don't read them for their literary merit. But I am impressed with L'Amour's knowledge of western life and I think he gets short shrift by historical purists who often discard his research and consequently his novels as "typical westerns." Yes, there are some cliched characters, the gun fighters, the ranchers, the stage operators, etc. but his protagonist displays the same sense of honor and courage that we find in all of his novels. And that's why I read them. I can always count on them to be what they are. I don't expect more or less than a good ol' fashioned western.

[Elisabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, dear.

I'm going to say 1.5 stars because I can't rate it as low as the worst L'Amour I ever read (The Proving Trail). But I'm afraid this wasn't one of Mr. L'Amour's brightest moments. To be fair, the concept for the story was great, but the writing seemed very jerky and disconnected; a lot of the dialogue overly-stilted and merely serving as an excuse for the characters to philosophize or discourse on things like weapons or other practical details of Western life. Too many unexplained coincidences in the plot—it seemed unlikely that so many people who recognized each other would have all ended up in the same place hundreds of miles from Virginia.

The read head-scratcher, though, is the plethora of little inconsistencies and downright contradictions that make one wonder if an editor ever even glanced at L'Amour's books by this point. For example, one character initially says his father was from the Isle of Man and his mother was Danish...later he says he can't remember anything about his family except that his father was a farmer (and then proceeds to describe their journey on the Oregon Trail)...and still later, says that his mother was a Highland Scot and that he can remember the name of the ship on which his first ancestor came over! Too many similar things like this in the book to count. It got very confusing after a while when the murder of Mary's husband was described in several different ways, and you couldn't figure out whether she had actually been there or in that case, how the murderer had never seen her.

I'm afraid I breathed a sigh of relief when I got to the end of this one.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only a strong will, hard work, and support from gunslinger Temple Boone allow Mary Bredyon control over the toughest stagecoach station in Colorado. When Civil War guerillas guilty of murdering her husband reappear, Mary must defend her life and home.

Decent book. For a Western it had a strong female lead. The ending could have been more exciting and parts of it were far-fetched but overall a good story.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was amazed after the readings of the Virginian by Wistler and discussion in my Westerns class @ Ashland University for the MAGH program, taught by Prof. Chris Burkett on Civilization and what does it mean to be civilized.
I really enjoyed it again for the subject material that I discovered while reading it.
Recommend reading for Goverment class to introduce the major ideals behinde our ideals.

[Kacey Nielsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

my first by this author. book club read. very simple writing and very repetitive narration, but overall an interesting story. I would like to read one of his books with a man as the lead character because I don't really feel like he nailed a feminine mindset/voice and may do better with a guy. but an enjoyable little escape book.

[Summer Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, solid western story: a little action, a little romance, and an assortment of colorful characters. Probably one of my favorite plot lines....I like seeing a tough western woman prove everybody wrong! ;)

[John Reis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This takes place during the Civil War. Mary Breydon has settled into managing the stagecoach station that her husband had been hired to manage before he had been killed by Jason Flandreau. She is beautiful and capable. Her young daughter Peg is with her. Also, Matty, a passenger on an earlier stage who has agreed to cook for her. And Wat, who is about ten years old, agrees to be a general helper. Temple Boone works for the stagecoach company but has settled in at Mary’s station.

The old station manager Scant Luther steals some horses, but she retrieves them.

Boone warns her that Jason Flandreau now lives in the territory and has aspirations to be governor. Once he discovers she is in the area she will be a target.

One day, a small Indian tribe arrives and demands Mattie feed them. She handles it and makes friends in the process.

Wat takes Peg arrowhead hunting and they run into Scant who is prowling around the station.

A raiding party of Indians runs off her spare team of stage horses. She seeks out help from a local rancher.

The story is quick and action filled. It has great characters, especially Mary and Mattie.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

This was the book that they based the tv series Five Mile Creek on, and yes, the book is better! I really enjoyed reading about Mary and Matty and Peg, Wat and Temple Boone and Ridge. Characters from a world of the west. Love this kind of story.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first L'Amour, was fun but not very well edited, there were a few inconsistencies and quite a lot of repetition however the core story was entertaining and surprisingly progressive for an old pulp. This one was near the end of L'Amour's career so I would like to try an earlier one next.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would rank this one higher on my list of Louis L’amore books. I feel like this is what a strong female character should look like, not like whatever they try to put in movies nowadays. My only reservation was that I wish the ending was flushed out a little more, it’s pretty much ends right after the main conflict is resolved. I just wished it would have given some more detail and closure.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, I really think that this is a pretty good western; if you like westerns I recommend you give it a shot. But for me I don't enjoy this well-worn genre and have pretty much given up on learning to really enjoy books from it lol.

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book, it was a good, serious and fun at times Western read.

[Mascha · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If it were a man running this station, he’d be expected to stay. Wouldn’t he?”

Another great Louis Lamour with a strong female character ! Ain’t no damsels in distress here !

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters that I really cared about, an engaging story, and a lot of fun. Perhaps a little more of a denouement would have been nice, but it's pretty solid as is.

[Kim Savage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not really a big Louis Lamour fan. His writing style isn’t something I really appreciate. But…I was needing an easy read and the idea of this storyline was pretty good. I also like the way he incorporates historical facts into his stories. There’s some pretty good tidbits throughout.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. One thing that was so great about it is that romance wasn’t forced upon the main character (a recent widow). This book had a true to life simplicity and strength about it that I really loved. Definitely recommend if you’re wanting a western with a female main character.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman stage coach station manager, an enemy from her past, a gold shipment, and a wild Colorado Territory during the height of the Civil War make for one unique and riveting western tale. Louis L’Amour entertains with his lone, male hero westerns, but he excels at the courageous, tough women on a few occasions he tackled.

Mary Breydon’s Virginia plantation was burned down in the war and her husband killed when he left the army to go west for a job. She has nothing left, but to pack up a few things, take up her young daughter Meg, and convince the Overland Stage Manager that she has what it takes to do the job of overseeing Cherokee Station in spite of her skirts.
The task is daunting from the outset as she must roust out the previous station manager and his ne’er do well cronies, clean up the mess he left, and track down the stolen stage horses all while feeding the stage passengers and getting the stage horses changed and back on the trail to their next stop. Mary is shrewd and sees the potential in the unlikely people she chooses to help her get operational and being the best on the line- an Irish woman, an orphan boy, a quiet man, and a crusty old guy.
Stacked against her are the disgruntled former station boss, outlaws in the hills, and a murdering enemy from her past.

L’Amour mostly wrote with male lead characters, but there are a few excellent exceptions and The Cherokee Trail is one of them. He wrote Mary Breydon with an interesting backstory that gave her the skills to do what she did and he wrote her as gracious, strong lady who had stubborn moments, and vulnerabilities. In fact, he wrote a more layered character in Mary than most of his usual stories and I was down with that.

The surrounding cast, particularly at the station, were a great team of misfits I enjoyed seeing in action and helping Mary. She has a gunfighter shyly being of assistance, but she fights her own battles for the most part. The old man who claims he fights shy of trouble, but he happily hauls out his old buffalo gun when the bullets start flying. Then there is spirited Mattie who confronts a party of Indians and makes friends, Watt the young boy who does a man’s job and wants a family and home, and then little Meg who fits right into the new life they lead.

The villains were men it was a pleasure seeing get their comeuppance, but not always in the usual way of gun battles or fist fights. It was also fun to see Mary visiting the local rich rancher and businessman during his party and surprising those there because they assumed about the ‘woman running the station’ and discovered they had a southern belle who had entertained aristocrats from all over Europe and powerful elite of DC.

Only one niggle was that I felt the story ended abruptly leaving me wondering what came next for Mary and the others. I could guess, but she was confronted with the decision to stay out west or go rebuild back east after the war and she was confronted with friendships she shared with some good men, but was still mourning her husband. Curious minds want to know…

Carrington MacDuffie was a new to me narrator, but I sure did enjoy the soft southern voice she gave Mary and her equally original voices for the men to distinguish them alone with Mattie’s Irish and the children’s voices. I hope to discover more of her work.

All in all, a satisfying western adventure that I have no doubt will be a re-listen. Loved the history, the thoughtful moments, backdrop, and heroine with her adventure. Definitely recommend to western fiction lovers, but also those who enjoy seeing women spotlighted in historical fiction.

I rec'd an digital audio copy from Penguin Random House Audio to listen to in exchange for an honest review.


My full review will post at The Reading Frenzy Aug 15th.

[Jessica Snell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What was I doing in my adolescence, reading all my parents' Georgette Heyers, and none of their Louis L'Amour's?

This is brilliant story-telling. I want to say, "nothing special", except excellent story-telling *is* special, no matter where you find it.

I was hooked from the beginning. I enjoyed every page. Really, what more can you ask for?

This is a wonderful tale. Enjoyable from beginning to end.

[Harry Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'Amour is the best of Western writers IMHO, unless you count Hillerman as a western writer rather than a mystery writer. In any case, L'Amour makes his characters matter to you as a reader, and keeps the plot moving at a good clip. In this novel, his protagonist is a woman who has to make it in a man's world, and does so due to pluck, luck and an unusual set of skills.

[Ed Laundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The great thing about a good western is htat they never become dated. This onew has a very unlikely hero, or should I say heroine. Not many of L'Amour's book have a female star. A fun read to just relax with on a hot summer day.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second Louie L'Amour book that I've read and I must say I enjoyed the story. A strong woman character with tales of the west woven so well, that I wish this story had a sequel. I found a treasure in this author's words.