Last Stand at Papago Wells: A Novel

by Louis L'Amour

It was the only water for miles in a vast, sun-blasted desert where water meant survival. So Logan Cates naturally headed for Papago Wells. But he wasn’t the only one. Fleeing the fierce Churupati and his Apache warriors, other travelers had come there too. And when the Apaches found them, they began a siege as relentless and unforgiving as the barren land…and just as inescapable. The last thing Cates wanted was to be responsible for the lives of thirteen desperate strangers and a shipment of gold. But he knew that if they were to survive, he was their last chance. He also knew that some in the party were willing to die—or kill—to get their hands on the money. If he couldn’t get them to work together, it wouldn’t be the desert or even the Apaches that would do them in—it would be the greed of the very people he was trying to save.

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

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1957

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

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If he had learned one thing from life it was to keep his guns loaded, his canteen full, to eat when there was food and to sleep when there was time. A man never knew what would happen, and it was best to be ready." -- the thoughts of protagonist Logan Cates, on page 24

Last Stand at Papago Wells takes a general plot outline that is sort of reminiscent of a few other L'Amour books - Shalako and/or Taggart immediately come to mind - and again uses it well for a lean and mean action/adventure-drama tale set on the American western frontier. It's the 1870's (the U.S. Civil War is a recent memory, plus a character brandishes a then-popular Winchester '73 rifle) in the untamed and sun-beaten desert of Arizona, and quiet loner Logan Cates - one of those frequent jack-of-all-trades L'Amour heroes, having previously worked as a cowboy, buffalo hunter, U.S. Army scout, stagecoach teamster, and small town lawman - finds himself quickly being the elected alpha-male in charge of a disparate group of strangers (including an eloping couple, a kind-hearted young cowhand, two wanted men on the run, a quartet of battle-weary cavalry soldiers, and an eccentric older woman with a secret or two) who are pinned down for several days at a watering hole by a roving squad of bloodthirsty Apache warriors. I did not quite agree with the too-perfect conclusion - involving Mother Nature neatly wiping the slate clean, so to speak, and another character arriving from off-stage with some offers almost too good to be believed - but for the most part L'Amour's established dependable / descriptive writing style delivered on the entertainment value.

[Eva-Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The TENSION.

[J.D. Sutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved revisiting this classic western!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louis L'Amour was a big part of my childhood and I appreciate him for helping excite me to read and value stories. So my four star rating is in (large?) part due to nostalgia.

Last Stand at Papago Wells is one of my favorites because L'Amour deviates slightly from the Western pulp formula. There are flashes of very nice pulp writing and some interesting characterization and passages about the landscape and history that seem to push against Western myths a bit. Chapter 2 seems particularly interesting in how it sets up the characters and how they come together at the well. The harsh and desperate tone, coupled with some melodrama, gave this story an almost noirish quality that seems absent in most of the L'Amour stories I've read. The Indians aren't developed, of course, but there's a minor attempt to make them interesting and not quite stock -- this attempt doesn't really flourish past this point though, which is unfortunate, but not unexpected. Also, the real villains aren't the Indians at all. The Indians are props rather than real characters, not unlike the inquisitors in Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum," which Papago Wells bears some resemblance to in terms of confinement, tightening space, and desperation resolved through a completely unrealistic deus ex machina. Naturally the story has to ultimately finish in classic pulp Western fashion, but its subversion and containment is interesting to me. I don't know that it is as bleak as, say, The Empty Land, but it beats the affirmations found in far too many pulpy Westerns.

Pseudo-intellectual thought aside, I really just felt like some solid pulp from my childhood and this satisfied my craving perfectly.

[Greg Strandberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of several parties riding out and running into their own troubles before running into each other in the desert. At that point it becomes a matter of searching for water in the desert and staying away from the Indians, and at times, each other.

What I didn't like was that this book is 136 pages but I felt it could have been 75 and told the story just as well. For me, I just had trouble keeping track of some of the characters. Maybe if I read the book over a day or two that wouldn't be a problem, but I stretched this one over a couple weeks. I felt the main characters were pretty wooden, or cookie-cutter, and the love interest angle wasn't that convincing.

It's a simple stand-alone western and it gets the job done, which I believe is mainly to wile away the day without getting into too much trouble, are having to deal with too much accosting from the wife.

[Frank Kelso · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'Amour always writes a good western. The collection of people coming together (at Papago Wells) allowed readers to see how L'Amour let's each one's backstory foreshadow how they'd react when pushed hard--between the Indians and the lack of food--they're pushed hard.

[Clayton Roach · Rating 3 out of 5]

classic louis lamour book. predictable ending but lots of suspense and action.

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In our modern times we take much for granted, such as the fact that many of us can walk into at least two rooms in our homes and with a flick of the wrist cause water to flow freely for our use. After reading Last Stand at Papago Wells, I hope I never take that for granted again.

Papago Wells is a cluster of large lava rocks in the Arizona desert, and is the setting for this novella set well over a hundred years ago. Travelers know of every spot like Papago Wells, where a few shallow pools of water might be had if conditions are right. Not knowing the sites of these spots is quite literally the difference between life and death in the scorching, unforgiving desert. That's how a wildly diverse group of people end up at Papago Wells at the same time. They are all traveling for different reasons, but soon find themselves sheltered among the rocks surrounded by Apaches intent on murder. The various personalities, backstories and machinations of the motley assemblage - as they fight off the heat, lack of food, sinking water supply and attacking Indians - drive this taut thriller from beginning to end.

Louis L'Amour had quite a knack for setting a scene; he gives the reader get a real sense of the desperate struggle his characters are facing and how harsh life was in that part of the world at that time. Today some people "struggle" if the foam on their lattes isn't foamy enough!

As an aside, the cover of my edition (not found on Goodreads) is beautiful but has absolutely nothing to do with the story. It is a winter setting and the lead character, Logan Cates, is described in the book as not being all that handsome. This is a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice western, 1st published in '57. A cowboy, a gambler, and other associated characters end up at a group of 3 wells nine the desert, surrounded by unsavory baddies.

[Marshall Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

L’Amour, in my opinion, is the best Western writer. He wrote so many Western that many of them are formulaic, but this is one of my favorites.

[Zoe Notenboom · Rating 2 out of 5]

A whole book of filler:/

[pol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow burn, especially for a Louis L’amour novelette but it was really solid. Super suspenseful and the cast of characters was fun to picture. Ending was a little disappointing but all around good read.

[Paul F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Last Stand at Papago Wells" by Louis L'Amour is vintage L'Amour at his finest. I realize that other reviewers may disagree. What I found great about this novel was the unending tension, and the love angles. Not one, but two young women grace this novel and interact with the main character, Logan Cates and others. Both of the young women discover fire and iron inside themselves which they probably didn't know they had prior to their experience at Papago Wells. A group of dissimilar individuals, both the noble and the scoundrel types, have to work together amidst their hate for each other, in order to avoid a much worse fate, that of falling into the hands of the Apaches surrounding their redoubt. The uncertainty, the endless worry, the unrelieved fear, the strategies to defend their horses, their water, and themselves from being killed by the "Paches, or far worse, taken alive for slow fire-torture. To say this novel is a page-turner, barely does it justice. I could not put down the last 70 pages.

[Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a western that takes place in the deserts of Southwestern Arizona. An eclectic group of people converge and assemble at a desert oasis named Papago Wells. This was one of the few reliable places to obtain water. These different groups of people gravitated to Papago Wells because of recent Apache raids. Now they’ve banded together for protection from the Apache. They initially selected Logan Cates as their leader because of his experience as a Cavalry scout in this very area. However, he was not a unanimous choice and dissention in the ranks adds another impediment to their ultimate survival. Later, gold fever causes even more dissention and conflict among the travels. Periodic fights with the Apache ensue. The combat scenes are well described, as are the brutal environment conditions of the desert. In addition, the human interest stories of the various travelers adds to the readers interest in who and how these travelers will survive. A very well done western adventure.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I got my Louis L'Amour fix this week and this one certainly fulfilled its purpose: a nice quick read between more "serious" reading commitments.

Lots of characters in this one, so many that none were very well fleshed out but regardless, I quite enjoyed the story. It's actually pretty amazing how much L'Amour can pack into one small book like this but you can find many of the stereotypical western clichés here including the quiet, aloof stranger that has a need to protect folks that just don't know any better. There's also hotshot wannabes, greedy gold snatchers, romance, and a very good Indian battle that runs throughout the novel. Perhaps one of the best things I like about L'Amour's westerns is his respectful treatment of the various Native American tribes, especially the Apache and here we see them at their tactical best.

I still have a dozen or so more L'Amour books on the shelf and no plans to stop reading them.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reading through Louis L'Amour's novels in chronological sequence. He wrote 92 novels. This is my 16th one completed. I love L'Amour's writing. You can tell that he had life experience as a cowboy. But this one was not one of my favorite. It was a very different plot and style, which was refreshing, but he had too many characters with too much going on and too few pages to make it all work. The ending felt contrived and way too short. But it was still a Louis L'Amour western, so I enjoyed it. Just not as well as some of his others.

[Brynna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louis L'Amour, like Brian Jacques and P. G. Wodehouse, tends to tell the same story over and over again, with several stock convolutions. This tends to bother some people. I think it would bother me, if it weren't for the fact that the one story he tells is such a stinking good one, the kind of story you want to hear over and over and over again (the same thing goes for Mr. Jacques and Mr. Wodehouse).
This book is no exception.

[Mark Herbkersman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Louis L'Amour is the go-to for me! I last read Last Stand at Papago Wells several years back and it was as gripping this time as the first time I read it! Read of Logan Cates and his astute judgment of men...and women, as well as his wisdom in a gunbattle and in the face of opposition from his own fellow defenders. The usual strong L'Amour character - with honesty, integrity, perseverance. Incredible book!

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several groups of people of people, including hostile Apaches, converge on Papago Wells In the Arizona dessert. Soon the whites are fighting among themselves as well as with the Apache. As bodies start to fall, a treasure of gold is exposed in the possession of one of the band. Another exciting western by L'Amour.

[Scott Lyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our senses are fragile things, dainty things, occasionally trustworthy, yet always demanding of perspective. Our senses need horizons, they need gauges, they need rules by which to apply themselves, and in the sand storm there is no horizon and there are no rules. Logan Cates knew it was coming.

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. Disparate groups of travelers meet at a waterhole, pursued by Apaches. The character of each of the defenders is tried to the limit as they learn that the deadliest enemies are each other.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best Louis L'Amours that I've read in a long time. He may be old-school but this is fiction that's easy to read, doesn't cause nightmares, and will make you grateful for this country we live in.

[Ken Schloman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1957, this is a classic western that contains all the trademarks of L'Amour's craft--- classic western story, interesting characters, and fantastic description. Like any of his books, a good read for fans of the genre.

[MightySSStrawberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I’m absolutely honest, this was much closer to a 2-star read. My third star shines for the familial bias I brought to this book. My grandpa loved reading Louis L’amour, and so in loving memory I read this, his very copy from his personal library.

The 15-year-old girl who braves the Arizona desert at night to escape Apaches was my favorite character. Later she pulls a shotgun on the troublemaker of the group and threatens to blow him in half. Tough young thing who already understands what is required of her to survive the rough and merciless land of Arizona. Unlike the prissy girl running away from her daddy’s fancy, “oppressive” ranch. Of course gold is involved, along with greedy soldiers, a rogue “Clint Eastwood” type gunman, and even a sandstorm. A ragtag group facing death by dehydration and murderous Indians.

This story and its writing are nothing special. What gives this particular book any meaning to me is that it was my grandpa’s book by one of his favorite authors.

My early teen years brought me to that old 1960’s cowboy show called Bonanza. It was at my grandparents house, and I remember taping episodes on old video cassettes. My grandpa would watch it with me sometimes.

This was my first western read, and I felt some Bonanza vibes in it. If not for my grandpa I probably would never have read any westerns. I do still watch Bonanza episodes on YouTube, though. Great, wholesome show about family and virtue in the Nevada terrain.

Perhaps if not for my grandpa, I wouldn’t still be watching Bonanza today :)

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Louis L'Amour. It likely won't be my last, but I'm not sure if I need the next one to be soon.

Logan Cates is a judgmental, tough as nails, man of the desert. He and a too many other characters all find themselves trapped at a set of natural water reservoirs in Arizona. Surrounding them is a band of marauding Apaches that slowly picks the characters off, hoping to slaughter them all. Some characters want to run, others want to fight. Tensions rise.

L'Amour can write. He composes some beautiful prose in this book, especially when he's writing about the land, the weather, and other natural forces. Unfortunately, he kind of drops the ball in the characterization department with this one. Cates is pretty unlikeable. He's arrogant. Yeah, he's usually right, but he doesn't have to be such a hard nose about it. The rest of the trapped folks don't get anything more than names until L'Amour needs them to do something, like try to steal someone's gold or fight over a girl. Then, suddenly, they get some depth. One character starts out seemingly quite heroic, but it isn't until the last few pages you learn he's actually a violent gambling addict. Why conceal this? Especially because L'Amour lets the reader into this gentlemen's head multiple times before the end. It could have upped the tension from the start.

Maybe this wasn't the best of his books and I should have started with something more famous, like Hondo.

[Josh Galbraith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been revisiting my love of westerns, and this one has been my favorite so far.

I liked that the story was hard to predict and that it felt plausible. It pulled unlikely companions together into a hostile situation. The essence of each character is slowly reviled as he story progresses and the danger grows. Each character was introduced as though each was a trope. The depth and motivations for each are slowly revealed, and I felt that I knew and understood them all by the end. The main character and the girl he loved were the least interesting story thread. The rest was just great, and made up for it

The theme was something like "the brutal/ hard work of good people provides the peace and plenty for those who follow. It is easy for those who follow to judge the hard brutal actions of those who came before". An interesting thought for a time when we as a society are looking back and judging the legacies left to us on both their value and on the actions and beliefs of their creators. When is it right to judge and "cancel" and when is it wrong? I don't know personally, but it was interesting to find this same theme in a book from 50 years ago.

[Ethan Ukena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot of Last Stand at Papago Wells is that a group of people end up at a well in the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona, and they are trying to get back to civilization while Indians try to kill them. The main character, Logan Cates, stays calm and collected and becomes the leader of the group of people to survive. The book is set in the early 1900s in the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico where there are few towns and water is very scarce. This book is great because there are multiple internal conflicts between the people trying to survive at the well, but no one can leave because of the Indians, so they must work together despite their quarrels. Overall, the book is great for people who love old western books, and the plot keeps you hooked throughout the book.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Danger and adventure in the West.

The opening is a little disjointed, as various people are traveling hard in the desert. Our hero Logan Cates is traveling with no particular purpose, but others include two men (one a Pima) fleeing a town where they had to kill in self-defense, the posse from that town after them, the daughter of a wealthy landowner and the man she wants to marry, a nearly grown boy as the sole survivor of a raid because he was getting water, a military patrol, and a nearly grown girl who was captured by a warband.

But they all end up at the Papago Wells, trying to survive the attack. It involves command, disputes over whether a Pima can be trusted, a big-horn sheep, a woman arriving abruptly in mid-attack, the history behind the daughter, gold, and more.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I absolutely hated this book. In all fairness I despise the western catagory and only read this for a reading challenge. I went into it with an open mind, hoping it would open me up to something im not used to but it was a terrible read. Often times there was dialog between multiple characters and you werent told who was talking. There were a ridiculous amount of people to keep track of. And in the end it was just flat. Literally the story just ended. No idea what really happened. Its as if the author got tired of his own plot line. It was a soap opera ending that makes you go "what?" . overall, it was very boring and took me over a week to read 132 pages. Terrible!

[Shawn Cote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Last Stand at Papago Wells was one of the few Louis L'Amour novels I didn't read when I was an adolescent collector and fan. If nothing else, reading this one reminded me of what made me stop reading him in high school, after discovering Thoreau and Steinbeck. What it fails to remind me of is what I found so great about Mr. L'Amour's books in the first place. The old magic isn't there anymore. What remains is mostly formula.

The late Wallace Stegner, a much better western writer, was right about Mr. L'Amour: His novels really were mass-produced with interchangeable parts. An oversimplification, perhaps, but not by much.