The Riders of High Rock

Hopalong Cassidy #3

by Louis L'Amour

Hopalong rode into cattle country just east of the California line looking for his old friend Red Connors. He found Red holed up in a mountain cave with a bullet in his side and a story to tell. The ranchers around Tascotal had been losing their stock, and when Red caught the rustlers in the act, they hunted him down, shot him, and left him for dead. Jack Bolt, a savage, ruthless killer, has brought in a tough band of hardcases to run his operation. And now he's sent them out to take care of the one man who stands in his way: Hopalong Cassidy. But Bolt's about to learn the hard way that if you shoot down a man like Cassidy, you better make sure he never gets up again.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Adventure, Classics, Crime

229 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

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

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louis L'Amour gets the award for volume (150 or so books) and perhaps should get the award for most hours of entertainment--considering how fast he must have cranked these out, they're not that bad. The style is out of date now--so much 'telling' where showing would work better, but his structure of driving the hero(s) from one looming ambush to the next makes them pretty readable. In essence, these westerns are the TV of the 1950s ('Hon, I had a long day at the office. I'm going to have a couple beers and sit on the couch with Louis L'Amour.') They were replaced by Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Bonanza, The Big Valley, etc.
In a descendant's note at the end of this book, we learn that the author wrote this and other Hop Along Cassidy novels under contract to his publisher, filling in for the author who invented the character. L'Amour hated the result, having been forced (by a pile of money in the contract) to make Cassidy match the movie version of the character: truthful, fair, chaste, just, even-tempered, and generally as perfect as a saint. (Thank you, Hollywood.) L'Amour would have preferred to continue the dime-novel version of Hop Along--a rowdy, hard-drinking, brawling tough guy. We wish he had too.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

As my disdain for the modern world grows daily I find myself wanting to travel to an earlier era more and more. With this has come a mild interest in history and historical fiction, and a desire to try a western. Apart from a Lone Ranger novel I read as a kid, I had not delved into this genre. For L'Amour I thought I would start with Hondo, because we had a dog named Hondo when I was young, but I happened to find this one in a little free library. It was a relief to spend time in a world where there aren't security cameras everywhere; the downside to this is that it is a lot easier to spirit cows away from ranches in the middle of the night. It is a pretty simple story of the good guys trying to prove who dun it while the baddies keep from getting caught, at any cost. I found some of the long narrative passages a bit wearing but the dialogue was enjoyable. Apparently this, and the other Hopalong Cassidy novels, were work for hire with someone else's character, and the publisher forced the author to sanitize Cassidy rather than portray him as the gritty, rough fellow he was portrayed as in the original author's works. (The intent was to keep him in line with the popular film and TV portrayals of the time.) As a result L'Amour rejected these works and denied writing them for years. Not being aware of this as I read, I thought it was fine, and I liked the character of Hoppy as shown here. It takes a lot to earn respect when your name is Hopalong and I admire that.

[*Stani* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hopalong rode into cattle country just east of the California line looking for his old friend Red Connors. He found Red holed up in a mountain cave with a bullet in his side and a story to tell. The ranchers around Tascotal had been losing their stock, and when Red caught the rustlers in the act, they hunted him down, shot him, and left him for dead. Jack Bolt, a savage, ruthless killer, has brought in a tough band of hardcases to run his operation. And now he’s sent them out to take care of the one man who stands in his way: Hopalong Cassidy. But Bolt’s about to learn the hard way that if you shoot down a man like Cassidy, you better make sure he never gets up again.

*****

The four Hopalong Cassidy novels are probably my most favorite books from Louis L’Amour, even though he didn’t want to admit he wrote them until the day he died, which is a crying shame because they are excellent.

Hopalong Cassidy is a great, well drawn out character that is rich in a background story and you can’t help but rooting for from start to finish.

In this one his best friend Red Conners, a cowboy that worked for him many years, had been shot, hunted and left for dead. That doesn’t sit well with Hopalong and he will do everything in his power to bring the bad guys to justice or if not that, to end them once and for all.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction to Hopalong Cassidy and his companions, including Red Connors and Mesquite Jenkins. They encounter a group of people who are stealing cattle and changing the brands. They use their skill and careful observation to learn how to recover the stock and bring the thieves to justice. It is a difficult job because the scheme of the thieves is well-prepared. Blood is drawn on both sides, and the fight is brutal.

[Meta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am truly amazed at the knowledge of Louis L'Amour that he had of the country terrains and plants etc in which the story has been written. I only wished there had been a map included as it was in one of his other books that I had read.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Laura Hall]

Had to read this before heading out to the ranch again! A Caleb Hall favorite

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a good Louis L'Amour western. He's a good storyteller who creates interesting characters and places them in beautifully illustrated settings. L'Amour's ability to describe the time and place of his novels, and the small details about life in the old west, makes his stories come alive.

This book, however, is not a good Louis L'Amour western. Early in his career, L'Amour was commissioned to write his four Hopalong Cassidy stories after the success of the movies. He wrote the books under a pseudonym and they weren't released again under his name until after his death. I have a feeling he wouldn't have appreciated the re-release.

Since he had to keep to the movie image of the character, both the bad guy and the horse he borrows are more fully developed characters than Cassidy. Also, the hero does a lot of stupid stuff like shoot guns out of the bad guys hands and then send them off with stern warnings. (You'd never see the Sackett boys doing anything so dumb.) Also about two-thirds of the plot is devoted to tracking rustled cattle, which pales in comparison (to say the least) to some of his much more interesting stories. Mostly, the enjoyment I got out of this book was from sentimentality for the other, better westerns I've enjoyed.

I still recommend Louis L'Amour, but check out one of the books from his popular Sackett series or one of his classics like "Hondo."

[Larry Killion · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Riders of High Rock. By Louis L’amour.

This is a classic Hopalong Cassidy novel. I was a Hoppy fan. I got my first two-gun set of cap pistols in December 1951. They were small-scale replicas of Hopalong’s Colt 45’s. I watched the old black and white television show faithfully in the last half of the 50’s. This book was large print and easy to read. It is the story of how Hoppy and his old friend Red Conners saved the day when a gang of rustlers was stealing the ranchers blind just east of the State line of Northern California.

[Injuneer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the four Hop Cassidy novels written by Lous L'amour. Although worth reading, his Cassidy is modeled after the TV character rather than the edgier character of of the original creator Clarence Mulford, which I much prefer.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Hopalong Cassidy story. When Cassidy finds an old friend in a mountain cave with a bullet wound he goes after the rustlers who shot him.

[Jeff P · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the lowest rating I think I've ever given to a Louis L'Amour book. The main character is Hopalong Cassidy and I understand that L'Amour took over writing this series after the original author, Clarence Mulford, had retired. Instead of the strong quiet type normal hero of a L'Amour novel, Hopalong and his friends spend a good portion of their dialog trading insults about the quality of their coffee or cooking and calling the bad guys hombre.

At the end of the book, L'Amour's son, Beau writes a note of explanation. In the early 1950's Hopalong Cassidy was popular in the movies and on TV, so the publisher's wanted more Hopalong books. The original author had retired so they hired Louis L'Amour to write four of them under the pen name of Tex Burns. In the original novels, Hopalong had been a hard-drinking foul mouthed cowhand and that's how L'Amour wanted to write him, but the publisher wanted a slick clean hero to match the TV show and that's what hey got. While he was alive, L'Amour denied that he had written these four books, I don't blame him.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louis L’Amour and the first Hopalong Cassidy book. The book starts with Hopalong riding into Tascotal to meet his friend, Red Conners. He finds Ted shot and hid out in a cave. Red was investigating cow rustlers when he ran into trouble. Hopalong sets out the crack the case and bring justice. The story of Hopalong starts with Cassidy a know gunman who brings ristlers to justice. The book read like what one would expect with lots of villains and shootouts. Cassidy gets shot but in the end brings the rustlers to justice. Then he has one last thing to complete the book, which is bringing the mastermind behind the rustling scheme to justice. Like lightening strike, Hopalong out guns the arch-villian, Bolt. The book is pretty straight forward in its approach by sticking to the main storyline and not venturing down side adventures that didn’t contribute to capturing the cow rustlers. Enjoyable read.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book three of the Hopalong Cassidy novels. This one is a strange combination of gritty storytelling and squeaky clean kids TV westerns. Hoppy gets shot several times (never seriously) shoots multiple targets (most on the hand, disarming them), rides a special horse (but not Topper except the very end) and so on.

Unlike a lot of L'Amour's westerns, this one has a pretty extended, satisfying ending where loose ends are wrapped up in a series of scenes rather than one bit explosion of action and some quick exposition like he got bored with the story and wanted to wrap things up. There aren't any major dangling loose ends, and again several Bar-20 fellows show up to help out.

Overall it feels like for better and for worse there was a stronger editorial hand on L'Amour this time around and knowing his history, he probably hated it the most.

[Oleta Blaylock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the four books about Hopalong Cassidy books that Mr. L'Amour long denied he had written. There isn't much written about why he denied writing the books, except that Mr. L'Amour wanted the novels to be more like the films about Cassidy.

I don't remember anything about Hopalong other than a few stories told by my aunts and uncles.

This was a very good story. Lots of action; a bad guy that doesn't see himself as an outlaw, rustling of cattle and a family in distress because of missing cattle. The head of the family is a friend of Hopalong and his friend Red Conners.

In many ways this is an Old West mystery and Hopalong and Red are the detectives working to find out why cattle are missing and who is behind the theft.

I look forward to reading the other three Hopalong stories that Mr. L'Amout wrote.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Riders of High Rock was based on the 50's TV show, and 66 Hopalong Cassidy films. L'Amour wasn't pleased with the series of 4 books based on the movies and TV show. He wanted to make Hopalong a grittier character. The 4 novels were published after his death.
L'Amours knowledge of the old West its culture and uniquenesses is beyond reproach.
But maybe like L'Amour I found it too sanitized. Cassidy most always tried to wound the bad guys, even though these savage ruthless killers intent was to kill him! I suppose this is a good message for Children, but doesn't work in an action novel.
I also found it dry, most of the book is spent trying to locate a trail that was being used by rustlers to channel the cattle to a place where they couldn't be found, I found the topic dry and too wordy. The other books I read by him were excellent.

[Joseph D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow I got out of order on this one and ended up on book 3 of the Hopalong Cassidy series. However as a stand-alone it read fine. No surprise that Louis L’Amour is one of the all time great writers. He keeps the story engaging and moving forward and so what if Cassidy is luckier than a rabbit with six feet. Fun read and excited to go back and read the first two. If you want to try your hand at Westerns Louis L’Amour is not a bad place to start. Considering this is my second western and the other was Louis L’Amour’s as well, I am not a great experts to the best in the field. But I can recognize great writing and you’ll be entertained all the way through this one. ​

Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com

[wally · Rating 3 out of 5]

started finished 25th march 2025 good read three stars i liked it nothing less nothing more have read now almost five dozen from l'amour this one from the afterword by his son beau sounds like it is one of four l'amour wrote early 50s if i have that right. a hopalong cassidy story entertaining read, rustlers, one smarmy guy out to get it all hires likely characters to get it done, kills people who look to uncover the truth or wo happen to be in the way. i'd hazard that not as much effort went into this one as many of the others though still a good read. purists and the unforgiving likely think different as it has been as it will be now and forevermore.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be a "one and done" for me on this Hopalong series. Too much grazing of gun hands, bullets whizzing past heads, letting bad guys go with warnings. I much prefer L'Armour's other works, like the Sackett series, Hondo, etc. This Hoppy was too sanitized for my liking. After reader an afterword by his son, I guess the publisher made him keep to the squeaky clean TV image of Hoppy and L'Amour used the pen name of Tex Burns because he wasn't happy about it. Anyway, onward with other true-to-form more realistic L'Armour works.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book, It is very action packed and fun to read. I thought it was a very good way of showing the old west and that made it very enjoyable. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes westerns and adventure themed books. In all I think this book is kind of like art and makes you feel like you are back in time to the old wild west.

[Brandon Burken · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man named Hopalong Cassidy finds his friend shot and finds out that cattle all around town are being stolen by cattle rustlers. He must find out where they take the cattle to and who's responsible. I would definitely recommend this book to readers that like action, and old westerns.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember stories of Hopalong Cassidy from my youth as well as remember watching the TV shows. I like Lamour and I wondered about the story with this character. Hoppy finds his friend in need, more friends who are experiencing troubles with their neighbors, and he decides to help out.

[Mike Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read!

Good read, keeps your attention until the end
Strong loyal characters, that supports the honest, and defend the weak, good story.
I enjoy a mystery, and like to follow through to completion.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my ninety something Louis L'Amour book and as I often describe his books as having a pretty girl, a black hat, a white hat and a shootout. This book was no exception, the major difference was that it had Hopalong Cassidy and many black and white hats.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarence Mumford's original Hopalong Cassidy was "red-haired, hard-drinking, foul-mouthed and rather bellicose ". Louis L'Amour's Hoppy is much nicer, more like William Boyd's television version of Hopalong. I really enjoyed the book and would mind finding more.

[Delonna Oskouee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another triumph for Mr. L'Amour!

I'm pretty sure I missed some parts of the story because of the quick scroll but it turned out okay in the end. Hopalong Cassidy is one of my favorite heroes. He thinks of all the angles and nobody gets the drop on him!

[Deanna Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story to listen to while driving out west.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curious about Hopalong Cassidy, I started this series. It was nice to have an older man as the hero in this case.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was too boring, gave up about 50 pages in.

[Jordan Kinsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many modern writers try SO hard to produce something that isn’t 1/8 as well-organized or easy to read as these old westerns.

[Monte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great western. Covers lots of trail but with compelling storyline and great characters. Excited to read the next in the series.