THE MULESKINNER

By Robert MacLeod

Coronet, third impression, 1974

Originally published by Fawcett, 1967

They called him the ox – too big to resist – too good to beat – and just too stubborn to die . . . 

Among the savage, ceaseless horizons of this godforsaken country, nobody gave a damn who or what a man really was. All that counted was what he seemed to be. And Ben Davis seemed to be a walking, breathing challenge to every brawling drifter with a pair of itchy fists and a hot gun hand.

Only a fool would brace him in a fair fight. And the gang of cut-throat killers who wanted him out of the way were anything but fools. They loaded their guns and laid a trap as certain as death and taxes. What they had in mind no man could survive. No man except, maybe, the Muleskinner.

Although this book, and Six-Guns South, have been in my collection for many years, I’ve never read them or any other book by Robert MacLeod. Two of MacLeod’s novels have been made into films, the Appaloosa starring Marlon Brando and The Californio filmed as 100 Rifles starring Burt Reynolds, Raquel Welsh and Jim Brown. I can remember seeing and liking the latter, but can’t recall every watching Appaloosa. 

The first few pages of The Muleskinner didn’t immediately grip me. Nothing really happened other than introducing Ben Davies, the man known as Ox and his swamper, Jake – a dependable man even though he’s constantly drunk. The author also includes a lot of detail about driving freight wagons pulled my mules which whilst informative did seem to slow the narrative down a little. After a couple of short chapters, the pace began to pick up and events started to get more interesting and I started to enjoy the tale. 

Stagecoach robberies are the main theme to the story. Who is behind them? Apaches? Someone else? Love interest is mixed into the plot too when Ox falls for Gwen, but she seems to prefer another man, Lew. This causes all kinds of problems as jealousy pushes Ox to do and say things he probably shouldn’t if he wants to win Gwen’s heart. Further complications arise when Ox saves a young Mexican boy who has been living with the Apaches and taking part in their raids. When Ox brings Flaco to town there are people who want to see the boy dead. This includes a couple of buffalo hunters who are friends with Lew. 

There is plenty of hard fist action as Ox isn’t above punching anyone who annoys him. This leads to plenty of hand-to-hand fights, one of which leads to a surprising death. There’s gunplay too, often during freight drives. Everything is resolved in an exciting final showdown which finished the book as I expected.

Overall, a story that entertained me enough to want to read the other MacLeod book that I have but not enough to add it to my must read soon pile.

Hannie Caulder

By William Terry

NEL, September 1971

Fleeing the scene of a botched bank robbery, the Clemens brothers come across an isolated homestead. Attempting to steal fresh horses, the trigger-happy youngest brother murders Caulder, the landowner. His wife Hannie is unable to fend off the three Clemens alone. They rape her, steal her horses and burn her home to the ground. Determined to seek revenge Hannie teams up with Thomas Price a ruthless bounty hunter. She implores him to teach her how to kill. Reluctantly he agrees and together they set off in pursuit of the outlaws.

This is the book of the film rather than a book that became a film. The author, William Terry, based the book on the screenplay which in turn was adapted from an original story by Peter Cooper.

William Terry is a pseudonym used by Terry Harknett, who would become much better known the following year as George G. Gilman when the first in the best-selling Edge western series was released, a series that would run for seventeen years.

Terry tells me he wrote the book from the final draft of the script the director would be using to make the film. He knew who was to star in the film and was sent some black and white stills of key scenes which is why his descriptions of characters is spot on. Dialogue was taken from the script and it’s intriguing to discover this contains a lot of gallows humour which would become a trademark of Terry’s own books, something he freely admits he was influenced by along with many other TV and film westerns he watched and was ‘enthusiastically encouraged by the editorial team at New English Library!’ to continue using this in his own westerns.

The story is a straight-forward revenge tale and mixes the dark theme of Caulder’s rape and subsequent quest for vengeance with lighter comic moments mainly through the antics of the Clemens brothers. Terry’s writing perfectly captures the spirit of the film and its changing tones.

The book was published around the time the movie was released and is a must read for fans of both the film and Terry Harknett’s work as well as those who enjoy fast-moving westerns that mix violence and humour.

The film is a British production directed by Burt Kennedy and starred Raquel Welch as Hannie Caulder. It also stars Robert Culp, Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin, Jack Elam, Christopher Lee, Diana Dors, and Stephen Boyd.