Because Perry says the MC carries Montaigne in his saddlebags....

... which turned out to be wrong. He read Montaigne, but not as thoroughly as many other books. He carried Blackstone for a while.

A good enough book for a teen boy who needs a role model. The philosophy is mainly good advice, and I liked how Shafter loves both the rough wild land and the ideals & learnings he gets from Plutarch, Locke, etc. He does respect everyone as people, even the Indians and the women, but he tends to feel a bit like an Ayn Rand character... he's a bit more compassionate than that, but not very respectful of anyone not as godlike as himself. (He does express humility, but it never rings as sincere.)

It's my first, and probably last, L'Amour. It reads to me like either a debut novel, or an author's swan song... interestingly, it's neither. Another interesting thing is that Shafter was advised to show more in his writing, but L'Amour did an awful lot of telling....

Samples of the kind of ideas you'll read again & again, should you pick this up:

"Much as I loved reading I was wary of it, for I soon saw that much that passed for thinking was simply a good memory, and many an educated man was merely repeating what he had learned, not what he had thought out for himself."

And about the Indians: "Whenever two cultures collide, the one with the most efficient way of living will survive." ( )

This is the story of a young man coming of age in the wilds of Wyoming. He helps found a new town, finds love and wealth. Of course it isn't easy and he must fight for these things.

I do enjoy Louis L'Amour and this is one of his better books in my opinion. Granted part of that is that I have been down some of the trails and been to some of the locations from the book. ( )

In which Louis L'Amour examines an ideal Western town, how it begins and grows, and how it is maintained by active, interested individuals.

This book partly takes place in my childhood stomping-grounds, which made a good book unforgettable. ( )

Romance