To the Last Man (Grey novel)

Last updated
To the Last Man
ZaneGrey ToTheLastMan.jpg
Author Zane Grey
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Western
Publisher Harper & Brothers (US hardback) &
Forge (US paperback)
Publication date
1921
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages311 pp (hardback); 288 pp (paperback edition)
ISBN 0-8125-6465-0 (paperback edition)
OCLC 45577928
LC Class CPB Box no. 2090 vol. 18

To the Last Man: A Story of the Pleasant Valley War is a 1921 western novel written by Zane Grey.

Contents

Origin

To The Last Man is a shorter version of Tonto Basin . Grey submitted the manuscript of Tonto Basin to the magazine The Country Gentleman, which published it in serialization as To the Last Man from May 28, 1921, through July 30, 1921. This was a much shorter version of the original, omitting much of the backstory. This shorter version was published by Harper Brothers.

Plot introduction

It is a story of a family feud healed by young love. The story is based on a factual event involving the notorious Hashknife gang of Northern Arizona.

Plot summary

The story follows an ancient feud between two frontier families that is inflamed when one of the families takes up cattle rustling.

The ranchers are led by Jean Isbel and, on the other side, Lee Jorth and his band of cattle rustlers.

In the grip of a relentless code of loyalty to their own people, they fight the war of the Tonto Basin, desperately, doggedly, to the last man, neither side seeing the futility of it until it is too late. And in this volatile environment, young Jean finds himself hopelessly in love with a girl from whom he is separated by an impassable barrier.

Characters in "To the Last Man"

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonto Basin, Arizona</span> CDP in Gila County, Arizona

Tonto Basin is a census-designated place (CDP) in Gila County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,424 at the 2010 United States Census, up from 840 in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zane Grey</span> American novelist (1872–1939)

Pearl Zane Grey was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontier. Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) was his best-selling book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Range war</span> Conflict over control of range land used for grazing

A range war, also known as range conflict or cattle war, is a type of usually violent conflict, most commonly in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the American West. The subject of these conflicts was control of "open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing, or conflicting sheep pasture, which gave these conflicts its name. Typically they were disputes over water rights, grazing rights, or cattle ownership.

<i>To the Last Man</i> (1923 film) 1923 film

To the Last Man is a 1923 American silent Western film based on the 1921 novel by Zane Grey, produced by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky from Famous Players–Lasky, distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Victor Fleming, and starring Richard Dix, Lois Wilson, and Noah Beery. The cinematographer was James Wong Howe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pleasant Valley War</span> Arizona range war (1882–1892)

The Pleasant Valley War, sometimes called the Tonto Basin Feud, or Tonto Basin War, or Tewksbury-Graham Feud, was a range war fought in Pleasant Valley, Arizona in the years 1882–1892. The conflict involved two feuding families, the Grahams and the Tewksburys. The Grahams were ranchers, while the Tewksburys, who were part Native American, started their operations as cattle ranchers before branching out to sheep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Way</span> Australian novelist

Margaret Way was an Australian writer of romance novels and women's fiction. A prolific author, Way wrote more than 120 novels since 1970, many through Mills & Boon, a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd., owned by Harlequin Enterprises.

<i>Tonto Basin</i> (novel) 1921 novel by Zane Grey

For the geographical place see Tonto Basin

<i>To the Last Man</i> (1933 film) 1933 film by Henry Hathaway

To the Last Man is a 1933 American Pre-Code Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Randolph Scott and Esther Ralston. The screenplay by Jack Cunningham was based on a story by Zane Grey. The Paramount property was previously made as a silent film, Victor Fleming's 1923 film version of the same title. The supporting cast of Hathaway's version features Noah Beery Sr., Jack La Rue, Buster Crabbe, Barton MacLane, Shirley Temple, Fuzzy Knight, Gail Patrick and John Carradine.

<i>Forlorn River</i> 1927 novel by Zane Grey

Forlorn River is a Western novel written by Zane Grey, first published in 1927.

"Nevada" is a 1928 Western novel by Zane Grey, a sequel to 1927's Forlorn River. Prior to its book publication it was serialized in seven issues of The American Magazine. The novel was adapted for films in 1927 and 1944.

<i>Last of the Duanes</i> (novel) 1996 novel by Zane Grey

Last of the Duanes is a 1914 novel by Zane Grey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family feuds in the United States</span> Prominent feuds in the US

Feuds in the United States deals with the phenomena of historic blood feuding in the United States. These feuds have been numerous and some became quite vicious. Often, a conflict which may have started out as a rivalry between two individuals or families became further escalated into a clan-wide feud or a range war, involving dozens—or even hundreds—of participants. Below are listed some of the most notable blood feuds in United States history, most of which occurred in the Old West.

Gunsmoke: To the Last Man is a 1992 American Western television film starring James Arness as retired Marshal Matt Dillon. It was directed by Jerry Jameson and based upon the long-running American TV series Gunsmoke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheep wars</span> Grazing rights conflicts in the Western United States

The sheep wars, or the sheep and cattle wars, were a series of armed conflicts in the Western United States fought between sheepmen and cattlemen over grazing rights. Sheep wars occurred in many western states, though they were most common in Texas, Arizona, and the border region of Wyoming and Colorado. Generally, the cattlemen saw the sheepherders as invaders who destroyed the public grazing lands, which they had to share on a first-come, first-served basis. Between 1870 and 1920, approximately 120 engagements occurred in eight states or territories. At least 54 men were killed and some 50,000 to over 100,000 sheep were slaughtered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aztec Land & Cattle Company</span> Historic land company in Arizona

Aztec Land and Cattle Company, Limited ("Aztec") is a land company with a historic presence in Arizona. It was formed in 1884 and incorporated in early 1885 as a cattle ranching operation that purchased 1,000,000 acres in northern Arizona from the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. It then imported approximately 32,000 head of cattle from Texas and commenced ranching operations in Arizona. Because Aztec's brand was the Hashknife, a saddler's knife used on early day ranches, the company was known more famously as The Hashknife Outfit. The company has been in continuous existence since 1884.

<i>Riders of the Purple Sage</i> (1918 film) 1918 film

Riders of the Purple Sage is a 1918 American silent Western film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring William Farnum, Mary Mersch, and William Scott. The film is about a former Texas Ranger who goes after a group of Mormons who have abducted his married sister. This Frank Lloyd silent film was the first of five film adaptations of Zane Grey's 1912 novel.

Thunder Mountain is a 1947 American Western film directed by Lew Landers and starring Tim Holt and Martha Hyer. It was the first of Holt's 29 post war Western star vehicles and the first in a series of Zane Grey adaptations he made for RKO. It was also the first film of his written by Norman Houston who would go on to write 19 more for the star.

James C. Loving (1836–1902) was an American cattleman and rancher in Texas. He raised "the largest purebred shorthorn herd" in the United States by the end of the nineteenth century. He was a co-founder of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and served as its secretary for twenty-seven years.

<i>Tonto Basin Outlaws</i> 1941 film by S. Roy Luby

Tonto Basin Outlaws is a 1941 American western film directed by S. Roy Luby. The film is the tenth in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Crash, John "Dusty" King as Dusty and Max "Alibi" Terhune as Alibi, with Jan Wiley, Tris Coffin and Edmund Cobb. Despite the film's title, the action takes place in Montana, not Arizona's Tonto Basin. Like the other of the Range Busters series, the film was shot at Corriganville Movie Ranch and used footage from silent Westerns.

<i>Black Market Rustlers</i> 1943 film by S. Roy Luby

Black Market Rustlers is a 1943 American Western film directed by S. Roy Luby and written by Patricia Harper. The film is the twenty-third in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Dusty, Dennis Moore as Denny and Max Terhune as Alibi, with Evelyn Finley, Steve Clark and Glenn Strange. The film was released on August 27, 1943.

References

  1. Burnham, Frederick Russell (1926). Scouting on Two Continents . New York: Doubleday, Page and Co. Chapters 3 & 4. ISBN   0-86920-126-3. ASIN B000F1UKOA.
  2. R. R. Money (April 1962). "Tonto Basin Feud". Blackwood's Magazine . 291. ISSN   0006-436X.