History Literature / LonesomeDove

* DefiantToTheEnd: Gus is very unimpressed with Dan Suggs' recalcitrance in the face of his execution for several murders:

* AnnoyingArrows: Heavily averted; several people are killed by them and bow-wielding natives are considered a serious threat. In [[spoiler: Gus's]] case, he sustains a "mere" hit to the leg with an arrow [[RealityEnsues and subsequently dies a few days later after the wound becomes gangrenous]].

** This is somewhat justified, in that towns are few and far between on the frontier, and not all of them even have lawmen, so it's not necessarily practical for Gus and Woodrow to try to bring them in for trial. If anything, it shows what a CrapsackWorld the frontier could be, as taking the law into your ow

* EmotionsVsStoicism: A central part of the story is the contrast between the laid-back, talkative and generally pleasant Gus and the grumpy, uptight, unemotional Call.'

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: When facing hanging, both [[spoiler:Jake and Blue Duck]] decide to preempt their execution. [[spoiler:Jake, who was being hanged from a tree branch, spurred his horse out from under himself before Gus could do it. Blue Duck, when about to be led from his fourth-story cell to the gallows, broke away from his guards and jumped out a window.]]

* ActionGirl: Janey, whose rough life has taught her to live off the land. She helps capture two outlaws be throwing rocks at them and when Blu Duck attacks their camp is the only one with the reflexes to fight back well. [[spoiler: unfortunately due to the {{Deconstruction}} nature of the story she ends up being TooCoolTooLive]].

* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: Call, Gus, and associates will summarily execute bandits, horse thieves and other scofflaws they run across. Overlaps some with VigilanteMan since they continue to do so after they've retired from the Texas Rangers and have no official legal standing to dispense justice. At one point Gus is bemused by an outlaw who believes Gus is simply going to arrest him.

* EmotionsVsStoicism: A central part of the story is the contrast between the laid-back, talkative and generally pleasant Gus and the grumpy, uptight, unemotional Call.

* GenreDeconstruction: [=McMurtry=] [[http://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/larry-mcmurtry-brokeback-mountain-last-kind-words intended]] the series to be one for the Western genre, but feels that a lot of people missed out on this. It could have a lot to do with the miniseries' bright cinematography and adventurous score setting a tone more suited to a classic, idealistic western film, rather than the kind of gritty, desaturated style that would normally go with a story as unafraid to reflect the actual harshness of life in the Old West as ''Lonesome Dove'' is.

* AlternateContinuity: The sequel miniseries ''Return to Lonesome Dove'' portrays a completely different set of events than those depicted in the McMurtry-penned followup ''Streets of Laredo''.

* WorstAid: Gus solution for [[spoiler:an arrow in his leg is to try and ''push it out the rest of the way'', which might not have directly caused an infection, but most certainly didn't help his situation]].

* DecoyProtagonist: Gus is such a focal character throughout the story that it comes as a major shock when [[spoiler:he dies and Woodrow makes it his mission to bring Gus' body home to Lonesome Dove for burial. He later becomes the main protagonist in ''Streets of Laredo'']].

--> '''Capt. Woodrow F. Call:''' [to onlookers] I can't abide rude behavior in a man...I ''won't'' tolerate it!

* GenericEthnicCrimeGang: Blue Duck's gang primarly has Kiowa Indian members, but others are white and Blue Duck is Mexican and Comanche.

* DrivenToSuicide [[spoiler:Xavier, out of loneliness, and Jake Spoon]]

%%* ShootTheShaggyDog

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out.

* ShoutOut to ''Film/{Bandolero}'' with a Sheriff named July Johnson who has a deputy named Roscoe who embarks on a quest to catch a fugitive. July is also in love with someone who doesn't love him and would rather be with an outlaw named Dee.

* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: Call, Gus, and associates will summarily execute bandits, horse thieves and other scofflaws they run across. Overlaps some with VigilanteMan since they continue to do so after they've retired from the Texas Rangers and have no real legal authority to do so. At one point Gus is bemused by an outlaw who believes Gus is simply going to arrest him.

** Jake Spoon ''thinks'' he's this, but [[TheSlacker he's not]].

''Lonesome Dove'' is the name of a highly-regarded [[TheWestern Western]] novel by Larry [=McMurtry=] published in 1985. It was also adapted into a 1989 Emmy-winning four-episode television miniseries. The novel was the first of a tetralogy of novels, followed up by a sequel novel, ''The Streets of Laredo'', and two prequel novels, ''Dead Man's Walk'' and ''Literature/ComancheMoon''. All were made into miniseries. It is also considered the first part of an informal trilogy of Westerns staring Robert Duval, with the second being ''Film/OpenRange'' and the third being ''Film/BrokenTrail.''

In 1876, former Texas Rangers Captains Augustus [=McCrea=] and Woodrow Call run a livery in the small border town of Lonesome Dove. When their old colleague Jake Spoon arrives with tales of the unsettled territory in Montana, Call is inspired to drive of cattle there to start a ranch.

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: When facing hanging, both [[spoiler: Jake and Blue Duck]] decide to preempt their execution. [[spoiler: Jake, who was being hanged from a tree branch, spurred his horse out from under himself before Gus could do it. Blue Duck, when about to be led from his fourth-story cell to the gallows, broke away from his guards and jumped out a window.]]

* BrilliantButLazy: Gus is a competent tracker, skilled in a gunfight, and generally an all-around impressive individual - when he can be bothered. Left to his own devices, he'll just drink on the porch with an occasional trip to a whorehouse. Jake Spoon ''thinks'' he's this, but [[TheSlacker he's not.]]

* BuryMeNotOnTheLonePrairie: Woodrow Call brings [[spoiler: Gus [=MacCrae=]'s]] body across the country so he can be buried in his favorite orchard.

%%* EmotionsVsStoicism

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Lorena

* TakingYouWithMe: When [[spoiler: Blue Duck]] pulls his high-dive, he drags a lawman with him.

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: In Streets of Laredo, the author discontinuously revisits [[spoiler: Lorena Wood's]] kidnapping from the Lonesome Dove, in flashback in order to add in a characteristically gruesome scene where a child is kidnapped and burned to death, [[ForTheEvulz just so we hate the main villain more.]]

* AnnoyingArrows: Heavily averted; several people are killed by them and bow-wielding natives are considered a serious threat. In [[spoiler: Gus's]] case, he sustains a "mere" hit to the leg with an arrow [[RealityEnsues and subsequently dies a few days later after the wound becomes gangrenous.]]