In the early Sixties, there was no bigger Davy Crockett fan than me. I watched the two Disney “mini-series” (what they amounted to, although the term didn’t exist yet) with Fess Parker as Davy every time they aired. I read and reread the juvenile novelizations of them, which I checked out from the bookmobile. I had a coonskin cap (bought in one of the local stores and quite possibly not the real thing) and a genuine coonskin cap made by my uncle from the pelt of a raccoon he shot. And not once during that whole era did I wonder even for a second who actually wrote those TV shows that made me such a fan.
The answer is Tom W. Blackburn.
Thomas Wakefield Blackburn was a very prolific pulpster, writing hundreds of
stories for the Western pulps in a career that started under his own name in 1938.
Before that, but I don’t know exactly when, he got his actual start in the
business by working as a ghost for Ed Earl Repp, as numerous other Western pulp
authors did. In the late Forties, he moved into writing novels, screenplays, and
TV scripts, including the Davy Crockett episodes for Walt Disney. He even wrote
the lyrics for the theme song, which I’m sure some of you are hearing in your
head right now. (“Davy! Davy Crockett! King of the Wild Frontier!”)
Well, that’ll be stuck in my head the rest of the day. And yours, too, more
than likely. You’re welcome.
Anyway, to get around to the actual subject of his post, while I’d read a few of Blackburn’s pulp stories and thought they were very good, I’d never read one of his novels until now. I started with BUCKSKIN MAN, first published as a paperback original by Dell in 1958. Although it’s set in 1847 toward the end of the mountain man era and several of the main characters are mountain men, this isn’t a fur trapping novel. Rather, it’s about a trade war in Santa Fe and along the Santa Fe Trail back to St. Louis. Jim King, a former trapper, has established a store in Santa Fe, but he’s burned out by a vicious competitor who works for Edouard Duval, an evil tycoon back in St. Louis. Jim tries to recoup his losses by striking back against Duval and his minions. Along the way he acquires a mysterious, sharpshooting ally and clashes with a beautiful young woman with an agenda of her own. While all this is going on, a dangerous conspiracy is brewing in Santa Fe that may plunge all of New Mexico Territory (recently taken over from Mexico by the United States) into a bloody war.
BUCKSKIN MAN is more of a historical novel than a traditional Western. Blackburn does a great job of taking some actual events and spinning a compelling fictional yarn around them. Jim King is a stalwart hero, Toni Bandelier (great name!) is a fine heroine, the villains are suitably despicable, and the mountain man supporting characters are colorful. Blackburn captures the setting well and keeps the pace moving along nicely. My only complaint about the writing is that the ending seems a little bit rushed.
Overall, I really enjoyed BUCKSKIN MAN and am eager to read more of Blackburn’s novels. This one was reprinted several times by Dell, there were a couple of large print editions, and it’s currently in print in both e-book and trade paperback editions. It’s a top-notch historical novel and I recommend it.
9 comments:
And, of course, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" was sung by Bill Hayes, who died in January at 98.
Thanks, Jeff. I didn't know that.
Speaking of Davy Crockett, have you read any of the 8 book Crockett series written by David Robbins? I recently acquired a few, but haven’t sampled any yet. Looks like there were three frontier-type adventure series released by Leisure Books back in the 90’s; Dan’l Boone, Kit Carson and Davy Crockett…
I don't recall ever reading any of those Davy Crockett novels, but Robbins is a consistently good author so I'm sure they're worth reading. Haven't read any of the Dan'l Boone or Kit Carson books, either.
Count me in among the legions of youthful Crockett fans in the '60s-early '70s! I also had a fake coonskin cap.
They had to have sold a ton of those things.
I believe Ralph Hayes wrote the first six in the Dan'l Boone series. Should be good.
Thank you sire for those kind words in your last para. As the authorized publisher for the Estate, the moment I read that he wrote the Disney Episodes and the lyrics, the phrase A novel of Davy Crockett Days by the Man who Created the Davy Crockett Craze wrote itself in my mind. In addition to Buckskin Man, we just republished Navajo Canyon, another Blackburn title, and have two collections of stories coming out about Buckskin Men from the old pulps, each with the word Buckskin in the title, pinpointing their place in the tapestry of U.S. history. And a few other western novels by the master as well.
You did a fine job of editing and formatting on this one, too. I'm looking forward to reading NAVAJO CANYON and those pulp collections. You're doing good work!
Post a Comment