Loren Estleman’s historical novel “The Branch and the Scaffold” is the quintessential example of what happens when a superb writer comes across fascinating true-life characters and pulls out all the storytelling stops.
Estleman probably knows more overall about the Old West than did most of its inhabitants. He has ridden the trails, read the old books, newspapers, journals and court transcripts and talked to so many historians, librarians and old-timers that when he wrote one of his earlier Westerns, the only research he needed, he says, was to check on a few dates to make sure they were correct.
Though the characters were real people, and the major events actually took place, Estleman calls it “A Novel of Judge Parker” because he made up a good part of the dialogue. He says he tried to put himself in the various situations and then imagined what most likely would have been said by the characters. He has succeeded so well that a reader could easily assume that the dialogue was taken from conversations recorded on the spot.
His descriptive powers are second to none, and only a few words are needed to delineate a character.
The branch and the scaffold of the title refer to the fact that a man considered guilty by a lynch mob was usually hanged from a tree (bullets cost money), whereas a man found guilty in a court of law was hanged on a scaffold. And when Judge Isaac Parker came to bring justice to Fort Smith, Ark., in May 1875, the scaffold would be very much in evidence: Many prisoners — 18 of whom were charged with capital offenses — had waited months for their trials.
History, politics and some of the West’s most notorious lawbreakers and famous lawmen fill these colorful pages that flow by like a John Ford movie. It’s easy to see why Estleman has won so many awards for his Western works. The book ends too soon, and one feels impelled to return to Page 1 and start over.
FICTION
The Branch and the Scaffold by Loren D. Estleman, $25
