INDIAN COUNTRY

New York: Ballantine Books, 1953., 1953. First edition. First edition. Outstanding stories of character and courage on the American frontier. The eleven tales in Indian Country represent some of Johnson's very best work. Most noted for the classic short stories: he Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, which explains in flashback why a prominent senator appears at the funeral of an obscure western codger and A Man Called Horse, which depicts the life of a white captive in a Crow Indian camp. "Five of the stories, (Flames on the Frontier, The Unbeliever, War Shirt, Journey to the Fort, and A Man Called Horse) deal with whites living among the Indians, either by choice or as captives, and the effect this had on them, the natives they lived with, and the families they left behind. The Prairie Kid and Beyond the Frontier shows how incidents that might be spun into legend evolved from the simple toughness that was required for survival among frontier settlers. Scars of Honor and Laugh in the Face of Danger are tales of aged people who time has passed by but who still cherish secret memories from their wild west youth. Warrior's Exile is built around the importance of an Indian's visions and medicine to his life and status within the tribe. And The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is the ultimate tale of the less than noble truth that could often lie behind the heroic legends that grew out of the West." Difficult work to find, and avidly sought by collectors of classic western fiction/literature. A fine, clean copy. Dust jacket shows modest general rubbing, a couple of short closed-tears to top edge, minor general edgewear, and is internally reinforced with tape at top of spine.