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Forum nameLouis L'Amour Discussion Forum
Topic subjectRE: Time Periods of Novels
Topic URLhttp://louislamour.com/dcforum/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=221&topic_id=671&mesg_id=690
690, RE: Time Periods of Novels
Posted by john555, Tue Aug-18-20 12:26 PM
I know it sounds strange. I think it's sort of strange. I mean LL used 4 novels to reveal a timeline for "Milo Talon" and "Galloway".
In "Ride A Dark Trail", LL tells the reader that Milo was 17 when he joined the Confederate Army. In "Milo Talon", the reader is told that Milo is at a point that "soon would be thirty years of living". That means he cannot be older than 29 which would be 12 years after he joined the army. Then, the question is, what year did he join the army. That's where "The Sackett Brand" and "Galloway" come in. We know that "The Sackett Brand" happens in 1877 because that is the year that Tell puts on Ange's grave. Then, in "Galloway", we find the "cousin" who is followed around by a wolf that Milo mentions in "Milo Talon". This means that Milo Talon cannot be placed before 1877 because of the wolf reference and because Galloway cannot precede "The Sackett Brand" because of all the Sacketts that Flagan and Galloway had come to know in "The Sackett Brand". But "Galloway" has to precede "Milo Talon" because of the wolf reference. And, the year cannot be after 1877 because then the 12 year difference between 29 years of age and 17 would mean that Milo would have benn 17 after the war was over in 1865.
Yes, it's strange but it is also clever when you consider the year the books were published. "Sackett Brand" was published in 1965 which set the year this is all built around. "Galloway" was published in 1970 which established the wolf story. "Ride a Dark Trail" was published in 1972 which set the age when Milo joined the army. And, "Milo Talon" was published in 1981 which brought it all together.