Quite a few notes. Sorry if this seems too verbose. Sometimes I get carried away. Verbose - LOL.

After I retired in '15, I did something I had said I would do one day and that was read all of LL's books. Along the way, I wondered if there was a chronology to the Sacketts. That question led me to a Wikipedia article, this website and “The Sackett Companion”. I noticed that the each of these three chronologies pretty much mirrored the other two. After this, I once asked Beau a question about the chronology in TSC and, he told me that he thought the chronology in TSC was put together by Bantam editors and not by LL or himself. As you probably know, TSC was published after LL’s death. So, when they were putting that book together, Bantam probably used their own editors for some tasks as LL’s health was probably deteriorating. My personal opinion is that the editors did not do LL or the Sacketts justice.

One thing that struck me was that the chronologies kept the Chantry and Talon novels separate from the Sacketts. I don't understand how you could do that since LL clearly had intended that the three families should be interwoven over time. So, I decided to see what it would look like if you wove the three families together which lead me look at when each story supposedly took place.

To do that, I looked for all the Sackett, Chantry and Talon references in the books. And, tried find a reasonable estimate of the year when each story began in order to weave the Chantrys and Talons into the chronology.

Finding a timeline was interesting. I don’t have the faintest idea how LL did it but, I have the distinct impression that he had some way of maintaining the timeline and, at times, it looks almost like he was making a game of revealing it. LL had various ways of revealing the year the story takes place. It’s also interesting that some of the books likely were set at or near the same time.

I also found what I think are several errors in the chronology in “The Sackett Companion”:

“Sackett’s Land” was set in 1599. You might say it was circa 1600 but Barnabas tells the reader in Ch 1 that the year is 1599.

“To the Far Blue Mountains” likely covered closer to 1600 to 1624.

“The Warrior’s Path” and “Jubal Sackett” could be concurrent tales although I think that Jubal’s story may actually start prior to “The Warrior’s Path”. But TWP was definitely set in 1630. Rin tells you so in Ch 1.

“Ride the River” was set in 1840 and only covered a period of about 4 weeks. That makes it difficult to come near 1850.

“The Daybreakers” covered from 1867 to 1872. Not 1870 to 1872.

“Lando” covered from 1868 to 1875. In Ch 8, he reveals that he was captive in Mexico for about 7 years until 11/19/1875.

“Mustang Man” should be before or concurrent with or right after “Sackett” because he makes no mention of knowing the other Sacketts whom he meets in “Mojave Crossing” and “The Sackett Brand”. I like the way it fits before "Sackett" rather than concurrent or after.

“Sackett” should be after “Lando” and “Mustang Man”. “Sackett” should follow “Lando” because “Sackett” begins in 1873 while “Lando” begins in 1868.

“Mojave Crossing” should follow “Sackett”.

“The Sackett Brand” should be right after “Mojave Crossing”.

“The Skyliners” take up for Flagan and Galloway almost right where “The Sackett Brand” leaves off.

“Galloway”

“The Lonely Men” takes place after “The Sackett Brand” because Tell comments that he is still recovering from injuries previously received. Probably those in “The Sackett Brand”.

“Ride the Dark Trail” and “Treasure Mountain” are probably concurrent stories in the same year.

“Lonely on the Mountain” should be last.

This list doesn’t take into consideration “Booty for a Badman” or “The Courting of Griselda”. These should both be read before “The Daybreakers”. It also does not include a myriad of other stories that include Sacketts or Sackett references. Just not as main characters.

This list also does not include the Chantry or Talon tales. I think the final irony is that a combined timeline begins and ends with a Chantry tale. It starts with “Fair Blows the Wind” set in 1590 and ends with “North to the Rails” set around 1906.

Justintime