Oh What A Slaughter Massacres in the American West 1846-1890 by Larry McMurtry

Many of you may recognize Larry McMurtry as the author of many cowboy and western fiction novels. Or, maybe you know him as the author of The Last Picture Show or Lonesome Dove. Although I know many fans of McMurtry works, I had never read anything by him until I read this book, Oh What A Slaughter. Cowboys, Indians and the West are not really a genre I read often.

My reason for reading this book was because it contained several chapters about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a subject which does interest me and I have researched. I read the Mountain Meadows Massacre chapters and was so intrigued with the history of our American West, the Native Americans and the early settlers, I wanted to read the entire book.

I am not a history aficionado. Growing up in the south, I have always been interested in Civil War history. When I moved to California, some of the first research I did was to find out what part, if any, California had taken in the Civil War. The information I found was pretty basic. California had very little involvement in the Civil War because they were already very busy fighting (slaughtering) Native Americans.

This book is not for everyone. It will not be interesting to experts of the American West or to experts of this historical time period. If you are interested in what was happening in the West from 1846-1890 and haven't already done a lot of reading on the subject, then maybe this book is for you. If you would like to read more about the events of this time period in our history, McMurtry cites many other books which have been written about the different massacres and this time period.

As the title proclaims, this book is a bloody look at pretty disgraceful period of our history. Most of the massacres included in this book are white men, settlers and soldiers killing Native Americans. McMurtry references two battles of Native Americans killing white soldiers and settlers. One of the stories, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is of white men (Mormons) and Native Americans together killing a group of white settlers.

McMurtry does a good job with background information and the conditions of the West for both the Native Americans, settlers and soldiers. In this book he specifically writes about the Sacramento River Massacre, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Sand Creek, the Marias River Massacre, the Camp Grant Massacre and the Wounded Knee Massacre. He also writes specifically about the much studied military Fetterman (Fort Phil Kearny) and the Custard (Little Bighorn) "massacres" and the Broken Hoop, the period of 1871-1890.

McMurtry also references current information concerning where these events took place. In most cases he gives first hand accounts of his visits to these sacred grounds where many lost their lives.

This book is a quick, although disturbing, read. As stated above, if you don't know much about what happened during this time period, you should read this book. This book is likely the briefest historical account available detailing these different events in the American West. Some of these massacres, including the Mountain Meadows Massacre, are still very controversial.

Oh What A Slaughter
Author: Larry McMurtry
Available formats:
Hardback, November 2005, 165 pages, "Bargain-Priced Book" at barnesandnoble.com cost $6
Hardback, Large Print, March 2006, 256 pages, approximate cost $30
Compact Disc, Unabridged, read by Michael Prichard, approximate cost $25

Other books by Larry McMurtry are too numerous to mention in this space (more than 35). A few of his most famous are:
The Last Picture Show,1966
Lonesome Dove, 1986
Telegraph Days, 2006