Book Review: The Jayhawkers by Saul Cooper
They called it “Bloody Kansas” as pro- and anti-slavery gangs terrorized the Kansas Territory Cam Bleeker organized some men to defend their homes, but got careless and wound up in Topeka Prison. He still has some loyal followers, and they managed to break him out. Upon arriving wounded at his old farmstead, however, Cam does not find his wife waiting for him.
Her grave is out back of the cabin, and near it is the grave of Jeanne Dubois’ husband. The Dubois family had inherited the empty homestead after Nina Bleeker died, only to have Pierre fall victim to Missouri Redlegs. Jeanne is aware that Cam is an escaped prisoner, but she needs a man to help her manage the farm…and maybe something a bit more.
But the military governor of Kansas has other ideas. He has a use for an escaped murderer with military experience and a known contempt for authority. It seems there’s a man named Darcy who’s got his own private militia called the Jayhawkers. It’s swelling up into an army and taking over towns, and it needs to be stopped.
The governor offers Cam a pardon if he infiltrates the Jayhawkers, captures Darcy, and delivers the man to be hanged. Or, he could be hanged himself. Cam has little choice but to accept the offer. But will he be able to go through with it when he sees for himself how charismatic Darcy is, and how seductive his goal is?
This is a novelization of the 1959 Paramount movie of the same name starring Jeff Chandler. As such, it was probably based more on an early script rather than the finished movie itself. Some sections seem to be establishing the motives of the characters more firmly than might have appeared in dialogue and body language only.
Darcy has a vision of Kansas as its own little country, neither slave nor free, but a neutral state that owes nothing to the federal government and has closed borders. He runs a tight ship, but his men tend to get out of control when they’re out of his reach. One of his methods for bringing towns under his control is raiding them disguised as a pro-slavery militia, then riding in a few days later as the Jayhawkers to offer protection.
Cam is able to get into a high position by being competent and arranges for the militia to do less murder than it might otherwise do. Not all of his new compatriots appreciate it. And soon an elaborate trap is set.
The main interest is the conflict within Cam as he weighs his motivations against what he has to do.
Content note: The primary use of women by the Jayhawkers is as camp followers, and at least some of them are implied to be less than consenting. On screen, there’s at least one sexual assault with a threat of rape. There’s some stereotyping of American Indians.
This is an okay Western, that might work better as a movie. Mostly of interest for people who collect movie tie-ins.
Oh, and here’s the theme song:
