Butcher's Crossing by John Williams

 March Book Discussion- Butcher's Crossing by John Williams

Why is Emerson relevant to Andrews? What does Dina Gillo-Whitaker say of Emerson?

How do the characters in Butcher's Crossing relate to the story? What is their purpose to "the west", "nature", and "identity"?

Why does Andrew have to go on a buffalo hunt? What relationship does immense herd have to his purpose?

How are Indians portrayed and what does it mean?

Can you have beautiful valleys without herds of buffalo? What does it mean with respect to "nature"?

What kind of place does Andrew find in Colorado?

Why is winter relevant to this story, and how does it announce itself?

How does Andrew survive and what does he learn?

What do you consider the turning point in the book? Which character do you like and which hate, and why, and how do they relate to the story?

What does the return to Butcher's Crossing signify, and why?

Is fire catharsis in the West? How do the characters respond?

Why is the book setup in three parts? 

How does this book defer from last month book "Wild Horse Country" by David Phillips?

See this review by an English author.

Post discussion notes

We all liked the book. One said it was the best western that they had read. Another noted that it was a coming of age story of a young man in a patriarchal society, Andrew, going west as a young man, to discover himself, by communing with a transformed nature from we inherited from the Indians. The possibilities are limitless even after this 'business venture" goes up in flames and he sets out alone without money- the stranger riding off into the sunset. He represents toxic masculinity and the sportsman, taking and mounting on his wall the race to extinction. Others noted the boom and bust cycle mentioned in General Sherman's autobiography regarding California. We thought Schneider was a Cassandra, a significant character who was skilled and is coerced into going on the trip, whose prescient warnings are ignoring and whose satisfaction with his lot questions the the others motivation. 

Nature plays a big part in this book similar to the hurricane in Their Eyes Were Watching God. 

Native Americans are part of the scene similar to John Muir's observation in the Sierras, and Andrew wonders if they would shoot the surviving stragglers.  Ultimately the characters including the only relatable one, Francine, are all butchers going off on this adventure. Even the barbers shop harkens to "barbar"ian.The snow storm, the river, the valley with buffalo, grasslands of bones, all pointed to man's folly in trying to live aloof, not recognizing that nature bats last. By sterilizing the valley they prevent the trophic cascade that powered evolution. Our notions of beauty follows confirmation bias starting with the valley of buffalo and ending with the charred crossing. 

McDonald is Andrew's father's friend out of the Unitarian church which made him a father figure. However Andrew doesn't take his advise and follows Emerson instead earning to kill and skin from Miller. Ironically he learns he can survive nature's winter in a lean to with buffalo hides but doesn't see any significance in despoiling Eden. The novel may turn when everything turns white in the storm. As humans we collect and claim things and Miller makes the point. The fire represented new beginning for everybody and cues Andrew to ride off into the immense possibility of exploitation and murder.