Butcher’s Crossing

Butcher’s Crossing, the setting for the beginning and the end of the novel, is a fictional frontier town. The town is in Kansas, and William Andrews arrives there in search of adventures that will bring him closer to nature. In Butcher’s crossing, he meets the businessman J.D. McDonald, two hunters named Miller and Charley Hoge, a skinner Fred Schneider, and a prostitute Francine. Andrews originally comes to Butcher’s Crossing in search of J.D. McDonald, whom Andrews’ father met about a decade prior in Boston. McDonald believes that a railroad line will soon be built through Butcher’s Crossing and that the town will consequently become a bustling commercial center. However, by the time Andrews returns from his hunting expedition, it is clear that the railroad will bypass Butcher’s Crossing and that the town will soon be deserted due to an...