Jubal Sackett Summary
Louis L'Amour

Jubal Sackett Summary

One main theme of Jubal Sackett, a theme held in common with many L'Amour novels, is destiny. L'Amour does not feel sympathy for the Indians who were pushed off their lands and exterminated. Instead, he conjectures that other peoples — Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans — had come to the New World and that the Indians at best have been only temporary residents. L'Amour feels that the inexorable march of progress and civilization naturally leaves Indians behind because they can not adapt to change and have little initiative. Jubal praises the curiosity and energy of early European settlers while deprecating the abilities of the Indians: "Many acres were needed to feed even one Indian, living as they did, but men would come who would grow grain where only grass grew . . . There were too many landless ones back in Europe, too many willing to risk all to better themselves. . . ."

The Indians...

(read more from the Short Guide)