“A great name, sir.”
“Yes - a very great name, but now I have another. Who knows? Perhaps in time - if I have sons—?”
“Yes, sir. Another great name.”
“Man lives by accomplishment, Patrick, not upon the past. We can be proud of whence we came, but it is where we are going that matters.”
“Yes, sir, you will walk this morning, sir?”
Some of the interlocking aspects of the Three Families stories were as much for my father’s amusement as they were for his audience. The wreckage of the ship which Tatton Chantry glimpses in the beginning of Fair Blows the Wind was also supposed to be the spot where Barnabas Sackett has the fight with the alligator in Sackett’s Land. Indeed, in some future story Louis intended that we would learn how the wreck got there and discover that its presence was related to the original Talon.
Even if it was only an inside joke, fans caught on to it quickly and wrote to Louis asking if the vessel was supposed to be the vessel from Sackett’s Land. The following note proves them right, no matter how coy my father’s answers may have been:
Tatton Chantry comes upon a wrecked galleon and a girl of Spanish-Inca ancestry
Suppose the Galleon was the Talon ship?
Sackett found it in 1600
Check dates on Tatton & Talon
Converting his audience from readers of Westerns into people who would accept anything he wrote was both a subtle and audacious plan. The most ambitious part was that it was destined to take years of work, and Dad was already in his sixties when he started. By the time of his death Louis had definitely succeeded—he was able to turn his efforts in the thriller, historical novel, and science fiction genres into bestsellers. But the path was not always easy or entirely clear.
Below are two of his replies to fans who complained about how different Fair Blows the Wind was from what they had expected. These letters are notable in that you can see Dad experimenting with how to defend his choices, and how he used the experience, despite fans’ complaints, to plan and promote additional elements in the series:
October 23, 1978
Dear XXXXX:
I regret very much that you did not like FAIR BLOWS THE WIND. Unfortunately, I must do some further stories in that vein, although only a few. When I began the stories of the west I began to receive many letters from people asking who the pioneers were, where they came from, and why not some stories about their ancestors? I had long planned that very thing, for the west was not just a place in Limbo, it was a place from which people came and where they went, and they were of all kinds and walks of life.
[…]
Most of my stories will be laid in the American west, but some of them will not. Fortunately, I have two [Westerns] coming out in January, one hard-cover (in paper toward the end of the year) and the other in paper. The first is BENDIGO SHAFTER, the second THE PROVING TRAIL.
Many of the seeds of the future are sewn [sown] in the early books. Tatton Chantry will have two grandsons who return to this country, and a great-grandson who will come up through Mexico to hunt buffalo on the plains.
Our own ancestors, yours and mine, contributed to the kind of people who came west, many brought with them the codes of behavior, the ideas, etc. they had in Europe. The west was not just a place of cowboys and Indians, not just a never-never land. It had reality, and it had a past as well, and a future. The people of my stories try to show you the kind they were.
Yet I would have thought, coming from Jacksonville, or living there at least, that you would have been interested. FAIR BLOWS takes place along that very coast near where you now live. As for me, I enjoyed writing it, and stepping back into those years, now so long ago when men and women lived in another way, but dreamed the same dreams.
Sincerely,
Louis L’Amour
October 17, 1980
Dear XXXXX:
I believe the picture on the cover of FAIR BLOWS THE WIND revealed very much the sort of book it was. In any event, please do not believe that all my books are about the west, for a good many are not. The above book tells how the ancestor of several of my characters arrived in the United States. His descendants appear in THE FERGUSON RIFLE, OVER ON THE DRY SIDE, BORDEN CHANTRY and NORTH TO THE RAILS, to name a few.
[…]
I have many stories to tell, and shall tell them, wherever they come from, whatever they are. I do not intend to restrict myself and never have. I began writing stories about the Far East, and I shall write some more about the same are [area]. My first movie was about Sumatra and called EAST OF SUMATRA.
Several of my short stories about China appear in YONDERING.
Long ago I wrote SITKA, about the purchase of Alaska from Russia, and I have written SACKETT’S LAND and TO THE FAR BLUE MOUNTAINS that begin in England and come to America.
You say the blurb on the cover was misleading—I do not think so. There is not a single word in the blurb you enclosed that would lead you to believe the story is od [of] the west…Please: continue to read my books but if the non-western displeases you, glance through the book first for some of them will not be western.
[…]
I have lived many lives and travelled in many places and when the mood is on me, I wish to write of them. I shall always write most of the west for I love it and spend much of my time on its deserts and in its mountains. But we all had pasts, our people came from many lands and had lived before this. What they left behind is a story, too.
Soon I shall do a book about the first Talon, who won his name the hard way, who was a pirate, and only at the end comes to America to settle in the Gaspe with his ill-gotten gains. A descendant of his marries a Sackett, and long before that, a Chantry.
[…]
Nowhere did I kneel down and bow my head and swear to write nothing but westerns and when I write it must be what’s in the wind for me, or what I feel in the rain, and sometimes I have old memories of nights at sea as well as nights on the desert, a bucking ship’s wheel in the hands can be as exciting as a bucking horse, and both had a part in building our country.
My next story is about mining, the discovery of Silver in THE COMSTOCK LODE, and a Cornish miner and a beautiful actress and some unpleasant characters, some of whom are true people. It is more than twice as long as most of my books, but you might like it. It is a book about the west, even if not the usual west.
Also, I am almost frightened to suggest it, I shall do another story about Tatton Chantry, and what happened after when the beautiful woman reappears to find out what happened to her jewels. And then about Tatton’s grandsons who came from Ireland to America, and what happened after.
Then on[e] day I shall do a story of the Revolution and how a Sackett, a Chantry and a Talon each took part and how they brushed elbows and parted.
There will be a story about a girl Sackett—
Many others, but I do not promise they will all be stories of the west, although many will, and some grand stories, too!!
All the best,
Louis L’Amour
Dad set up a number of threads in Fair Blows the Wind which he intended to pay off with at least one more book featuring Tatton Chantry. That did not necessarily mean he knew the exact story he was going to tell; many times he created situations that were more a challenge to his future self than a solution to any problem. Here is a list of questions that Louis knew he had to answer in the prospective sequel:
What was mystery woman doing? Who was she? Why must she escape England?
Who was white-haired man?
What of Tatton’s mysterious friend?
Who was original Chantry?
The “mystery woman” is the lady from the carriage who enlists Tatton’s help to invest her money, then disappears. The “white-haired man” is the mysterious and de
adly patron of Rafe Leckenbie. “Tatton’s mysterious friend” is probably Jacob Binns, and the “original Chantry” must be the dying man whose name “our” Tatton Chantry took when he had to hide among the English.
Digging further into the notes, it becomes clear that Louis wanted also to introduce a couple of new characters who would act as protagonists in upcoming stories. The first is one of the Irish mercenaries, or “Wild Geese,” like Hugo O’Connor, the other an illicit “Hedgerow Teacher.” Some histories present these teachers as hunted by the British in order to deny an education, or at least education on certain subjects, to the Irish peasants. These two young men are sometimes referred to as cousins or even the sons or grandsons of Tatton Chantry. The following is from a note about the “Wild Goose” character returning from the wars:
Warn him on landing of trouble for his cousin, a hedgerow teacher. He rescues him and [there] is some quotation from the classics as they fight. He must see a girl…More amused sarcasm…
Wild escape—separated so [they] arrive in America separated.
One to grasp after new found land, imprisoned by fishermen.
Other comes to aid with crew…
Because the Chantry name is adopted, a cousin would either be from Tatton’s wife’s family or from Spain or Peru, or would be associated with Tatton’s unnamed line of Irish royalty who escaped the British. Here is another set of notes on the opening of the sequel:
Chantry II
Open with typical dinner with wild geese home from the wars, etc.
A hedgerow teacher escaping from British.
When all are gone he finds a note summoning him to a meeting - in a feminine hand.
Meeting at midnight in lonely ruin - a beautiful woman.
He gives an accounting. She is well pleased.
White-haired man appears (From Fair Blows?) seeking information. Threatens Tatton…
Chantry plans for escape.
Who was original Tatton Chantry?
What had C. [Chantry] done in taking name?
He visits London to use what influence he can develop - his wife with him?
He finds aid in high places.
Dett Kober […]
Jacob Binns […]
You can see the idea was to start with the mysterious woman from the carriage right off. The “plans for escape” may relate to either her escape, the escape of the Hedgerow Teacher, or both. Chantry himself does not seem to have any problems that would require him to get away or that would make leaving England or Ireland much of a problem. However, other notes continue to reference an “escape” in relationship to his name, so maybe something was planned.
Obviously, Louis was considering a plot where the history of the original, and long-dead, Tatton Chantry plays a significant role. If you remember, Dett Kober was the emissary of the Queen who tried to take young Tatton from Fergus MacAskill. Louis may be suggesting that either Dett or the next person listed here, Jacob Binns, might help Tatton find those friends in high places. Binns supposedly had connections to a group like the Freemasons. The British Masonic lodge was not publicly formed until 1717. Like many, however, my father believed that Freemasonry existed as a true secret society for a long time prior to that.
An interesting note on Fergus MacAskill: In creating the character, Dad was having some fun playing with my mother’s genealogy. Part of her family were MacAskills, one of the more famous members being the “Cape Breton Giant” Angus MacAskill, who at 7-foot-9 and nearly 500 pounds performed as a circus strongman with P. T. Barnum and even made it into Guinness World Records.
Dad was also intending to use Tatton’s wife a good deal more than the slight reference above indicates. He wanted to establish her as a character adept at political intrigue and to utilize her Incan heritage in some interesting, but yet-to-be-disclosed, manner.
Some additional notes wrap up all that is known about the sequel. They start with the plot to help the mysterious woman escape:
Needs money he has invested, also passage to America (Indies?)
He arranges, old ship captain friend at other friends pub. Smuggles her away across river-mouth.
Pursuit - white-haired man - Chantry gets woman away - wife warns - he goes to London where she says he is - establishes old contacts - meets white-haired man - He knows something about original Tatton. “But he would have been an older man.[“] Original [was the] heir to vast fortune - meets [the original] Tatton’s sister who insists he claim estate. Original Tatton has left papers, Chantry has them. Has Peter Tallis investigate. [Peter Tallis is a character who shows up in the early Sackett books.]
Present pic of London at the time, people, coffee houses, taverns, plays, customs, etc. Draw characters with care. Old friend show up - (secret society)
Tatton’s sister greets him before others as his sister. Challenged by enemy who doubt[s] it -
(Weave woman who escapes into future story with Chantry’s grandson & nephew.)
Shall he claim estate?
Why does she want him to?
Perhaps she reaches him with plea to take possession. Briefs him on what he should know.
Maybe she cannot inherit unless he does? She is superb actress. She plays part well.
I suspect that, had these trains of thought continued, the character of the “mysterious woman” might well have ended up being combined with the original Tatton Chantry’s sister. It would explain her seeking him out, especially if she knows the secretly noble background of “our” Chantry.
Ultimately, once Tatton’s sons or cousins emigrated to the New World, the plan was to have later members of the family involved in a plot that would touch on the history of the French and Indian War and the historical struggle between Governor John Penn, Benjamin Franklin, and others to protect the Conestoga Indians from a vigilante army known as the Paxton Boys.
Moving on, Dad planned to use a Chantry and a Sackett in a book about the American Revolution before the series connected back to Ronan Chantry, the protagonist of The Ferguson Rifle. From there the series could quickly join the main stream of his traditional Westerns through the pages of a novel he had planned called “Cibolero” that was to take place on the plains of New Mexico in the days when the Spanish hunted buffalo with lances. The Chantrys, it seems, were destined to continue their connection to Spain and Spanish America.
* * *
—
Planning out all these possibilities was certainly fun and exciting, and Dad was forever creating more work than he would ever be able to complete, but the path to getting the books he was writing through the publishing process, and the various personalities found there, was occasionally a rocky one.
In May of 1977, Dad finished writing the novel that would become Fair Blows the Wind. By the end of the month it had been received by Bantam Books, and a month or so later the editorial department had returned the marked-up pages for approval. And that’s when a situation that had been brewing for a few years…well, it kind of blew up. The following letter is to Marc Jaffe, editorial director at Bantam:
July 16, 1977
Dear Marc:
Tomorrow I leave for Durango but I shall attempt to reach you by telephone first.
FAIR BLOWS THE WIND (I like the sound of that better than FAIR BLOW THE WINDS) has been delayed because I had to [go] over it, page by page. What was sent me was not an editing job but a re-write, and I did not like it.
Time and again there were purely arbitrary changes in wording, phrases and [sentences] padded, and sometimes trite phrases that I would never use. I do not like to make waves but only to get on with the job.
After this, Marc, I want each story sent to me before it goes into galleys. I want editing, not re-writing or re-phrasing. In the past I have had readers write to me about errors in the [text] and now I see how they came to be.
On several occasions I found errors that were not in my story.
At one point Chantry asks some castaways if their ship sank. Your editor has altered my wording and written: “She did.” As a matter of fact, she did not sink. I had it that she was or seemed to be in a sinking condition.
Early on in the book my protagonist, as a boy, is escaping. He hits a pursuer on the head with a rock. I said merely that, but I wrote: “I was not the first man to flee my island home nor would I be the last.” Your editor has added “Nor was I the first to kill.” I had said nothing about anybody being killed. Later on he carries the idea on further.
Some of the changes are purely arbitrary, such as “A man who has nothing must follow chance wherever it takes him.” And it has been altered to: “A man who has nothing must follow the vagaries of opportunity wherever they may take him.”
That isn’t editing, Marc, that is rewriting and I think “chance” is simpler and more expressive than “vagaries of opportunity.”
I want to write, Marc, not go through this sort of thing. I want scripts edited, not re-written, and if the English is bad, the tense if wrong, etc. I want it changed. But I want to [do the] rewriting.
At one point I say “the future was doubtful.” Your editor has changed it to “the future was nothing if not doubtful” which again, is not editing, but adding unnecessary words and a trite, much-used phrase that never made sense, anyway.
I have “Here the trees grew down to the water.” It has been changed to “Here the grove of trees grew down to the water.”
It was not a grove, Marc, but the edge of the forest.
My protagonist kicks a boot toe into a shell-mound, but the editor has changed it to a “booted foot” which could not be done. The only thing you can kick a booted foot into is probably very soft mud.
I have “At least I knew enough to gather leaves for a bed.” It has been changed to: “At least [I] knew enough this night to gather leaves for a bed.” Why “this night”? Didn’t he know enough to gather them on any other night?
Fair Blows the Wind Page 30