Chuck Stanley was one of many aliases used by Charles Stanley Strong. Born 29 November 1906 in Brooklyn, New York, Strong went on to become a global adventurer and fiction writer. A look at his inadequate Wikipedia entry would lead you to believe he almost entirely wrote juvenile fiction. There’s no real mention of his westerns, his pulp fiction output, etc. Several of his westerns were published by Crown or Arcadia, and in both cases, their copyrights were renewed by the publisher, not the author (who was dead decades earlier by then).
Cherokee Fowler was originally published in the United States by the Phoenix Press in 1945 in hardcover format. None of the author’s works via Phoenix Press were renewed and have fallen into public domain.
Reprint rights were sold to Wells Gardner Darton & Co., and the book appeared in their Chosen Book paperback series in 1947, with an action-cover rendered by the ever-competent Reginald Mills. The art showcases a man aboard his horse, gun drawn, spitting lead, hat flying off his scalp, while chasing a wagon of some sort.
The background and entire support of the novel leans heavily on the historically controversial Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. Clay Fowler and Ranger (his horse) are riding a westbound freight train to the Cherokee Outlet. No guns are about his person as a ruffian approaches. He wants to acquire Fowler’s horse. No dice. Range ain’t for sale. Trade? Nope. Well, the rough, by the name of Pug Bates, is an outlaw and his comrades are aboard the train. Pug will stop at nothing to obtain what he can clearly see is a fine riding specimen. Fowler and Bates exchange blows. Pug goes for his guns…only Fowler has already dove for his bag and extracted his six-gun. He doesn’t kill Bates, for which the train conductor proclaims Fowler would have done the West a fine deed in gunning him down. In trade, he’s only made a lifelong enemy.
Fowler disembarks at Cherokee Outlet where the land-grab race is staged to begin. He’s on some sort of undercover mission, but his position is undisclosed to all, including the reader. Loads of shenanigans occur before the race, including rich men and callous souls attempting to purchase from poor future settlers or people with improper protection their land deeds. Graft runs rampant, and Fowler is present when an older gent plied with liquor is murdered. From his vantage point, he plops lead into the man’s skull as his reward. Fowler knows of the man’s identity, discovers the wallet missing, and informs all the other villains present that he expects the wallet to be returned. Or what!?!!? He then goes in search of the man’s family, to inform them of his death. At his wagon train, he meets the widow and daughter. The lithe 19 years old girl immediately is infatuated with the older and vastly mature Fowler. He hasn’t time for romance. Remember: he is on a mission! Fowler learns that a man by the name of Silver Dollar Welch claims to have been partnered with the late Mr. Neale. Fowler is constantly interfering in local wrongs and keeping in contact with the military in charge of the race. They know of him, but beyond that, do not seem aware of his mission either.
The race begins, and if you have ever watched a land-grab race on television or at the movies, you know it was a brutal affair. The movie I’m most familiar with is entitled Cimarron. There were two movies with that title, based upon Edna Ferber’s novel. The first was in 1931, while the second was in 1960 and starred Glenn Ford. Another movie that incorporates the land race stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, being Far and Away (1992). Yes, obviously there are other films, but that’s enough to go on.
Anyway, wheels broke, people were thrown, wagons rolled, bicyclists were ridden over, horses flailed, prairie dog holes broke horse’s legs, and people rode over anyone in their path. It was a bloody affair. Racers are thought of as Boomers, but this is incorrect. Boomers are actually those that campaigned to have the land offered freely to prospective Americans. Those that illegally crossed the starting line before the race officially began were dubbed Sooners. They rode well ahead to pitch their claims in advance or murdered the person(s) that wanted to claim the choice spots. Thus the Sooners could steal their incomplete deeds and fill them out in their name. To make matters worse, numerous Indian tribes had been relocated to Oklahoma years earlier, pushed out West from their homelands. Most don’t realize that many of these western Indian tribes came originally from as far East as the coastal states! They were “offered” concessions, but the fact is they were being robbed of lands once more.
Yes, I realize that historically a lot more was involved but I’m keeping the plot thin at this point.
Fowler has no direct interest in obtaining land for himself, but matters alter slightly when an old army man (Laddy Graham) runs into him. He’s there to settle down. Fowler wishes him luck and agrees to settle the adjoining lot. However, instead of riding Ranger, he hands his horse over to the 19 years old girl, instructing her that his horse is super-fast, trustworthy, and can keep her safe from prairie dog holes. After much debate, she accepts, races off and secures land for her family.
The novel is quite intricate, with numerous characters, villains, good guys, Indians, etc., all thrown into the mix. Too many to adequately cover here without your eyes and mine glazing over in the attempt. So, I’ll fast-forward, and try not to ruin the plot. Suffice to say, Fowler is a United States Marshal, appointed by President Grover Cleveland to watch over the territory and enforce gun-law.
Word gets to Fowler that a group of Sooners plan to murder Laddy Graham and Clay Fowler at their homestead. Riding into town, Fowler reveals his government status and obtains a posse, with some surprising people joining up that he was convinced operated on the wrong side of the law. But enlist in the posse they do and ride hard to circle the Sooners and begin a wild gunfight. During a halt of flying lead, Fowler approaches and pow-wows with Pug Bates, demanding the identity of the mysterious Sooner villain, only to be gunned down in the back by someone within the barn. Unbeknownst to the killer, Laddy Graham is hiding in the barn’s loft and dropped burnt hay on his person. Come daylight, one person has remnants of burnt hay on their back.
Silver Dollar Welch!!! Only, he pulls his death-dealer on Fowler and takes the Neale family hostage, who had ridden up during the daylight. They are unaware of what is transpiring but had been led to believe that Fowler was actually the man that murdered Mr. Neale.
When asked how Fowler knew from the start that Welch was no good, he confesses that he was onto Welch’s plans from the start. Welch had claimed to be Neale’s mysterious Eastern business partner that would meet him at the starting line, but the fact of the matter was that the business partner was actually…Clay Fowler!
Honestly, this one facet of the novel put me off. It was entirely implausible and unnecessary to have Clay Fowler be the secret business partner when he was already an undercover United States Marshal. Thankfully this tidbit occurs in the closing page and does not ruin the rest of the novel, which is excellent. I quite enjoyed the plot, the characters, the color, and the historical bits all thrown together. Its web of intrigue was excellently woven.
I’d love to know if anyone else out there has read Strong’s western stories, especially this one.
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