Brief description:
Novel about the mule Proverbio and his young packer Stephen during the 1870s Indian Wars. The historical packmaster General Crook, famed for the quality of his mule pack-trains, is a main character and the story draws on his experiences.
The campaign against the fierce Apaches in the 1870's is the setting for this exciting and likable story of a U. S. Army mule. He led one of the remarkable pack-trains which carried ammunition and rations for the troops in hard marches through the deserts and mountains of Arizona to corner and conquer raiding tribesmen.
The mule Proverbio belonged to a veteran packmaster, Fray Luis, who, buying
him to save him from a former 0wner’s cruelty, won the man’s enmity. In this
grudge and in encounters with Indians, Proverbio played far more than a passive
part. He possessed a large share of the keen intelligence of his kind and was gifted
in the use of that natural weapon, his heels. He was as devoted to his master and to his young packer, Stephen Flint, as they were to him and shared magnificently the perilous adventures they met. That smart and sturdy animal, the Amer ican mule, helped win the Indian Wars, as this tale relates. He had helped to win the Civil War and he would help to win both the First W’orld War in France and the Second by his service in the mountains of Italy and the jungles of Burma. Proverbio takes his stand firmly beside Fairfax Downey’s deservedly popular “WAR HORSE. DOG OF WAR and JEZEBEL THE JEEP.
The illustrations are some of Brown's most dramatic, action-filled pictures. Warning: some of the illustrations and text relating to the Apache Indians are now considered offensive
The campaign against the fierce Apaches in the 1870's is the setting for this exciting and likable story of a U. S. Army mule. He led one of the remarkable pack-trains which carried ammunition and rations for the troops in hard marches through the deserts and mountains of Arizona to corner and conquer raiding tribesmen.
The mule Proverbio belonged to a veteran packmaster, Fray Luis, who, buying
him to save him from a former 0wner’s cruelty, won the man’s enmity. In this
grudge and in encounters with Indians, Proverbio played far more than a passive
part. He possessed a large share of the keen intelligence of his kind and was gifted
in the use of that natural weapon, his heels. He was as devoted to his master and to his young packer, Stephen Flint, as they were to him and shared magnificently the perilous adventures they met. That smart and sturdy animal, the Amer ican mule, helped win the Indian Wars, as this tale relates. He had helped to win the Civil War and he would help to win both the First W’orld War in France and the Second by his service in the mountains of Italy and the jungles of Burma. Proverbio takes his stand firmly beside Fairfax Downey’s deservedly popular “WAR HORSE. DOG OF WAR and JEZEBEL THE JEEP.
The illustrations are some of Brown's most dramatic, action-filled pictures. Warning: some of the illustrations and text relating to the Apache Indians are now considered offensive
Publication
New York, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1945.
Collection
Physical description
192 p.; 21 inches