Dead Man's Walk

I just got done reading a book called Dead Man's Walk, by Larry McMurtry. The book is about a group of about two hundred Texas Rangers marching from Austin to Santa Fe in an attempt to annex New Mexico. A few of the things that were discussed in class reminded me of this book. First today we were discussing government sanctioned and extra-legal violence. The Ranger's "expedition" to Santa Fe in the book didn't seem to be by the order of the Texas government (I should mention that it was never very clear in the book but I believe Texas was still independent at this point). Usually when you hear about large companies of armed soldiers making a move on some territory its probably a legitimate military operation, but it just struck me as interesting that in this case that was not so. The unit's leader was called Caleb Cobb, a sort of land pirate, and it seemed that he woke up one day and decided that he wanted to take over New Mexico. I also heard somewhere that the book was based on an actual event, though I wouldn't quote that.
Anyway the second thing that got from this book was the "buddy" motif we were talking about, from The Professor's House. Here the two main characters are Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrea, and they seem to be joined at the hip. The odd thing is that their personalities are like polar opposites. Call is dependable, organized and responsible, where McCrea is just this lying, cheating lout. So in a way they cancel each other out. I thought it was a little bit like Tom Outland and Roddy, though only a little, as one was more like a dewy eyed youth and the other a responsible father figure.
There's a final thing this book reminded me of and that was the white man's view of the Native Americans, as well as Mexicans. The Rangers are under constant threat by Comanches. The book depicts them as a kind of force of nature. Many times it is brought home to Call that they are strangers in foriegn territory. The Comanches clearly know the land better and use that to their advantage. As for Texan-Mexican sympathies, the fact that a savage can get together several hundred volunteers to take over New Mexico speaks for itself. Most of the Rangers and camp followers were in it for the rumored money that was in Santa Fe. There was hardly a thought of there was an established government in New Mexico that would likely resist an invasion, nor did anyone stop to wonder if they could even take New Mexico from its owners