Dead Man's Walk Trivia Quiz

Answer: A whore

Matilda Roberts was "known throughout south Texas as the Great Western . . . almost as large as the skinny little Mexican mustang Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call were trying to saddle-break". We see, throughout the course of their journeys, that Matty's spirit is as large as her body.

Answer: Buffalo Hump

This is their first encounter with the big Comanche, but not the last.

Answer: A cyclone

The boys and Matty wait out the cyclone in a buffalo wallow.

Not far away, they come upon a small homestead that was destroyed by the storm: "'Where's my roof, dammit?' the young man said. 'It was here and now it's gone. I worked a week on my roof - now I guess it's blown plumb over into the woods.'
...'That's enough cussing, Roy,' the young woman said. 'We got visitors, and the children don't need to hear you cussing just because the cabin got blown away. We can build another cabin.'"

Answer: Clara

Gus meets Clara Forsythe, the love of his life, working in her father's store.

"...she thrust the wadded-up paper from the doctor's package into his hand.
'Here, dispose of this, sir,' she said, with a fetching smile.
'Do what?' Gus asked, paralyzed with anxiety lest he do something wrong and scare the girl away - though, he had to admit, she didn't look easily scared.
'Dispose of this paper - I can see that you're tall, but I don't know if you're useful,' the girl said. 'I'm Clara, who are you?'"

It looks like Clara set the tone for their whole relationship, right off the bat.

Answer: Cobb shoots him

"'I won't do it, Colonel - I'll resign first,' Captain Falconer said.
In a motion no one saw clearly, Caleb Cobb drew his pistol and fired point-blank at Captain Falconer. The bullet took him in the forehead, directly above his nose.
'You're resigned, Captain,' Caleb said."

This is one of our first indications that Cobb is not really interested in running things according to strict military procedure.

Answer: The Indians set fire to the prairie

They manage to hide from the fire in the canyon. However, when they crawl back out afterwards, more than twenty men are missing, including Black Sam, their cook and doctor. Their extra ammunition exploded in the fire, almost all of their horses are gone, and they have lost most of their supplies. They are in real trouble.

Answer: They are put in chains

"They turned to see ten muskets pointed at them. A little group of militia had been hiding behind one of the adobe houses. The man who spoke stood somewhat to the side. He wore a military cap, and had a thin mustache.
...'I am Captain Salazar,' the man said. 'Lay down your weapons, and you will come to no harm.'"

Answer: A bear attacks

In the confusion, the Rangers manage to escape. They stumble their way back to the main group, only to find that it is considerably smaller. There are only forty three men left - nearly two hundred left Austin.

Answer: Call

"It was infuriating to have their own leader simply walk into a fancy tent with a fat general and surrender, without giving any of his men a chance to have their say.
...'We'll be prisoners, you mean?' Call asked. 'You mean we've marched all this way just to be prisoners?'"

I found it interesting to see how the character of Woodrow Call in this book foreshadows so closely the man he is to become. In his disgust and rage at the mismanagement of the expedition, we can see the careful Ranger, and conscientious leader, he will grow to be.

Answer: Shot by Mexican soldiers

After the surrender, Cobb and the General leave in a buggy, off to Santa Fe to meet the Governor. The rest of the Texans follow, escorted by Salazar's troops.
Before long they come upon the burnt out buggy, and the body of the General - they had been attacked by Apaches. Cobb was not killed by the Indians; however, he was blinded, his eyes put out by cactus thorns.
Captain Salazar knows that he cannot take a wounded blind man with him on the terrible journey that lies ahead, across the Jornada del Muerto. He gives Cobb his pistol, so he can commit suicide.

"Caleb immediately turned the pistol on Salazaar and shot him - the Captain fell backward, clutching his throat.
'Rush 'em, boys - get their guns,' Caleb said. 'I'll take down a few.'
But in his blindness, Caleb Cobb fired toward the Texans, not the Mexicans. Two shots went wild, while the Texans ducked.
...Before Caleb could fire a fourth time, the Mexican soldiers recovered from their shock and cut him down."

Shadrach is killed by one of Cobb's stray bullets.

Answer: Sends him back to Santa Fe in disgrace

"'Major, I have no horses,' (Salazar) said. 'Am I to walk to Santa Fe? I am a captain in the army.'
'A disgraced captain,' Major Laroche said. "You walked here. Walk back.'
'Alone?' Salazar asked.
'No, you can take your soldiers,' Major Laroche said. 'I don't want them - they stink. If I were you I would take them to the river and bathe them before you leave.'
'We have little ammunition,' Salazar said. 'If we leave here without horses or bullets, Gomez will kill us all.'
The priest had come out of the little church. He stood with his hands folded into his habit, watching.
'Ask that priest to say a prayer for you, ' Major Laroche said. 'If he is a good priest his prayer might be better than bullets or horses.'
'Perhaps, but I would rather have bullets and horses,' Salazar said.
Major Laroche didn't answer. He had already turned his horse."

Answer: French

"Gus was puzzled by the fact that a Frenchman was leading a company of Mexican cavalry.
'Why would a Frenchie fight with the Mexicans?' he asked. 'I know there's lots of Frenchies down in New Orleans, but I never knew they went as far as Mexico.'
'Money, I expect,' Bigfoot said. 'I never made much money fighting - I've mostly done it for the sport, but plenty do it for the pay.'"

Colonel Laroche is a nasty character, and a fool, too. It is his bad judgement, in drilling his troops while the Texans were bathing, that led to the misunderstanding that killed most of the Texans.

"Wesley Buttons, the youngest and most excitable of the three Buttons brothers, happened to glance ashore just as the cavalry was advancing with their muskets ready. Seeing the advancing Mexicans convinced Wesley that massacre was imminent.
...'Run, boys, they mean to shoot us all,' he yelled..."

Answer: Call

"Call didn't trust the beans either, but he didn't intend to stay like a coward and wait for someone to move - so he stepped forward, in front of the table that held the bowl. A soldier with a black bandanna in his hand stood near the table.
'Ah, good - our first volunteer,' the Major said."

Call picks a white bean, meaning he will live. Bigfoot goes next and picks a black bean. Brognoli, Wesley Buttons, Long Bill and Gus also pick white beans. Now there are five men and Matty, all that is left of the expedition.

Answer: Leprosy

"When the Texans entered Lady Carey's room they were shocked to see Matilda Roberts, pink-faced and with wet hair, in a clean white smock, sitting on a stool eating biscuits.
Beside her, in a chair, was the lady in black, the one who had sung so movingly over their fallen friends. Gus had hoped to get a glimpse of her face but he was disappointed. Lady Carey was triply veiled, and the veils were black. Nothing showed at all, not her hair, not her face, not her feet, which were in sharp-toed black boots."

Answer: A snake

Perhaps the strongest image of this strong and vivid novel is that of Lady Carey, her naked body ravaged by leprosy, singing Verdi as she rides past the Comanches, with her snake coiling over her shoulders.