Summary Of Cold Dish By Craig Johnson

Shots flew through the air, horses screeched, and blood splattered. It was The War on Powder River, written by Helena Huntington Smith, where independent cow herders in a battle against large corporations and other independent ranchers. It was fought over land, cattle, and reputation and it was bloody. A shot from a high caliber rifle cracked through the cold dawn, sheep scattered, and blood from a young man splattered. The killer’s shot was a hit and was written about in the fictional book Cold Dish, by Craig Johnson. Although both instances were very different, they had an abundance in common. Both settings were along the high plains around and near the Powder River, people would fight or kill to protect what it is that they believe in, and

For the folk out in the old west trying to get rich quick, it might have been lying or even murdering someone for self profit. There was really no shame in doing it and newcomers really had to watch their backs. “A good cowboy would know who not to mess with but often times new settlers in the area would start conflict with the wrong people” (Smith 54). These people who were prepared were “street” smart. By saying that they would know who and who not to be involved with you would know that they did their studying before they made the trek out west. These cowboys would be the ones that would get rich and would have the business out west for a long time. They were the ones that you would want to be like if you were going to the west to be successful. For the women out near Durant, Wyoming, it was to protect a little girl from something she was sure to experience after getting raped. The woman had gone through a similar situation when she was younger and she didn’t want the young girl to go through it to. She was, however, murdering the boys who did the raping and that is a crime. So in order to prevent herself from getting caught she, without knowing it, gave mixed signals at the crime scene. “‘It is the owl feathers that are the sign of death, the messengers from the other world. The eagle feather is a sign of life, attached to all the activities of the living’” (Johnson

They did so around the same area, the Powder River, and they did so by fighting and killing for anything that they strongly believed in and not stopping until whatever it was that they started was finished. Most people probably didn’t like living the way they did but if they wanted to stay emotionally healthy or alive they would do whatever it would take. The actions that these people made molded the current day fictional and nonfictional Powder River area and took steps into making it what it is