Cover of The Pirates of the Prairies: Adventures in the American Desert

The Pirates of the Prairies: Adventures in the American Desert

  • Free to read
  • 6 hours to read
  • 37 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"The Pirates of the Prairies: Adventures in the American Desert" by Gustave Aimard is a historical novel written in the mid-19th century. The narrative unfolds in the treacherous landscapes of the American Southwest, featuring characters including Red Cedar, a resourceful squatter and wood ranger, along with various indigenous tribes and bandits. The story promises thrilling escapades filled with danger, adventure, and cultural encounters in a time of American expansion and conflict. The opening of the novel introduces us to the vast, mysterious desert landscape and highlights the tension between settlers and indigenous peoples, as well as the dangers that a lone traveler like Red Cedar faces. In a moment of desperation, Red Cedar finds himself unarmed and stranded in the desert, evoking a sense of vulnerability amid the wild surroundings. His encounter with a hidden cache of weapons offers him a glimmer of hope. This sets the stage for his ensuing journey, where themes of survival, the fight for freedom, and the clash of civilizations become apparent. Additionally, the story teases complex character interactions as conquests and alliances unfold, particularly with the mention of the bandits and indigenous tribes that populate this tumultuous world.

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  • Fiction
  • Western stories

Read the opening

Chapter I

THE CACHE.

Two months have elapsed since we left the Trail-Hunter commencing his adventurous journey, and we are in the heart of the desert. Before us immensity is unfolded. What pen, however eloquent, would venture to describe those illimitable oceans of verdure to which the North Americans have in their imagery, given the poetic and mysterious name of the Far West? That is to say, the truly unknown region, with its scenes at once grand and striking, soft and terrible; unbounded prairies in which may be found that rich and luxuriant Flora, against whose magic growth only the Indian can successfully struggle.

These plains, at the first glance, offer the dazzled eye of the rash traveller who ventures on them a vast carpet of verdure embossed with flowers, furrowed by large streams; and they appear of a desperate regularity, mingling in the horizon with the azure of the sky.

It is only by degrees, when the sight grows accustomed to the picture, that, gradually mastering the details, the visitor notices here and there rather lofty hills, the escarped sides of the water courses, and a thousand unexpected accidents which agreeably break that monotony by which the eye is at first saddened, and which the lofty grass and the giant productions of the Flora completely conceal.

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Contents

Show all 37 chapters
  1. Preface
  2. Chapter I
  3. Chapter II
  4. Chapter III
  5. Chapter IV
  6. Chapter V
  7. Chapter VI
  8. Chapter VII: Ellen and DoÑa Clara
  9. Chapter VIII
  10. Chapter IX
  11. Chapter X
  12. Chapter XI
  13. Chapter XII
  14. Chapter XIII
  15. Chapter XIV
  16. Chapter XV
  17. Chapter XVI
  18. Chapter XVII
  19. Chapter XVIII
  20. Chapter XIX
  21. Chapter XX
  22. Chapter XXI
  23. Chapter XXII
  24. Chapter XXIII
  25. Chapter XXIV
  26. Chapter XXV
  27. Chapter XXVI
  28. Chapter XXVII
  29. Chapter XXVIII
  30. Chapter XXIX
  31. Chapter XXX
  32. Chapter XXXI
  33. Chapter XXXII
  34. Chapter XXXIII
  35. Chapter XXXIV
  36. Chapter XXXV
  37. Chapter XXXVI

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About this edition

This free edition of The Pirates of the Prairies: Adventures in the American Desert by Gustave Aimard comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #42117, released 2013-02-17. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Historical Novels, Adventure.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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