Red Saunders' Pets and Other Critters

In Short

These stories follow the adventures of Red Saunders and his associates—a motley group of ranchers, drifters, and prospectors living on the edge of the wilderness. Through a series of loosely connected vignettes, the narrator recounts bizarre battles with stubborn animals, elaborate pranks played on newcomers, and the strange, often nonsensical codes of honor that govern the West. The book endures because it captures a distinct, bygone vernacular and a rugged, irreverent humor that finds deep, genuine amusement in the chaotic reality of life on the range.

The Story

The narrative arc is less a linear progression and more a series of escalating encounters, beginning with the domestic chaos of the ranch. The narrator, a seasoned hand, introduces a world where a bulldog and a bobcat might engage in a full-scale domestic disturbance, while a lovesick cowpuncher named Oscar tries—and fails—to navigate the simple social graces of breakfast with a woman he admires. The tone is set by the narrator’s dry observation of these events, treating the sublime and the ridiculous with equal gravity.

As the stories shift from the ranch to the wider frontier, the stakes rise from domestic comedy to the high-stakes games of prospectors. We meet Agamemnon G. Jones, a man of imposing whiskers and even more imposing intellect, who specializes in "selling" worthless mines through elaborate psychological manipulation. These tales of swindles and gold-fever antics often resolve with the "marks" being left speechless, having been out-maneuvered by Agamemnon’s sheer force of personality and ridiculous logic.

The collection periodically pivots to the animal kingdom, which serves as a chaotic mirror to the men. Whether it is a "gentle" deer that proceeds to dismantle a six-foot Indian in a plug hat, a small bear fighting a house cat to a standstill, or a pig named Foxey Bill who outwits a ram in a duel near a creek, the animals are portrayed as sentient, often malicious, and deeply funny. These creatures demand respect and frequently provide the punchlines to the men’s self-important plans.

The conclusion of these adventures often sees the characters drifting toward new territory, their problems resolved by circumstance or, more likely, by the sheer exhaustion of everyone involved. One of the final, strangest arcs involves a man known as "Colin Hiccup Grunt"—a red-headed, kilt-wearing soul found knitting socks in the wilderness—who, through a series of absurd misunderstandings and a dramatic rescue, ends up leading a band of Yuma Indians. The narrator watches, bewildered, as the man marches off into the horizon, bagpipes wailing, leaving behind the remnants of his life to embrace a bizarre new destiny. The book closes not with a grand resolution, but with a shrug, acknowledging that in this version of the West, the only thing to expect is the unexpected.

How It Unfolds

The ranch setting The narrator introduces the domestic life of the ranch, where the primary conflicts involve managing temperamental animals and the awkward, stammering romance of the hands. These early stories establish the tone of constant, low-stakes chaos.

The shift to the trail As the men leave the ranch to prospect for gold, the focus turns to the art of the con. The narrator and his partner, Agamemnon, use absurd, convoluted "miner’s tricks" to fool unsuspecting travelers into buying useless land.

Encounters with the wild The narrative takes frequent detours into intense, slapstick battles between humans and animals. These beats emphasize the raw, physical reality of the frontier, where a simple chore can quickly escalate into a life-or-death wrestling match with a bear or a buck.

The strange transformation In the final movements, the focus rests on individual eccentricities, specifically the tale of a man who abandons his conventional life to become a tribal leader. The ending reflects the book's core philosophy: that people are often driven by impulses that defy rational explanation.

The People

Red Saunders, while lending his name to the collection, acts primarily as the weary but observant voice of the frontier. He is a man who has seen too much to be surprised, and his goal is simply to survive his companions' antics with his humor intact.

Agamemnon G. Jones stands out as the most vibrant character, a man whose "noble" whiskers mask a cynical, brilliant mind for manipulation. He wants to secure his fortune, yet he is constantly waylaid by his own need to perform, using complex, flowery language to trap those he deems foolish. He ends the book essentially as he began—a charming, impenetrable enigma.

Then there is the unnamed "Doctor," a fastidious rancher who just wants a productive pig but finds himself embroiled in the petty, hilarious rivalries of the livestock. He represents the frustration of trying to impose order on a chaotic world. His arc is one of gradual resignation, as he realizes his efforts to manage his environment are destined to be defeated by the very creatures he tries to domesticate.

In Its Own Voice

"A bulldog is like an Irishman; he's brave because he don't know any better, and you can't get any braver than that, but there's a limit, even to lunk-headedness."

The narrator offers this wry assessment of a dog’s fighting spirit after witnessing a ridiculous skirmish with a bobcat.

"I have noted in my travels that the person to pass immoral money on us is the agent whose mind is absorbed in selling you a diamond ring, that nothing but his desire to get rid of would drive him to sell."

Agamemnon explains his philosophy on swindling during a reflection on a deal involving counterfeit "gilded nickels."

What It's Really About

At its core, this work explores the tension between human pretension and the unyielding, indifferent reality of nature. The characters are constantly trying to impose logic, social structure, or economic ambition onto a landscape that refuses to cooperate. Whether through the "literary" language of an Indian warrior or the complex, scientific-sounding schemes of a con artist, the book argues that humanity’s greatest effort is spent building elaborate facades to hide the fact that we are, like the animals we fight, driven by simple, unvarnished instincts. It is a meditation on the absurdity of the "civilized" man lost in the wild.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate a distinct, rhythmic voice will find much to admire here. The prose is thick with the flavor of late-19th-century frontier speech, which requires a bit of patience but rewards the reader with a visceral sense of time and place. It feels like sitting by a fire while a storyteller embellishes the truth just enough to keep you laughing.

However, modern readers should be prepared for the period-typical attitudes regarding race and ethnicity. The excerpts show a world where indigenous people and immigrant groups are caricatured through the lenses of the era's prejudices—attitudes that are jarring and uncomfortable by modern standards. If one can navigate these limitations, the book offers a rare, vivid window into the myth-making of the American West. What stays with you is not just the slapstick violence or the clever cons, but the narrator’s enduring, slightly exhausted affection for his companions. It is a book for those who want to see the frontier not through a lens of heroic Manifest Destiny, but through the eyes of the fallible, eccentric people who actually lived in the dust.