Days Without End

Thomas and John join the army and are sent west to California after training. They travel along the Oregon Trail, and wonder at the abandoned possessions of travelers, including a piano left in the desert. They see New Englanders heading west, Mormons headed to Utah, and Native Americans heading to reservations. The company is made up largely of older soldiers, though there is another young man named Watchorn, who tells Thomas and John about seeing buffalo stampede a mile-wide train of wagons. They crossed into grasslands, headed to receive their orders, though John overheard the major talking and learned that the officer already knew where they were going.

Two Shawnee boys encounter the company, reporting a herd of buffalo nearby. Thomas, an unlikely excellent shot since he’d never shot a gun before joining the army, is chosen to go. He knows their “work” when they reach California will be to kill Native Americans. Though the major of their company professes no prejudice against Native Americans, the sergeant, Wellington, hates them, as well as the Irish, the English, and the Germans. Thomas, John, and Watchorn go with the two Shawnee boys and come upon a herd of thousands of buffalo. The men approach quietly, getting close before the buffalo notice them and stampede. Thomas targets a cow with his rifle while one of the Shawnee, Birdsong, shoots a bull with arrows. Thomas feels a rush when he succeeds. They butcher the six buffalo they have killed, communicating via sign language. The mood around camp is celebratory due to the good food. The Shawnees celebrate nearby until Wellington threatens to shoot them.

Thomas reflects on the nature of Irishmen and recounts his own history. His father was a butter exporter in Sligo who transported goods to England. All the good products went to England, leaving only potatoes in Ireland. Without a potato crop, they starved. In 1847, Thomas’ mother and sister starved and his father lost his business, though Thomas doesn’t know how. Thomas, then 13, knew he had to flee to survive and boarded a boat to Canada. The passengers were so starved “they might eat each other in the holds,” though Thomas states he never saw any cannibalism (34). Many died on the six-week journey and, when they arrived in Canada, the Irish passengers were quarantined. This treatment makes Thomas feel like an animal. He backtracks his recollections to say that his father died too, but that conditions were so bad that Thomas wasn’t able to properly mourn. Only when he got to America and met John was he able to experience love again.

Returning to his story of his time in the army, Thomas recalls arriving at Fort Kearney (though he is uncertain that he remembers the name correctly) in northern California. Miners there were killing as many of the Yurok people who lived there as they could. When the army arrives, the miners attempt to justify this behavior by describing crimes supposedly committed by the Yurok (such as stealing a mule) or making racist generalizations about the Yurok, calling them small and ugly. The miners, led by a man named Henryson, are pleased the army has arrived and give them a keg. The soldiers get drunk.

John and Thomas encounter Major as they head to bed. Major, tongue loosened by alcohol, reveals he is angry that they have come all this way over a stolen mule; he had been led to believe settlers were being murdered. The major stumbles away, and John calls him “a good man” (28). He and Thomas retire, have sex, and sleep.

The company heads out the next morning in good spirits, traveling through the redwoods. The enormity of the trees causes the men to instinctively grow silent. They come upon a massive fire in a meadow. Henryson is there and tells them to attack the Yuroks in the copse of trees. Smoke is everywhere and Thomas is astonished by the quick brutality of the battle. The smoke clears and he’s horrified to realize they have killed women and children. He watches troopers kill babies and Watchorn and another man, Pearl, rape and then kill a woman. The slaughter continues until the major arrives and orders them to stop, horrified. The troopers retreat from the battle scene. Thomas recalls the strange feeling of alienation from themselves. The roof of the burning building collapses, revealing many dead Native American men inside. Some of the troopers celebrate, while others mourn.

The townspeople give the soldiers a feast to celebrate the killings, butchering meat that includes the dogs of the murdered Yuroks. Major detains Pearl and Watchorn at the fort and orders graves be dug and the bodies buried, though the townsfolk are surprised he bothers. Major declares that Native persons have souls like any other person. Thomas can’t think about how he feels about these mass burials, as they remind him too much of the mass death in the fever sheds in Canada. The men dig for hours, supervised by Major, who requests a priest come give a blessing to the dead but is denied by the townsfolk. Some of the men place the bodies in the graves carelessly while others, like John, place them in gently. Thomas finds himself hoping that some of the Yurok men escaped. Major gives a blessing over the dead and asks for forgiveness.

The next day, the soldiers dress as nicely as possible for the feast, brushing their uniforms and getting haircuts. They parade, impressed with their own grandeur. Major lets Watchorn and Pearl join the festivities—they are not a flight risk as there is nowhere nearby to run to—so Major elects to punish them later. Despite the celebratory mood of the day, Thomas feels sadness over the murdered Yurok people.

The older version of Thomas telling the story recalls how that era felt timeless, a feeling that no longer applies to him as he recounts his life from Tennessee. He thinks back on how handsome John was.

The company is stationed at the fort for the winter; they’ll be sent elsewhere in spring. Despite Thomas’s experiences of the Yuroks as nonviolent towards the settlers, stories are told of atrocities committed by other Native Americans. Thomas receives a letter from Noone on St. John’s Day, as promised. The winter is bitterly cold and the soldiers have little to do. Major frees Pearl and Watchorn, punishment evidently forgotten.

The snow melts, causing flooding. One morning John shakes Thomas awake as their bunks flood with filthy water. The company devolves into chaos, trying to find high ground as a massive wave of water sweeps into camp, high enough to drown the men who had taken refuge on rooftops. The tree in which John and Thomas sit bends under the weight of the water, nearly knocking them loose. Dozens drown. Soon after, a fever sweeps through camp. With their camp ruined and their cattle gone, the company are forced to return to Missouri early. They find little to eat and soon grow desperately hungry, causing Thomas to reflect on the indifference of nature. (For more on this, See: Themes: Horrors of Man Versus Indifference of Nature.)

The company passes into Apache and Comanche territory, two tribes about which they have heard stories of extreme violence. Major opines that white men and Native peoples don’t understand one another, which he considers the root of their conflict. The threat of starvation and that of the nearby Native Americans become equal to the soldiers.

The company encounters several hundred Oglala Sioux men (though called the “Oglala Sioux Tribe” at the time in which this novel takes place, the Oglala people are now formally known as “Oglala Lakota Nation”). Both the soldiers and their horses are worn down by hunger. The Oglala men watch as the company continues its progression, Wellington sings the whole time which grates at Thomas’s nerves. Ahead of them, the company spots a single Native American man on a horse, carrying a pennant. The company arranges themselves into formation, aiming muskets. The man is undeterred. Wellington wants to try shooting at him, but Major stops him. Both army and solo man stand in place as Major rides out to meet the Native man. Major returns, saying the man was just curious about their presence. Wellington makes racist comments only to be silenced when Major reveals that the Oglala are willing to share food with the company. Meat is left cooking over a fire, and the Oglala have retreated by the time the company reaches the bounty. Wellington is baffled that the Oglala left without violence, and Pearl states he “be thinking well” (51) of Native Americans after this act of generosity, which angers Wellington.

About five days ride from Missouri, an ice storm overtakes the company, causing many men to get frostbite. Watchorn suffers worst of all and must be lashed to his horse, which later leads to his death. Pearl is court-martialed for raping the Yurok woman and is executed by firing squad. John wishes to leave the army, but he and Thomas have to finish their term.