a distant trumpet Author:paul horgan Written in 1951,but a timeless read, A Distant Trumpet is — rich in dramatic action and brilliant characterizations. Memorable among the latter are Major Gen. Alexander Upton Quait, Laura's "Uncle Alex", an inventive, resourceful, Latin-quoting eccentric whose actions--including an inspection of Fort Delivery which drives Col. Prescott and his o... more »fficers nearly to distraction- are unpredictable but militarily efective: and White Horn, the Indian they call Joe Dummy, whose origins and rearing as an Apache of the Chiricahua nation make him one of the most fascinating figures of the novel.
The mark of a master story teller is visible in such episodes-to cite only three-as the strange desert fate of Sgt. Reimmers, Hiram Prescott's wartime courtship of Jessica, and Matthew's momentous mission to the Chief Rainbow Son which comes as the book's climax. This mark of mastery is so evident in all aspects of the book that one closes it with the conviction that in A Distant Trumpet, Paul Horgan has written a major American novel.« less