Ralph Neighbor

Lord Edwin's Hunt Ralph Neighbor

It is 1846, the year of the Mexican war. Lord Edwin of Drumcliffe comes from Ireland to the American frontier by way of Mexico City on a failed mission for Queen Victoria. His son, Percival, is to be made a man on this venture. Ouray, a young Ute, guides the final leg from Santa Fe to the hunting grounds, a large basin deep in the Rocky Mountains known as Bayou Salade, present day South Park, Colorado, a province of the Ute nation. On the way Percival receives a severe head injury. Percival's manservant and companion, Young Tom, dotes. Ray Dobbs, a retired trapper mountain man and guide has preceded with horses and supplies from St. Louis, charged by fate with the care of four waifs accumulated on the prairie passage. Ray greets the Earl's entourage at the Bayou and the hunting begins. The resident Ute's become alarmed at the efficiency of the killing. The story is told by the seven youngsters.