The Ox-Bow Incident (novel)
First edition
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| Author | Walter Van Tilburg Clark |
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| Genre | Western |
| Publisher | Random House |
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Publication date
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1940 |
| Pages | 309 |
The Ox-Bow Incident is a 1940 western novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark in which two drifters are drawn into a lynch mob to find and hang three men presumed to be rustlers and the killers of a local man.
Clifton Fadiman wrote an introduction to the Readers Club edition in which he called it a "mature, unpitying examination of what causes men to love violence and to transgress justice," and "the best novel of its year." In 1943, the novel was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated movie of the same name, directed by William A. Wellman and starring Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan.
The Ox-Bow Incident was Clark's first published novel.
The Ox-Bow Incident takes place in 1885, and begins with two cowboys, Art Croft and Gil Carter, riding into the town of Bridger's Wells. They go into Canby's Saloon and find the atmosphere is tense, partly due to recent incidents of cattle rustling. News is brought that a local named Kinkaid has been murdered and a large number of cattle have been stolen from Drew, the largest cattle rancher in Bridger's Wells. The townspeople begin to form a mob. Local men, Osgood and Davies send for Judge Tyler to try to defuse the situation but the rancher Tetley arrives and incites them to further action. As the mob sets out, the judge warns that the men must be brought back alive to stand trial.
The mob finds cattle bearing Drew's brand and three men sleeping on the ground around a campfire : an old, raving man named Alva Hardwick; and a Mexican named Juan Martinez, who claims to be unable to understand English and the young Donald Martin. Tetley interrogates them. Martin says that he purchased the cattle and that Drew was to send the bill of sale at a later date. No one believes him, and the mob decides that the men are to hang. The execution is postponed until dawn. Martin, as his last wish, writes a private letter to his wife, asking Davies to deliver it. Hoping to save Martin's life, Davies tries to have the everyone read the letter. When Martin learns of this, he becomes angry at Davies for the breach of his privacy. Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the argument, Martinez tries to escape, but is shot in the leg. The riders then discover that Juan is able to speak "American" and has a pistol engraved with Kinkaid's name.
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