Sackett

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The Sackett family is a fictional American family featured in a number of western novels, short stories and historical novels by American writer Louis L'Amour.

1 Background
2 Sackett, the novel
3 The Sackett Companion
4 Sackett's Land, the novel
5 The real Sackett Family
6 Characters in mainstream novels
7 List of Sackett novels
8 See also

[edit] Background

The novels trace much of the history of family through individual members of the family as they move across the Atlantic from England, settle in the Appalachians, and then move west to the Great Plains, the Rockies, and California. Unlike novels by such writers as James A. Michener, these stories do not trace the rise and fall of the fortunes of a clan or extended family, but simply tie together significant and minor characters in various of the western novels.

L'Amour's Sackett family originates in The Fens of Cambridgeshire in East Anglia. The patriarch of the family, Barnabas Sackett, becomes a merchant captain and eventually settles with his wife Abigail (nee Tempany) in what will become the borderlands of North Carolina and Tennessee. The family quickly divides into three clans, sired by several of their sons: the "Clinch Mountain Sacketts", "the Cumberland Hills Sacketts", and the "Flatlands Sacketts." It is the Cumberland Hills Sacketts that produce some of L'Amour's most memorable and beloved characters, including William Tell "Tell" Sackett and his brothers Tyrel and Orrin, of the novel "Sackett" (see below) and others.Orrin was a lawyer,and Tyrel became a respected rancher and lawman, often simply known as the "Mora Gunfighter" after the town he settled in.

The main theme that runs through most of the Sackett books is that of loyalty to the family and helping the family when beset by foes. "When you step on the toes of one Sackett,they all come running." The deadly Sackett-Higgins feud in Tennessee lasted years.

The Clinch Mountain boys tend to be rougher. The twins, Nolan and Logan have hired out their guns, held up a stage or two, but are decent men. Logan came to the aid of Emily Talon, herself a Sackett by birth, in Colorado.

Two other families whose members L'Amour wrote about, and whose families have rubbed shoulders at different times over the three centuries his novels cover, are the Chantry and Talon families, with Borden Chantry and Milo Talon being contemporaries of Tell Sackett.

[edit] Sackett, the novel

The first-written (published 1960) of the Sackett novels, although not the first in time. It tells the story of William Tell Sackett. Tell is a Union Army veteran who makes his way West in the years following the War, hoping to settle down at the right place as a rancher. He is the main character in several other Sackett books including Mohave Crossing, The Lonely Men, Treasure Mountain, and The Sackett Brand, among others. He is the brother of Tyrel and Orrin Sackett, who went west to New Mexico circa 1870-1872.

L'Amour confirmed to Dr. John Sackett that he found the name on Sackett's Well in a place west of Yuma. The desert watering hole was named for cavalry Lt. Delos B. Sackett who was an Indian fighter in the region before the Civil War. L'Amour has used names and places that roughly parallel a real branch of the Sackett Family, but the accounts are fictional.

[edit] The Sackett Companion

This non-fiction book, published in 1988 a few months after Louis L'Amour's death, is his personal guide to the Sackett novels, with long lists of characters, locations, ships, weapons, and summaries of each of the novels.

[edit] Sackett's Land, the novel

Sackett's Land, published in 1975, is the first novel in time of the Sackett novels, and takes place around AD 1600, in England (including The Fens and Queen Elizabeth I's London), on the Atlantic Ocean, and the Atlantic Seaboard of North America, particularly in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras. The main character and narrator is Barnabas Sackett, son of Ivo Sackett, a mercenary and freeholder.

[edit] The real Sackett Family

The real Sackett family originated in England in the Isle of Thanet, Kent, probably at Sackett's Hill in the parish of St Peter's. The earliest record is that of William Saket of Southborough, St Peter in Thanet, who, in 1317, was in a legal dispute with the Abbot of St Augustine.

The Sacketts were among the first colonists of America, with Simon Sackett arriving at the Massachusetts Bay Colony just a few months after the Winthrop Fleet of 1630, and John Sackett, possibly a nephew of Simon, arriving in New Haven sometime before 1641.

Derived from the website of The Sackett Family Association[1]; see also the Sackett One-Name Study [2].

[edit] Characters in mainstream novels

Barnabas Sackett- The founding member of the Sackett clan. Travels to the New World to escape the warrant of the Queen. Killed by Seneca Indians.

Kin Ring Sackett- First son of Barnabas Sackett, born on a buffalo robe in the heat of battle. First Sackett born in the New World.

Yance Sackett- Third son of Barnabas Sackett. Best known for his quick temper and strength and want of action. Founder of Clinch Mountain Branch of Sacketts.

Jubalain Sackett (Jubal)- Youngest Son of Barnabas Sackett. First Sackett to cross the mountains and see the plains. Known as the quiet one, he is a ghost in the woods. Spends much time away from home and eventually quits the hills of North Carolina for the Rocky Mountians. Marries an Indian princess.

Echo Sackett- Only female member of the Sackett clan to narrate a story. Aunt of Tell, Orrin and Tyrel.

Willaim Tell Sackett (Tell)- Oldest son of Colburn Sackett ("Ride the Dark Trail" section of "The Sackett Companion"). Fought for the Union in the War Between the States. Quiet man that likes to be left alone; it takes much to anger Tell, but he will fight if pushed.

Tyrel Sackett- Third son of Colburn Sackett. Known as the "mean one" or the "black sheep". Quick with a gun and thinks things through. Marries the daughter of a rich Spanish don.

Orrin Sackett- Second son of Colburn Sackett. Likes people and tries to see the best of them. Believes that most people like him, however he can be a bit niave at times.

Logan Sackett- Twin brother of Nolan Sackett. Comes from the Clinch Mountain branch of Sacketts. A bit rougher than Tell or Tyrel, he is nonetheless a decent man. Comes to the aid of his aunt, Emily Talon.

Nolan Sackett- Twin Brother of Logan Sackett. Comes from the Clinch Mountain Branch of Sacketts. Like his brother, he is rough generally, but has a sense of right and wrong. Wears two six-shooters.

Orlando Sackett (Lando)- Son of Falcon Sackett. One of the last Sacketts to move west. Spents six years in a Mexican prison. Becomes a well-known fist-fighter and boxer.

Falcon Sackett- Father of Orlando Sackett. Formerly captain of a ship. Finds a lost treasure of great value and runs for over five years to avoid capture.

Flagan Sackett- Brother of Galloway Sackett. One of the younger Sacketts. Has a strong will to survive. Rarely found far from his brother.

Galloway Sackett- Brother of Flagan Sackett. Tall and handsome, nearly fearless in the face of danger. Known to brace danger and live.

[edit] List of Sackett novels

All the Sackett Novels are told from the first-person perspective with some stories having a paragraph or two told through a third-person perspective. The following list is of all 17 novels that were completed during Mr. L'Amour's lifetime. The names that are ajoined to each title tells through whose perspective the story is told. Other Sackett Novels are frequently mentioned through passing and other Sackett characters are also mentioned in several of the novels.