Pea Eye Parker

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Pea Eye Parker is a fictional Texas Ranger appearing in three books in Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove series.

[edit] Comanche Moon

Pea Eye is played by Troy Baker in the film version of Comanche Moon. In this volume, he, Gus McCrae, Woodrow F. Call, and Joshua Deets are led by Captain Inish Scull on a mission to catch Kicking Wolf, until Kicking Wolf steals his horse, and Scull sets out alone, promoting Gus and Call to Captains on the spot. At Governor Elisha M. Pease's orders--which are themselves under pressure from Scull's wife, Inez--Gus and Call lead an expedition to rescue Captain Scull and bring him back home.

In this volume, Pea Eye is described as preferring Woodrow F. Call's company to that of Augustus McCrae, although he is good friends with both. Like Call, Pea Eye is fairly task-oriented, and their interactions are fairly focused in that regard. Gus, on the other hand, will talk his ear off, and frequently jokes about serious, sometimes gruesome things like death and scalpings, and Pea Eye can never be sure if he is serious or not.

[edit] Lonesome Dove

Pea Eye is played by Tim Scott in the film version of Lonesome Dove. In this volume, he accompanies Gus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call, along with Joshua Deets, on their cattle drive up to Montana. He accompanied Gus in his scout trip to find a good piece of land to build their ranch on, and was with him when he was fatally shot by the Indians. He and Gus were surrounded by the Indians in a creek, unable to escape, until Gus drew their fire and told Pea Eye to hed back to the herd and bring help. Gus was eventually found by a doctor, who lent him a horse to ride into the nearest town. Pea Eye wandered for several days and got lost, but found his way in the right direction with the help of the spectral image of Deets, who had himself been killed by Indians a few days before. Whether Pea Eye truly saw Deets, or was simply hallucinating, has never been explained. Call was able to find Pea Eye, however, and sets out after Gus, finding him on his deathbed in a nearby town. While waiting for spring to arrive, so he could take Gus's corpse back to Texas to bury, Call stayed with the company, and with Pea Eye's help, built the ranch they had come to Montana to create. Call leaves Pea Eye behind in Montana to help Newt run the ranch.

[edit] Streets of Laredo

Pea Eye is played by Sam Shepard in the film version of Streets of Laredo. In this book, several years have passed since Lonesome Dove. Newt is killed by the Hell Bitch, and the cattle company is dissolved. Pea Eye moves back to Texas, and Lorena Wood moves with him to the panhandle, marries him, and finds work as a schoolteacher. Woodrow Call hires himself out as a bounty hunter. Pea Eye still serves as his Corporal, but is under pressure from Lorena to stay home and care for his family. In this instance, Call is hired by the railroad to track down and kill Joey Garza, who has been killing train passengers. Pea Eye initially begs off, but his guilt eats at him so much that Lorena tells him to follow the captain. He meets up with Famous Shoes, who helps him find Captain Call. Call is accompanied by Deputy Sherrif Ted Plunkert, whom he recruited from a local town, and Ned Brookshire, who represents the railroad. After hearing that the pyromaniac Mox Mox is still alive, Call splits apart from his companions to go kill him. After fatally wounding Mox Mox and saving two young children from him, Call meets up with Lorena, and takes her with him to rendezvous with Pea Eye in Mexico. Call, however, falls prey to a trap laid by Joey Garza, who shoots him in the leg. Lorena has to cut his leg off and drag him to Mexico behind her horse. This leaves Call in no condition to confront Joey Garza. Plunkert leaves the company after learning his wife has died, only to be killed by thieves. Brookshire is killed by Joey Garza, leaving only Pea Eye and Famous Shoes to confront Joey. Pea Eye receives a message from Joey, delivered by Famous Shoes, that Joey will spare him if he gives up his boots. Pea Eye gives his boots to Famous Shoes, but also uses Famous Shoes to lure Joey out of hiding, and provide Pea himself with a weapon. Their employer, Ned Brookshire, was killed in possession of a large shotgun, and Pea Eye figures he needs both to kill Joey. He has Famous Shoes pause on the way to Joey, stopping at Brookshire's corpse so that Pea Eye will know where the shotgun is. As Joey approaches Famous Shoes to take the boots, Pea Eye comes out shooting. Joey wounds him in an arm and leg, but Pea Eye is still able to make use of the shotgun, and seriously wound Joey, who retreats to his mother's house, where Woodrow Call and Lorena are staying as well. Famous Shoes also goes ahead to Maria Garza's house to bring Lorena to her husband. In their absence, Joey returns and attempts to drown his younger siblings. Maria comes out to try to stop him, but he fatally stabs her, before being fatally shot himself by local townsmen. After Maria's death, Pea Eye and Lorena end up allowing Call to live with them, and adopt Maria's children.