Lonesome Dove

Lonesome Dove

by

Larry McMurtry

July Johnson Character Analysis

July Johnson is the sheriff of Fort Smith, Arkansas, the newlywed husband of Elmira and the stepfather of Joe Boot. When Jake Spoon shoots his brother, who also happens to be the mayor, his sister-in-law Peach sends him to bring Jake to justice. Taking Joe, July sets out into Texas, but when he receives word that Elmira has run off, he turns north to find her instead. Along the way, he runs into Roscoe and Janey, arrests Jim and Hutto, tries to help Augustus take out Blue Duck’s gang, and loses Joe, Roscoe, and Janey to Blue Duck. Honest, hardworking, shy, and methodical to a fault, July keeps going until he catches up to Elmira in Ogallala. When she runs off again, he stays behind to help Clara Allen—with whom he quickly falls in love—and to help raise Elmira’s and (possibly) his son, Martin.

July Johnson Quotes in Lonesome Dove

The Lonesome Dove quotes below are all either spoken by July Johnson or refer to July Johnson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
American Mythology Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

It was funny how one shot could make a man’s reputation like that. It was a hip shot Jake made because he was scared, and it killed a Mexican bandit […]. Jake shot blind from the hip, with the sun in his eyes to boot, and hit the bandit right in the Adam’s apple, a thing not likely to occur more than once in a lifetime, if that often.

But it was Jake’s luck that most of the men who saw him make the shot were raw boys too, with not enough judgment to appreciate how lucky a thing it was. Those that survived grew up told the story all across the West [… about] what a dead pistol shot Jake Spoon was, though any many who had fought with him through the years would know that he was no shot at all with a pistol and only a fair shot with a rifle.

Related Characters: Captain Woodrow Call, Augustus McCrae, Jake Spoon, July Johnson, Dan Suggs , Roy Suggs, Ed Suggs
Page Number: 71-72
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

He began to feel more and more of a grievance against more and more people. […] It seemed to him that a chain of thoughtless actions, on the part of many people he knew, had resulted in his being stuck in a cabin in the wilderness with a difficult widow woman. Jake should have kept his pistol handier, and not resorted to a buffalo gun. Benny Johnson should have been paying attention to his dentistry and not walking around in the street in the middle of the day. July shouldn’t have married Elmira if she was going to run off, and of course Elmira certainly had no business getting on the whiskey boat.

In all of it no one had given much consideration to him, least of all the townspeople of Fort Smith. Peach Johnson and Charlie Barnes, in particular, had done their best to see that he had to leave.

Related Characters: Jake Spoon, July Johnson, Elmira, Roscoe Brown, Peach Johnson , Louisa Brooks , Charlie Barnes
Page Number: 298-299
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 58 Quotes

July didn’t want to see it. He knew he had to, but he didn’t want to.

He felt a terrible need to turn things back, all the way back to the time when he and Roscoe and Joe and Elmira had all been in Arkansas. He knew it could never be. Something had happened which he would never be free of. He had even lost the chance to stay and die with his people, though Captain McCrae had offered him that chance. “I’d feel better in my mind if you’d stay with your part,” he had said.

He had not stayed, but when he had gone, he hadn’t fought, either. He had done nothing but ride twice over the same stretch of prairie, while death had come to both camps.

Related Characters: Augustus McCrae, Lorena Wood, Blue Duck , July Johnson, Elmira, Roscoe Brown, Janey , Joe Boot
Page Number: 462
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 66 Quotes

It occurred to her that she had taken a hard route, just to escape July Johnson. Her own folly amused her: she had one thought of herself as smart—but look at where she was. If Dee Boot could see her he would laugh his head off. Dee loved to laugh about the absurd things people did for bad reasons. The fact that she had done it because she wanted to see him would only amuse him more. Dee would tell her that she ought to have gone back to Dodge and asked one of the girls to get her work.

Instead, shew as driving a mule wagon across northern Kansas. They had been lucky and seen no Indians, but that could always change. Besides, it soon developed that Luke was going to be as much trouble as an Indian.

Related Characters: July Johnson, Elmira, Big Zwey , Luke , Dee Boot
Page Number: 504
Explanation and Analysis:
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July Johnson Quotes in Lonesome Dove

The Lonesome Dove quotes below are all either spoken by July Johnson or refer to July Johnson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
American Mythology Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

It was funny how one shot could make a man’s reputation like that. It was a hip shot Jake made because he was scared, and it killed a Mexican bandit […]. Jake shot blind from the hip, with the sun in his eyes to boot, and hit the bandit right in the Adam’s apple, a thing not likely to occur more than once in a lifetime, if that often.

But it was Jake’s luck that most of the men who saw him make the shot were raw boys too, with not enough judgment to appreciate how lucky a thing it was. Those that survived grew up told the story all across the West [… about] what a dead pistol shot Jake Spoon was, though any many who had fought with him through the years would know that he was no shot at all with a pistol and only a fair shot with a rifle.

Related Characters: Captain Woodrow Call, Augustus McCrae, Jake Spoon, July Johnson, Dan Suggs , Roy Suggs, Ed Suggs
Page Number: 71-72
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

He began to feel more and more of a grievance against more and more people. […] It seemed to him that a chain of thoughtless actions, on the part of many people he knew, had resulted in his being stuck in a cabin in the wilderness with a difficult widow woman. Jake should have kept his pistol handier, and not resorted to a buffalo gun. Benny Johnson should have been paying attention to his dentistry and not walking around in the street in the middle of the day. July shouldn’t have married Elmira if she was going to run off, and of course Elmira certainly had no business getting on the whiskey boat.

In all of it no one had given much consideration to him, least of all the townspeople of Fort Smith. Peach Johnson and Charlie Barnes, in particular, had done their best to see that he had to leave.

Related Characters: Jake Spoon, July Johnson, Elmira, Roscoe Brown, Peach Johnson , Louisa Brooks , Charlie Barnes
Page Number: 298-299
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 58 Quotes

July didn’t want to see it. He knew he had to, but he didn’t want to.

He felt a terrible need to turn things back, all the way back to the time when he and Roscoe and Joe and Elmira had all been in Arkansas. He knew it could never be. Something had happened which he would never be free of. He had even lost the chance to stay and die with his people, though Captain McCrae had offered him that chance. “I’d feel better in my mind if you’d stay with your part,” he had said.

He had not stayed, but when he had gone, he hadn’t fought, either. He had done nothing but ride twice over the same stretch of prairie, while death had come to both camps.

Related Characters: Augustus McCrae, Lorena Wood, Blue Duck , July Johnson, Elmira, Roscoe Brown, Janey , Joe Boot
Page Number: 462
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 66 Quotes

It occurred to her that she had taken a hard route, just to escape July Johnson. Her own folly amused her: she had one thought of herself as smart—but look at where she was. If Dee Boot could see her he would laugh his head off. Dee loved to laugh about the absurd things people did for bad reasons. The fact that she had done it because she wanted to see him would only amuse him more. Dee would tell her that she ought to have gone back to Dodge and asked one of the girls to get her work.

Instead, shew as driving a mule wagon across northern Kansas. They had been lucky and seen no Indians, but that could always change. Besides, it soon developed that Luke was going to be as much trouble as an Indian.

Related Characters: July Johnson, Elmira, Big Zwey , Luke , Dee Boot
Page Number: 504
Explanation and Analysis: