Rooster Cogburn

Rooster Cogburn

from True Grit by Charles Portis
It’s hard to pick a favorite character from True Grit because what makes the book so much fun is the unlikely alliance that forms between the three crotchety main characters: fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross, bent on avenging her murdered father; Texas ranger La Boeuf, who is tracking the murderer for his own reasons, and swings between helping Mattie and hindering her; and Rooster Cogburn, a drunken, one-eyed man whom Mattie hires based on the sheriff’s account of available marshals:

“Who is the best marshal they have?'

The sheriff thought on it for a minute. He said, 'I would have to weigh that proposition. There is near about two hundred of them. I reckon William Waters is the best tracker. He is a half-breed Comanche and it is something to see, watching him cut for sign. The meanest one is Rooster Cogburn. He is a pitiless man, double-tough, and fear don't enter into his thinking. He loves to pull a cork. Now L.T. Quinn, he brings his prisoners in alive. He may let one get by now and then but he believes even the worst of men is entitled to a fair shake. Also the court does not pay any fees for dead men. Quinn is a good peace officer and a lay preacher to boot. He will not plant evidence or abuse a prisoner. He is straight as a string. Yes, I will say Quinn is about the best they have.'

I said, 'Where can I find this Rooster?”
p.s. While it’s well worth the effort to read the short novel, the Coen Brothers’ 2010 film is a faithful adaptation.

See the uncropped version here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CF5Ef2gB_44/