It is sadly fitting that Last Bus to Wisdom is the last book to be published by esteemed and
beloved author Ivan Doig, before his death on April 9th, 2015. Called “the dean of Western
writers”, most of Doig’s books, fiction and non-fiction, were set in his native Montana, and depicted people and places familiar to anyone who has lived in Montana. Like Rusty, Tom
Harry’s son in The Bartender’s Tale, Donal Cameron is a youngster caught between childhood
and young adulthood. Both boys are being raised by a single parent (or grandparent) and both
are deeply enfolded as much into their surroundings as into their families.
When Donal’s grandmother has to have an operation with a long recovery, she sends him via Greyhound (the “dog bus”) to stay with her sister and sister’s husband in Wisconsin, despite his strong protests. Hoping to be offered a summer job driving the stacker team on the ranch where Gram cooks, Donny approaches the owner, Wendell Williamson. Rebuffed, on the way out of the big house Donal can’t help pocketing the black obsidian arrowhead lying on the hall table. After all, he reasons, he found it in a gully to begin with, and surely Mr. Williamson had no right to confiscate it. And, since his nickname was “Red Chief”, that made his claim to the talisman all the stronger.
Once the reluctant traveler gets underway, he discovers a true talent for tall tales, inventing unusual jobs for his (deceased) father, exotic destinations for himself, and fanciful fables about the ebony projectile point. As in all good quests, our hero meets varied strangers, some of whom will be helpers in disguise, others who are secretly villains. Each signs his treasured autograph book, some with poems and incantations, some with advice or warnings.
When he finally arrives in Manitowoc, Donal is dismayed to find his aunt Kate is nothing like his Gram, and she is not at all happy to have her nephew foisted upon her. Uncle Herman (“the German”) seems more sympathetic, but is reluctant to confront “Kate the Great”. But Herman has a hideaway, a greenhouse where he putters with his plants, which offers refuge to the boy.
Then events unfold which drive Donny on another trip, back to Montana, without Gram’s knowledge or consent. As every knight has a squire, Uncle Herman, for reasons of his own, deserts Kate and joins the dog bus to see Red Chief safely home. But before the journey ends with a hero’s homecoming, there are challenges to overcome, “knights of the road” to contend with, a princess (or grandmother) to rescue, and wisdom (or Wisdom) to achieve.
And we who read this final work of our award- and heart-winning native son will find wisdom, perhaps, but certainly a happy and satisfying end.
Author: Staff
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