Sign Symbol Analysis

The Hat Creek Cattle Company’s sign—which barely survives the trip to and from Montana—symbolizes Augustus McCrae’s seemingly futile attempt to introduce a sense of sophistication and refinement to his gang’s otherwise tough, hardscrabble life. At the beginning of the novel, the sign bears the names of the Hat Creek Cattle Company’s four members (Gus, Call, Pea Eye, and Deets), their offerings, and a Latin motto. Most of its text exists to assuage Gus’s vanity. For instance, it highlights the fact that he’s the only one in town who can spell “Emporium,” and Gus gets testy when Call asks him what the motto means—he doesn’t know because he ran away before finishing his education, and life in Texas provides few excuses for reading and even fewer men for Gus to talk philosophy with. In fact, in many years, no one but Wilbarger really notices the sign, much less finds it amusing. Thus, the sign constitutes one of Gus’s attempts to impose a little intellectual sophistication on the rough and tumble outfit and the little border town where they live. Yet, by the time his body and the sign make it back to Texas, the motto and almost everything else is gone. This suggests the difficulty of imposing a sense of refinement on a life of wild work and violence.

Moreover, it’s impossible to escape the fact that all four of the names on the sign wear off by the end of the novel. Call has to carve Gus’s initials into the backside of the board to turn the sign into a grave marker. Like the sign, life is fragile and susceptible to accident and disaster, a harsh lesson that the drive has reinforced time and again. Neither the sign nor the company can go back to the way they were before, reminding readers that life is fleeting and full of hardship and that even legends like Texas Ranger Augustus McCrae are mortal.