“It makes no difference what men think of war. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.”

Blood Meridian, set mainly in the American Southwest during the late 1840s, tells of an unnamed protagonist known only as the Kid. We follow the Kid as he runs away from home and makes his way to Texas before becoming involved in an ill-fated adventure into Mexico. The Kid survives a massacre at the hands of the Comanche and is eventually recruited into a gang of scalp hunters led by John Glanton and his second in command – the absolutely terrifying Judge Holden. The gang then proceeds to cut a murderous swath of destruction throughout northern Mexico before reaping their just rewards. Here’s the fun part: Blood Meridian is loosely based on real-life people and events, including John Glanton and Judge Holden. Today we’re going to focus mostly on Glanton, an ex-Texas Ranger and war hero turned homicidal maniac. What was John Glanton’s life like prior to becoming a scalp hunter? And how did Glanton really die? Was it as gruesome as portrayed in Blood Meridian? We’ll also take a look at a young soldier by the name of Samuel Chamberlain, as well as discuss the true identity of the honorable Judge Holden. #history #wildwest #bloodmeridian

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