Blue Duck

Blue Duck is one of the villains of the book and tv miniseries, Lonesome Dove. He was played by Frederic Forrest.

When good characters and officials, Gus and Call retire from their ranger jobs, Blue Duck still has business with them. The child of a Comanche war chief and his mexican prisoner and then later is head of a band of bad indians and buffalo hunters. One of the most dangerious and vile criminals of the west, a killer, rapist, and slaver. He manages to escape the law and officials pretty easily because he takes the most excellent horses he can find and steal and has great knowledge of the hidden watering holes in the desert.

He makes his first appearance in part 1 of the miniseries during a rainy and horrible night evidently following the heroes. Then in part 2, Blue Duck talks and hangs out with Gus and he says he knows Gus from the old days and Gus says he knows him too. Lorena Wood, heroine and prostitute, hides from Blue Duck. Blue Duck asks Gus where is his friend and partner, Call, and Gus says he'll be back and wait for him but Blue Duck grows impatient and decides to leave. Before Blue Duck takes his leave he comments to Gus that if he ever bring that tongue of his north of the Canadian River he'll cut it off and feed it to his wolf pubs.

Blue Duck is also an indian and mexican thief. When Gus leaves Lorena, Blue Duck kidnaps her and knocks Newt, a hero and youngster cowboy, out. He then tries to sell her to Comanchero thieves at the Llano Estacado.

Knowing that Gus will come for her, he commands the indian outlaws to destroy him and if they succeed they get and keep Lorena. After Gus kills Blue Duck's gang with the aid of Sheriff Johnson, hero and official, they rescue her. Gus lets Johnson know to go back to Roscoe, Janey, and Joe. But Blue Duck uses his knife to murder Roscoe and Janey and Joe and steals their horses and escapes. Johnson, beside himself with grief, says he wants to go with Gus to hunt Blue Duck down and kill him.

But Gus says it's best if they let him go because he's better mounted and has a better advantage than em but Gus says if he does see Blue Duck again he'll kill him for Johnson, Roscoe, Janey, Joe, and Lorena. After they bury Joe, Janey, and Roscoe and Sheriff Johnson leaves, Gus and Lorena, who is really traumatized by the abuse of Blue Duck, ride north to join Call and the other good characters and says Gus is now her protector. Later in part 4, Call arrives with the late Gus to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, where he finds out that Blue Duck is caught. Call visits him and Blue Duck says he hears he brought his stinking old friend to his hanging and Call says he would have enjoyed it.

Blue Duck says he should have killed Gus but Call says he would have killed him. He then admits he stole horses, burned farms, and stole women all over his territory and he's never had a good look at him until today. At the end of their conversation, Blue Duck says he can fly and an old woman taught him and if Call waits he'll see and Call says he'll wait and gives him his word. Then when Blue Duck is taken to his hanging from his cell, he grabs a deputy and throws himself out of the jail window and dies by the fall.