True Grit

True Grit is a 1968 western novel by Charles Portis that tells the story of Mattie Ross, a determined and headstrong 14-year-old girl from Arkansas who seeks vengeance for her father’s murder. With the unlikely help of Rooster Cogburn, a tough US Marshal, and LaBoeuf, a Texas Ranger, Mattie sets out to capture the killer, Tom Chaney. True Grit was an instant bestseller, adapted as a film in 1969 and in 2010. 

This guide uses the 2023 Library of America edition of Portis’s collected works.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death and racism.

Plot Summary

The main story of True Grit is set in the last quarter of the 19th century; textual clues suggest it was around 1885. When the story begins, Mattie Ross is an older, unmarried woman. The community admires her for her intelligence and independence. Written in first person, Mattie looks back at her 14th year when her father, Frank Ross, was murdered by a craven man named Tom Chaney. Mattie, set on revenge, leaves her hometown in Arkansas to bring Chaney to justice.

Mattie says that Chaney worked on her family farm as a farmhand. He was not good at his job. Her father, she thinks, hired him out of pity and decided to take him on a journey to buy ponies. Frank and Chaney visit Fort Smith, 70 miles away from their home in Yell County, to buy a small group of ponies that Frank plans to train and sell at a profit. Frank leaves, taking with him some money, two California gold pieces, and his dragoon pistol.

After having concluded their deal, the men stay in the Monarch boarding house. Chaney blows all of his wages on drinking and gambling. Chaney tells Frank he will get his money back by force, taking his gun and drunkenly attempting to confront the people who beat him at the gambling table. Frank tries to stop his hired hand, believing that the drunken violence will end badly. Chaney shoots Frank and steals the remaining $150, as well as the two pieces of gold that Frank always carried on his person. He also steals Frank’s horse and saddle.

Mattie takes a train to Fort Smith to take care of her father’s body and to find his killer. There, however, she is told that the sheriff is unlikely to be able to catch Chaney any time soon. Chaney has fled into the Indian Territories, where the local sheriff has no authority. The US marshals may pursue Chaney, so Mattie asks the sheriff for his advice on which marshal to hire.

Mattie finds the toughest official in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Rooster Cogburn is overweight, often drunk, and ready to pull his pistol out on anyone. When she first sees Rooster, he is at the trial of a man he arrested. While the man is alive, Rooster shot the man’s brother and father during the arrest. Rooster’s brutal, uncompromising methods are called into question. Despite this, Mattie considers him perfect for the job because he has strength of character. Mattie believes Rooster possesses true grit.

Rooster, a former Confederate soldier, hesitantly agrees to help Mattie after she offers to pay him. He is unsure why a young girl would be able to pay him or why she would be so determined to see a man brought to justice. During this negotiation period, Mattie meets a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (pronounced lebeef). He is on the hunt for Chaney, as Chaney is a wanted criminal who killed a state senator and the senator’s dog. If he brings back Chaney dead or alive, he will receive a cash reward. Mattie has no interest in LaBoeuf’s bounty, however, as she wants Chaney to be tried and hanged in Fort Smith.

Rooster and LaBoeuf initially dislike each other. Rooster is older and more gruff, and he mocks the Rangers; LaBoeuf is proud, young, and well-groomed. They reach an uneasy alliance, particularly when they try to leave Mattie behind. Mattie insists on accompanying them on the journey. She defies their patronizing attitudes and follows them in their pursuit of Chaney, who has supposedly joined up with the infamous gang run by the outlaw, Lucky Ned Pepper. The gang has recently robbed a train, and they are on the run, adding to the impetus to catch the criminals.

Mattie, Rooster, and LaBoeuf ride across the Indian Territory. They stop at small stores to make inquiries about Ned and Chaney. They are pointed in the direction of a small shelter, in which they find two small-time crooks. Rooster sets about interrogating the crooks. The interrogation ends in a sudden flurry of violence, in which one man is killed and the other fatally injured. Rooster learns that Ned’s gang will arrive at the shelter soon, so he sets up a trap with himself and LaBoeuf on opposite sides of the valley. As they sit and wait for the outlaws, Rooster tells Mattie the tragic and violent story of his life.

Ned’s gang arrives and finds the shelter empty. Ned, sensing danger, fires his gun in the air. LaBoeuf returns fire, so Rooster is forced to act. He curses LaBoeuf for acting too quickly. In the gunfight, Ned’s horse is shot by Ned, and the other men escape. LaBoeuf is wounded but alive. He and Rooster argue about the failure of the trap and Mattie urges them to resume the pursuit.

Mattie, Rooster, and LaBoeuf pursue Ned to his stronghold. During the journey, they run into more people searching for Ned’s gang. Rooster and LaBoeuf argue and goad one another. Rooster, drinking heavily, gets himself into a shooting contest with LaBoeuf, which embarrasses them both. At night, they camp among the rocky terrain. Then in the morning, while Mattie is looking for water, she runs directly into Chaney. She yells at him to come with her, but he laughs. She shoots him in the side with her father’s gun, but it is not enough to stop Chaney from restraining her. LaBoeuf and Rooster arrive on the scene at the same time as Ned and his gang. Chaney flees with the captured Mattie as Ned shouts his ultimatum across the river to Rooster. The gang agrees not to harm Mattie if the two officials leave. Rooster and LaBoeuf agree to leave.

Ned and his gang count out their loot from the train robbery. They have lost a horse, Ned says, so Chaney must wait with Mattie and release her at the right time, as per his agreement with Rooster. But Chaney is bitter at being left with the young girl. He suspects that Ned plans to cheat him out of his share of the loot. Chaney decides that his only option is to kill Mattie, so he prepares to throw her into a nearby pit filled with rattlesnakes. LaBoeuf arrives just in time, saving Mattie. 

Meanwhile, Rooster confronts Ned and the gang. He kills most of the men or forces them to flee until just he and Ned are left. LaBoeuf saves Rooster by shooting Ned from a distance, only to be attacked by Chaney. Mattie shoots Chaney but falls backward into the pit. Rooster saves her, but she is bitten by a snake. He rides hard through the night to get her to a doctor. She loses her arm, but Rooster saves her life.

The story returns to the present, which is many years later. Mattie is now a successful businesswoman. She learns that Rooster is part of a traveling circus, but when she tries to visit him, she is told that he died a few days before. She arranges for him to be buried on her family plot as she reflects on the short but formative period they spent together.