True Grit: Chapter 1  Summary & Analysis

Mattie Ross admits that not many people believe a little girl can “leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood,” but this, she says, is what she does shortly after her fourteenth birthday, when Tom Chaney, an outlaw with a black mark on his face, kills her father, Frank Ross, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Chaney also steals Frank’s horse, Judy, along with $150 and two pieces of California gold. Explaining the details of this murder, Mattie notes that her father took Chaney on as an employee because he felt bad for him, since Chaney seemed down on his luck. As such, he hired him to work on his land in Yell County, Arkansas, though this was the worst mistake of his life.

Mattie explains that her father decided to travel on horseback to Fort Smith to buy a group of ponies from a man named Stonehill, who was selling the animals for a low price. Intending to train the ponies and sell them for profit, Frank went with Chaney to Fort Smith, carrying an old “dragoon pistol,” $250, and the two gold pieces, which were wedding gifts from Mattie’s grandfather. After making the deal with Stonehill, Frank and Chaney stayed in the Monarch boardinghouse. That night, Chaney went out and gambled away a large sum of money. Furious, he returned to the boardinghouse and got uproariously drunk, at which point he grabbed his gun and rushed outside to hunt down the men who’d won his money. Frank saw this and rushed out behind him, but when he tried to stop him, Chaney shot him in the head.

Continuing the story of her father’s death, Mattie notes that Chaney took a moment to rob Frank’s corpse, taking the remainder of his money and his two gold pieces before running to Stonehill’s barn, knocking out the watchman, and stealing Frank’s saddle and horse, Judy. He then set off into the “darkness,” riding away at a quick pace although nobody chased after him.