Blood Meridian summary

After a quick and formless interview, in which Captain White reveals his utterly racist world view, the kid enlists with the unofficial army. He gets new clothes and a shiny rifle, and trades his old mule for a horse.

Soon after, the gang rides out on their first “mission.” But the Mexican desert proves vicious. Their horses begin to fail from exhaustion. Several filibusters die of cholera. Wolves follow the remainder of the starving, thirsty men. 

After Judge Holden sees the kid among the prisoners, it doesn’t take long for Glanton’s gang to negotiate a deal to free them. The kid, Toadvine, and a prisoner called Grannyrat join the gang, which is made up of white gangsters, Mexicans, and Native Americans. They soon ride out on a new contract. 

In a nearby Mexican town, they pick up a family of magicians who ask for safe passage to the town of Janos. At night, by the fire, the father of the family lays tarot cards for the scalp hunters. The kid draws the Four of Cups – a card symbolizing discontent and indifference. 

The scalp hunters continue through the mountains of northern Mexico. They ride along deep canyons, where they find ancient artifacts from Spanish colonizers. Judge Holden once more reveals his deep, idiosyncratic knowledge of history and culture, including that of the Native Americans. 

After enduring a long period of rain and storms, the gang comes across a band of Gileño people. They slaughter them without mercy, killing women and children; strangely, Judge Holden spares an infant and brings him along. A group of Apache warriors then appears on the horizon, threatening retaliation. But Glanton brutally decapitates their leader, after which the rest of the group flees.

The gang rides through a jungle, where Judge Holden starts studying the plants and animals. When asked about this, he explains that he needs to understand nature if he wants to be the absolute ruler of the world. 

The group later arrives in Ures, a Mexican town in the state of Sonora. The government there issues them a fresh contract to kill Apache peoples. The gang rides north, laying waste to another village. But when they return to claim their bounty, they’re intercepted by a large cavalry – the government of Sonora knew about their crimes all along. 

Reaching the Colorado River, Glanton and the judge convince ferry owner Dr. Lincoln to give them control of his ship. They tell him they can defend it from the Yuma people – but they’re simultaneously plotting with the Yumas to attack the ferry. 

Unsurprisingly, this is also a ruse. After the Yumas’ attack, Glanton’s gang turns on them, slaughtering many. The gang now runs the ferry as they please, charging passengers exorbitant amounts or outright robbing them. They amass a huge amount of wealth, enslaved people, and power.