Clara Forsythe Allen

Clara Forsythe Allen is a fictional character who appears in the Lonesome Dove series. The novels were written in a different order than the chronology of the narratives: Lonesome Dove (1985), Streets of Laredo (1993), Dead Man's Walk (1995), and Comanche Moon (1997).

Dead Man's Walk

Clara makes her first chronological appearance in Dead Man's Walk, working in the store owned by her father in Austin, Texas. She first meets Augustus McCrae when he stops into her father's store. McCrae is instantly smitten with her, and she is taken by his engaging personality. Unfortunately, he is between assignments at the time. He had just returned from a failed Indian hunting expedition, and soon afterwards Gus signs up with his fellow Ranger and friend Woodrow F. Call to join the Texas Santa Fe Expedition, which is led in the novel by the fictional Caleb Cobb. Gus plans to return to Austin to see if Clara still wants to marry him at the end of the book.

In the film Dead Man's Walk, Clara is played by Jennifer Garner.

Comanche Moon

Comanche Moon picks up about ten years after the events in Dead Man's Walk. While she and Gus McCrae see each other often, and are often perceived as a couple by other townspeople, Clara refuses his numerous attempts to marry her. He is frequently in Austin only briefly, having to leave on a new mission as soon as the last one is over. As much as she liked Gus, she can not reconcile the idea of being married to Gus with his constantly putting himself in danger. She knows he is very loyal to Woodrow and will follow him on any mission. She also knows him well enough to know that he is not the type to settle down, and would probably find any excuse to be frequently out of town. Nonetheless, she despises Woodrow Call and blames him for keeping Gus from her.

She tells a heartbroken Gus that she has decided to marry a horse trader, Bob Allen, instead of him, and to move with Bob to Nebraska. Though she tells Gus that she will "never be so married she can't have a friend," Gus is too bitter over his loss, and resentful of Bob, to visit her for several years after her marriage.

Linda Cardellini plays Clara in the film of Comanche Moon.

Lonesome Dove

As Lonesome Dove begins, Clara resides in Nebraska with her husband Bob Allen and their daughters. Although she bore sons as well, they all died of disease. Bob is in a coma after being kicked in the head by a horse, and he is not expected to recover. Jake Spoon, who has retired from Rangering, has paid her a visit, and tells Gus about her. After reluctantly agreeing to go with Call on his cattle drive to Montana, Gus decides it would be a good opportunity to visit Clara again. Jake, in fact, sets in motion two series of events that result in travelers visiting Clara. Jake had accidentally killed the mayor of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the widow pressured her brother-in-law, the Sheriff July Johnson, to find him and put him on trial.

The reluctant July goes, largely because his wife pressures him to go. She uses the opportunity to leave town in pursuit of her ex-husband, Dee Boot. July's deputy, Roscoe Brown, tracks July down to tell him, but is killed by Blue Duck. July's wife, Elmyra, hooks up with two fur traders, and during her journey she stops by Clara's home, where she gives birth to her son Martin. However, she is too obsessed with finding Dee Boot, and leaves Clara's home soon after giving birth. In nearby Ogalalla, she finds Dee Boot, who is scheduled to be hanged. Being in no condition to travel soon after giving birth, she faints during their visit, and when she wakes up Dee Boot has been hanged.

Later on, July stops at Clara's home, and learns that Elmyra has been there, and left their son behind. July goes into Ogalalla to find her, only to find that she has no interest in returning to him, and does not care that her first son, Joe, had been killed by Blue Duck. He gives up on his search for Jake Spoon, and returns to Clara's home to raise his son.

Soon after that, Gus, Woodrow, and some of the rest of their company arrive for a visit. Though they only stay for a day, Clara quickly strikes up a friendship with Lorena Wood, and rather than subject her to the dangers of Montana, Clara invites her to stay with her family, and Lorena accepts. Gus had hoped that with her husband's condition, she might be willing to marry him when he dies, but she won't, both because of how well she knows Gus, and because she knows it would break Lorena's heart.

While the cattle drive is in Montana, Gus is fatally wounded by Indian arrows, and Bob dies from his injury. Woodrow Call stops by her home on his way back to Texas to bury Gus. Clara had hoped Gus would allow himself to be buried at her home, but instead he wants to be buried on a riverbank where they had spent time together in Texas. Her hatred of Call is only compounded by his insistence at following Gus's wishes.

Clara is played in Lonesome Dove by Anjelica Huston.

Streets of Laredo

Clara appears briefly in Streets of Laredo, but her relationship with Lorena is an important part of the plot. It was by Clara's suggestion that Lorena married Pea Eye Parker. Though Lorena and Pea have moved back to Texas, Clara and Lorena correspond regularly. Clara was the only person that Lorena told about her experience with the pyromaniac Mox Mox during her captivity by Blue Duck. Though Clara keeps the secret well, she does pass the information along to Charles Goodnight, who later has the duty of informing Lorie that Mox Mox is still alive. Lorena, fearing for her children's safety, sends them to Nebraska to stay with Clara. After Mox Mox is killed, Clara accompanies the Parkers back to Texas, and stays to visit with them for a while. Late in the book, after returning home, Call and the Parkers learn that she was killed by one of her horses. The Parkers allow the now disabled Call to live with them, and also adopt the children of Maria Garza, the mother of the bandit Joey Garza whom Call was hired to kill. Maria's daughter is blind but very smart, and Call wants to use some of his savings to send her to a special school for the blind. However, the rest of the family is so fond of her, that Clara and Call agree that she should stay with them for a year before going off to school.

Clara does not appear in the film adaptation of Streets of Laredo. Her conversation with Call is instead given to Lorena.