Dan Timeline and Summary

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• Jim encounters old Dan almost immediately when he goes into the orchards to pick apples for the first time.
• Dan tells Jim about being a top-faller and says that he's a maniac for work. He wants nothing to do with strikes.
• Dan tells Jim about his experience with labor unions, including with the Wobblies, who caused some serious chaos back in the day.
• But Dan does notice that the men in the orchard are angry, and he senses the inevitability of a strike. He tells Jim that he hopes he's long dead before that happens.
• At the end of the day, Dan runs into Jim again. Jim tells him that he's too old to be up a ladder and should be with some charity that can take care of him.
• Dan wants to kill Jim for such a suggestion. He's a worker bee and will work till he dies.
• Dan and Jim discuss the unjust system in place at the orchard. The men are too tired to go into town and buy food, so they have to pay exploitive prices at company store.
• But Dan can see that Jim is trying to rile him up, and it makes him uncomfortable. Jim introduces him to Mac, and Dan escapes quickly to get his food.
• The next day, Dan runs into Jim again in the trees. He's extra grumpy and doesn't want to hear any strike talk. Jim prods him again about retiring.
• Dan gets into a heated fight with Jim and winds up overbalancing on his ladder—which breaks under him—and he falls to the ground, breaking his hip.
• Dan's injury causes the workers to boil over. Mac and Jim take the opportunity to get the strike organized.
• Dan is carried away and has his hip set. The women in the camp at the orchard tend to him, but he's pretty cantankerous.
• After Joy is gunned down, Dan complains that the workers have forgotten about him and that he won't be allowed to attend the funeral.
• Jim and Mac come up with the idea of inviting him to be guest of honor at the funeral, even though he won't be able to move because of the pain.
• Dan gets a visit from Jim, who tells him he'll be a guest of honor at the funeral. Dan talks about his leadership fantasies and promises that he'll lead the men to victory.
• It's clear that Dan is slipping into delirium from his condition.
• As things fall apart in the camp and Doc Burton goes missing, Dan suffers from neglect. He's ranting and raving in the hospital tent.
• Jim goes to visit Dan, and Lisa appears. She tells Jim that Dan is near death.
• As the workers prepare to evacuate or fight, Mac tells London that they will have to leave Dan and the injured behind so the county can take care of them.