Spur Award
Historical Novel
1973 Chiricahua by Will Henry1978 Swimming Man Burning by Terrence Kilpatrick
1984 Sam Bass by Bryan Woolley
1985 Gone the Dreams and Dancing by Douglas C. Jones
Based on actual historical events, this novel chronicles the last days of the Comanche tribe. Under the leadership of Chief Kwahadi, the Comanche battle settlers and soldiers to maintain their ancient ways.
1986 The Snowblind Moon by John Byrne Cooke
In the late-nineteenth-century American West conflict between beleaguered Indians and white settlers and ranchers draws all into brutal warfare, including a former army scout, a young advocate of Indian rights, a white man raised by the Cheyenne, and a legendary mountain man.
1987 Roman Hasford by Douglas C. Jones
After the War Between the States, Roman Hasford headed West to carve out his own piece of the new frontier. He had suffered the untold indignities of war and was eager to seek adventure. Along the way, he helped to get a glimpse of the Indian Nations, and delve deep into the well of the American pioneer spirit. Douglas C. Jones is the author of Elkhorn Tavern(HarperPaperbacks, 1/96), to which Roman Hasfordis the sequel; This Savage Race(HarperPaperbacks, 7/94), and Season of Yellow Leaf(HarperPaperbacks, 3/95). He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
1988 Wanderer Springs by Robert FlynnJuvenile
1973 Only Earth and Sky Last Forever by Nathaniel Benchley
The story of a young Sioux boy who fights alongside Crazy Horse at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
1975 Susy's Scoundrel. by Harold Keith
A coyote that has been raised by an Amish girl, escapes into the wilderness and is forced to match wits with his greatest enemy, man.
1984 Thunder on the Tennessee by G. Clifton Wisler
A young boy learn the horrors of war when he joins army to fight against the Yankees in the Civil War.
1985 Trapped in the Slickrock Canyon by Gloria Skurzynski
Usually antagonistic, Gina and Justin, twelve-year-old cousins, come to a better understanding of each other during a night trying to survive a flash flood and other dangers in the western mountains.
1987 Make Way for Sam Houston by Jean Fritz
A biography of the 19th-century politician who became the first governor of Texas. Illustrations accompany the text.
1989 In the Face of Danger by Joan Lowery Nixon
Shy Megan Kelly cannot forget the day a gypsy read her palm announcing to all that she would bring trouble to those around her. Afterward, trouble does follow her, until she takes the necessary steps to free herself from the burdens of fear, loneliness, and superstition.
1990 My Daniel by Pam Conrad
Eighty-year-old Julia, on a visit to New York City, takes her grandchildren Ellie and Steve to the Museum of Natural History to view the dinosaurs. She tells them of her beloved brother Daniel and his burning passion for dinosaurs, and how he was struck by lightening and killed during a hunt for remains. On display at the museum is the skeleton of the dinosaur she and Daniel found on their Nebraska farm--all except one bone--the bone buried with Daniel.
Medicine Pipe Bearer Award (Best First Novel)
1982 Ride Down the Wind by Wayne Barton
Jess Faver, an Army scout, must track down his best friend, Nantahe, when the Apache escapes a transport train headed for a Florida reservation.
1985 Winterkill by Craig Lesley
Danny Kachiah is an Indian alone. His father Red Shirt is dead. His wife Loxie has left him. And at 34, he is faced with having to quit his rodeo cowboy job because he can't take the spills and jerks like he used to. When Danny learns that Loxie has died in a car accident, he brings home the teenage son he barely knows, and must make a life for them both.
1987 Come Spring by Charlotte Hinger
Pioneers Aura Lee and Daniel Hollingworth and entrepreneur Graham Chapman and his wife Lucinda are at the center of an intense battle between Kansas homesteaders and ambitious, often unscrupulous town builders.
1988 Jenny's Mountain by Elaine Long
Jenny Williams, struggling to survive in the Colorado Rockies with her husband Mike, who owns a mining claim, and her two young children, finds strength in the memory of David Garvey, a love from her past.
1991 Caesar of Santa Fe by Tim MacCurdy1993 John Stone and the Choctaw Kid by Wayne Davis
Eager to die in his saddle and out under the mountain sky, enfeebled John Stone calls upon a friend from his gunslinging days, but when a woman comes between them, he must put off dying and fight. Reprint.
1994 People of the Whistling Waters by Mardi Oakley Medawar
Through the remarkable DeGeer family, this extraordinary novel introduces us to an almost forgotten people wrested from their tribal ways and forced into a new life on a rapidly changing frontier. The intricacies of Crow Indian culture are as fascinating as the harrowing scenes of warfare and tragedy that befall this collection of memorable characters. Renee DeGeer, a lusty French Canadian who now calls the Crow his brothers, raises two strong sons: Jacques, Renees natural born; and Nicolas, who is adopted by the DeGeer's. The young boys soon outgrow the mischief of their childhood and develop into strong warriors. But when Jacques takes a brave white woman as his wife, passions erupt, and one will terrible secret threatens not only to tear the fabric of this close-knit family but the Crow Nation as well.
1995 St. Agnes' Stand by Tom Eidson
A wanted man becomes the saviour of a group of nuns under attack by Apache Indians in this 1994 Spur Award Winner for Best Western Novel.
1996 Thunder in the Valley by Jim R. Woolard
In an era when trading with Indians is a treasonous act, Hannar is falsely accused, and barely escapes the hangman's noose. While hiding from both Indians and settlers, he saves a young woman from a savage attack and decides to take her back home, where the hangman is waiting. Winner of the 1995 Spur Award for Best Original Paperback.
1997 Death of a Healing Woman by Allana Martin
Soon after her best friends are murdered, Texana Jones discovers the body of a local healer near her desert trading post, just shy of the Mexican border. She thinks the deaths are related, but the police disagree, so Texana is forced to do some sleuthing on her own.
1998 Keepers of the Earth by Joseph Bruchac, Michael J. Caduto
A selection of traditional tales from various Indian peoples, each accompanied by instructions for related activities dealing with aspects of the environment.
Nonfiction
1971 The Buffalo by Francis Haines
In this broad survey of buffalo from prehistoric times to the twentieth century, Francis Haines focuses on the relationship between buffalo and the Plains Indians. He describes in detail how the Indians utilized the buffalo for clothing, bedding, and various tools and as their principal source of food. The Indians hunted buffalo before and after they acquired horses, and they followed the migrations to survive. In the nineteenth century, however, massive buffalo hunts spurred on by the westward expansion of the United States drove the buffalo nearly to extinction. In his foreword, David Dary summarizes more than a century of scholarship on the buffalo. He also provides an updated state-by-state listing on where interested readers can find buffalo today in nearly every state.
1973 THe Time of the Buffalo by Tom McHugh
Discusses the natural history of the American buffalo and its crucial role in the life of the Great Plains Indian.
1978 The Cowgirls by Joyce Gibson Roach1979 Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn by Janet Lecompte
1981 The Peace Chiefs of the Cheyennes by Stan Hoig
1982 Cowboy Culture by David Dary
A colorful account of five centuries of cowboy culture details the life, history, customs, status, job, equipment, and more of the cowboy from sixteenth-century Spanish Mexico to the present.
1985 Hashknife Cowboy by Stella Hughes1986 Phil Sheridan and His Army by Paul Andrew Hutton
1987 Paper Medicine Man by Joseph C. Porter
The author recounts his experiences in turn of the century medicine shows, the Klondike gold rush, medical school, and in practice as a country doctor.
1988 Jessie Benton Fremont by Catherine Coffin Phillips
A favorite of President Andrew Jackson and the daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, Jessie Benton was acquainted with the famous from childhood. When the vivacious belle met John C. Fremont, "the handsomest young man who ever walked the streets of Washington", love bloomed. Always passionately devoted to the controversial explorer, soldier, and politician, Jessie bore John five children, maintained a family life, charmed and campaigned on his behalf, and helped him write the popular reports of his western trailblazing. These pages, filled with public figures such as Kit Carson and Abraham Lincoln, present a lively and fearless woman.
1989 Hoover Dam by Joseph E. Stevens
"A riveting history that reads like a novel.... Superb Americana". -- Publishers Weekly. "Excellent.... Stevens helps us understand how this monument came into being. And the blood price paid by the thousands of people who helped build it". -- Los Angeles Times Book Review.
1990 Great Plains by Ian Frazier
With his distinctive blend of intrepidity and wide-eyed wonder, Frazier relates the tale of his 25,000-mile drive across the Great Plains states. In the tradition of Mark Twain's Roughing It, Great Plains is a heartfelt expedition through western America.
1991 Helen Hunt Jackson and Her Indian Reform Legacy by Valerie Sherer Mathes1992 Custer's Last Campaign by John S. Gray
This study reconstructs Custer's last stand at Little Bighorn.
1993 Let Me Be Free by David Lavender
A history of the heroic 1,700-mile journey of the Nez Perce across Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana toward sanctuary in Canada describes Nez Perce culture, their battles with whites, and the tragic surrender of Chief Joseph.
Novel
1972 The Day the Cowboys Quit by Elmer Kelton1974 The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton
1979 Riders to Cibola by Norman Zollinger
Ignacio Ortiz is an orphan and runaway searching for his secret past and destined to find his future in the turn-of-the-century American Southwest. Ignacio will bear witness to the dawning of a new era against a backdrop of racial tension, border raids, revolutionary skirmishes, and two World Wars.
Novel of the West
1954 Law Man by Lee Leighton1958 Buffalo Wagons by Elmer Kelton
1961 The Nameless Breed by Will C. Brown
With his father held captive by the Cherokee nation, Brazos McCloud will do anything to get him back, even if it means risking the future of Texas. Reissue.
1962 The Winter War by William Wister Haines
During the worst winter in Montana's history, Indian tribes, united under a pact between Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Lightning's Friend, fight a largely successful campaign against the U.S. Infantry.
1965 The Trail to Ogallala by Benjamin Capps1966 Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher
1968 The Valdez Horses by Lee Hoffman
1969 Down the Long Hills by Louis L'Amour
After the massacre Hardy and Betty Sue were left with only a horse and a knife with which to face the long battle against the wilderness. A seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, stranded on the limitless prairie. They were up against starvation, marauding Indians, savage outlaws, and wild animals. They were mighty stubborn, but the odds were against them--and their luck was about to run out.
1970 The White Man's Road by Benjamin Capps1989 The Homesman by Glendon Swarthout
Four women in the isolated frontier territory go mad, and it is up to the unlikely combination of homesteader Mary Bee Cuddy and ne'er-do-well Briggs to escort them east to safety.
1990 Panther in the Sky by James Alexander Thom
Relates the story of Tecumseh's life and destiny to be a great war chief as a man who struggles to save the land and way of life of his people.
1991 Home Mountain by Jeanne Williams
A young Texan woman gets more than she bargained for when she hitches up with an Arizona gunman. This novel won the 1990 Spur Award for Best Novel of the West.
1992 The Medicine Horn by Jory Sherman
This 1991 Spur Award winner for Best Novel of the West, follows the adventures of a dyed-in-the-wool mountain man.
1993 Slaughter by Elmer Kelton
Winner of the 1992 Spur Award for Best Novel of the West, this book examines the exploits of a group of hunters and the members of the Comanche Nation who tried to stop their slaughter of the buffalo population.
1994 Empire of Bones by Jeff Long
Eccentric general Sam Houston leads the fight for Texan independence in this 1993 Spur Award-winning novel.
1995 The Far Canyon by Elmer Kelton
After fighting the Comanches at Adobe Walls and hunting buffalo on the Staked Plains, Confederate veteran Jeff Layne wants to settle into the quiet life of a Texas rancher. His dream is shattered when an old enemy reenters his life. Comanche warrior Crow Feather would rather die than surrender to the forces that killing his buffalo and eroding his people's way of life. Winner of the 1994 Spur Award for Best Novel of the West.
1997 Sierra by Richard S. Wheeler
The intertwining tales of an Iowa farmer and a ex-Army officer, who each strive for riches and fall in love in the turbulent and dangerous time of the California Gold Rush. Winner of the1996 Spur Award for Best Novel of the West.
1998 Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry
Set in the time span between the end of DEAD MAN'S WALK and the beginning of LONESOME DOVE, this novel chronicles the life of Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call as they fight the Comanche wars. Winner of the 1997 Spur Award for Best Novel of the West.
1999 The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley
This historical novel, set in the 1850s, is about an independent-minded young woman named Lidie Harkness. She impulsively marries an abolitionist she hardly knows, and sets off with him from Illinois to the Kansas Territory--a venue that challenges even Lidie's ability to cope with hardship. Jane Smiley brings the period, and the bittersweet adventures of her quirky characters, to vibrant life. A New York Times Notable Book for 1998.
Original Paperback Novel
1991 Changing Wind by Don Coldsmith
This novel chronicles the life of a medicine man named White Buffalo at the tail end of the Stone Age. This novel won the 1990 Spur Award for Best Original Paperback Novel.
1992 Rage in Chupadera by Norman Zollinger
Now a man, Corey Lane Jr. tries to avoid the same traps of revenge that ensnared his father--a former lawman turned vengeful killer of Native Americans. This novel received the 1991 Spur Award for Best Original Paperback Novel.
1993 The Golden Chance by T.V. Olsen
In this winner of the 1992 Spur Award for Best Original Paperback, a man, part-Native American, is forced to defend his discovery of gold against the a ruthless rancher who is backed by both the town and an extremely nasty nephew.
1994 The Gila River by Gary McCarthy
The dreams of a man and his son go south when they are abandoned by their companions while searching for gold along Arizona's Gila River. Winner of the 1993 Spur Award for Best Original Paperback Novel.
1995 Survival by K.C. McKenna
Winner of the 1994 Spur Award for Best Original Paperback Novel, this book novelizes the gruesome tale of the infamous Donner party, a group of settlers who became trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the winter of 1846 and eventually resorted to cannibalism to survive.
1997 Potter's Fields by Frank Roderus
A hard-living, embittered lawman meets a woman whose very existence makes him question his murderous past. Winner of the 1996 Spur Award for Best Original Paperback Novel.
1998 Leaving Missouri by Ellen Recknor
A feisty young woman named Chrysanthemum "Clutie Mae" Chestnut sets out to conquer the wild frontier in this 1997 Spur Award winner for the Best Original Paperback.
1999 Dark Trail by Hiram King
A man just back from fighting in the Civil War returns home to find that his family has been sold into slavery. Winner of the 1998 Spur Award for Best Original Western Paperback, this novel follows his adventures as he tracks them to the very edges of the wild frontier.
Storyteller Award
1996 Dandelions by Eve Bunting
Zoe and her family move from Illinois to the Nebraska Territory as part of the westward expansion of the 1800s. Zoe's father is excited about the move and happily begins to build the family a home. Zoe's mother is less enthusiastic, she misses the friends and family they left behind. One day Zoe notices a patch of dandelions growing near the road to town. She digs them up and brings them home to plant on the roof of their sod house--a golden surprise for her sad mother. The family sees the dandelions as a metaphor for themselves--out of their natural element on the prairie, but capable of adapting and thriving.
1997 The Worry Stone by Marianna Dengler
Amanda took (the stone) & rubbed its surfaces with her fingertips as Grandfather had done. There were little hills & valleys, but no sharp edges. It was an irregular shape but so smooth it felt almost soft. "Folks say these stones have special powers," he said. "Powers?" Amanda could hardly contain herself. "What kind of powers?" Grandfather scratched his chin. "Well, folks say if you're troubled or worried...& if you rub the stone gently...the worry goes away." THE WORRY STONE is three beautiful tales woven together, the way human lives are connected despite distance & time. It pays homage to the Ojai Valley's first people, the Chumash Indians, & the power of folktales spoken aloud. It shows us how the stories of the past can join with the unfolding future, turning one lonely old woman & one lonely young boy into friends. Sybil Graber Gerig's luminous illustrations make this story unforgettable. "This is a story about stories, about wonders shared & understanding between generations. Read it & be comforted."--Eve Bunting, author of 1995 Caldecott Medal winner, Smoky Night.
1998 The Bootmaker and the Elves by Susan Lowell
An updated version of "The Shoemaker and the Elves", this time set in the Old West. Color illustrations accompany the text.
1999 Slim and Miss Prim by Robert Kinerk
Offbeat humor abounds in this exuberantly silly story that proves some people can talk their way out of anything--even without meaning to! Full color.
Western Juvenile Fiction
1964 The Story Catcher by Mari Sandoz
A young Sioux warrior earns the right to be called historian for his tribe after numerous adventures and trials which test his ability to tell the story of his people with truth and courage.
1976 Dust of the Earth by Vera Cleaver, Bill Cleaver
Fourteen-year-old Fern and her family face challenges and hardships when they move to a farm in South Dakota.
1991 Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
An autobiographical account of the author's love of dogsled racing, and his participation in the Iditarod dogsled race across the Alaskan tundra.
1992 Rescue Josh McGuire by Ben Mikaelsen
When thirteen-year-old Josh runs away to the mountains of Montana with an orphaned bear cub destined for laboratory testing, they both must fight for their lives in a sudden snowstorm.
1993 The Haymeadow by Gary Paulsen
Fourteen-year-old John Barron is expected to continue the tradition of his father and grandfather and watch the family's 6,000 sheep for the summer in the hay meadow with only two horses and four dogs as company. Hoping he can finally please his father, John has to deal with one disaster after another, and through it all, must rely on his own resourcefulness, ingenuity and talents.
1994 Leaving Eldorado by Joann Mazzio
In this novel set in 1896, 14-year-old Maude Brannigan is left on her own in the town of Eldorado, New Mexico when her widowed father travels to the Yukon in search of gold. Determined to leave Eldorado for good, Maude, who dreams of being an artist, takes a job at a local boarding house where she is pursued by two men--one of whom has only evil intentions on his mind. It is through her friendship with the other women who live and work at the boarding house that Maude realizes that she has the inner strength necessary to achieve her dreams. Maude's story is told in the form of letters that she writes to her deceased mother.
1996 Indio by Sherry Garland
Fourteen-year-old Ipa survived the Apache raid that killed her grandmother and took her older brother hostage, but on the day of her wedding, the Spaniards raid her village, and she is made a slave in the silver mines. Although she escapes forced labor, she watches her brother go mad after an accident. After her cousin is raped, Ipa risks her life to help her escape. Only the kindness of a Spanish soldier offers her any solace in this novel about the Mexican people.
1997 Far North by Will Hobbs
When their plane crashes in Canada's Northwest Territories, roommates Gabe and Raymond must struggle to survive in the frozen wilderness.
1998 Danger Along the Ohio by Patricia Willis
The adventures of three children who become separated from their father while traveling down the Ohio River in 1793. Hoping to be reunited with their dad, the children continue their dangerous journey towards the Marietta Settlement on their own.
1999 Petey by Ben Mikaelsen
In 1922 Petey, who has cerebral palsy, is misdiagnosed as an idiot and institutionalized; sixty years later, still in the institution, he befriends a boy and shares with him the joy of life.
Western Juvenile Nonfiction
1993 Children of the Dust Bowl by Jerry Stanley
Describes the plight of the migrant workers who traveled from the Dust Bowl to California during the Depression and were forced to live in a federal labor camp and discusses the school that was built for their children.
1994 Cowboys, Indians, and Gunfighters by Albert Marrin
An action-packed story of the days when ranchers vied with the native peoples to rule the plains of North America. Reproductions of Western art will introduce readers to Marrin's vivid re-creation of history. His accurate, carefully researched text makes it a valuable reference tool as well. Illustrated with photos, prints, and paintings.
1995 The Trail of Tears by David K. Fremon
A history of the forced removal of the Cherokee and Choktaw tribes from their eastern homes onto western reservations in the 1800s shows how this tragedy became possible and reviews its impact on native Americans.
1996 Camels for Uncle Sam by Diane Yancey
Details the U.S. Army's 1850 experimental use of camels as pack animals in the American Southwest, an unsuccessful endeavor hampered by the camels' surly nature and the humans' ignorance and politics.
1997 The Life and Death of Crazy Horse by Russell Freedman
A profile of the Teton Sioux warrior depicts him as a shy, sensitive youth who overcame his fears in order to protect his people and their lands from invading white settlers, and follows his achievements in the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876.
1998 Rattlesnake Dance by Jennifer Owings Dewey
After being bitten by a rattlesnake at the age of nine, Jennifer Dewey developed a lifelong fascination with pit vipers. Here she uses colorful illustrations to teach young readers all sorts of information about rattlers and their habitat and behavior, as well as old beliefs and legends. This is a wonderful blending of autobiographical narrative with intriguing facts about the rattlesnake. Full-color and b&w illustrations.
1999 Cowboy With a Camera by Erwin E. Smith, Donald Emmet Worcester
Early twentieth-century photographs of cowboys accompany information on cattle, horses, roundups, and other aspects of their life.
Western Nonfiction Biography
1995 Hero of Beecher Island by David Dixon
George A. Forsyth took a determined stand against Sioux and Cheyenne Indians at the Battle of Beecher Island in 1868 and in the process transformed this minor frontier skirmish into a legendary symbol of the American West. This engagement helped mold popular conception of Indian warfare and provided Forsyth with the reputation of being an intrepid Indian fighter like George Custer and Buffalo Bill. Although this image of Forsyth is not necessarily incorrect, it is certainly incomplete. In addition to serving as an instrument of government Indian policy, the army carried out other important missions designed to foster internal development in the United States. These activities included exploring and mapping the remnants of the uncharted West: escorting railroad survey and construction crews and building forts along the major lines of commerce. As a staff officer, George Forsyth played an important part in all of these activities and more. Therefore, while this biography chronicles the life and military career of a remarkable soldier, it also provides fresh insight into the role that the United States Army played during the post-Civil War period.
1996 General M.G. Vallejo and the Advent of the Americans by Alan Rosenus1997 John Wesley Hardin by Leon C. Metz
1998 Death's Deceiver by Lynn Bridgers
1999 Duke by Ronald L. Davis
A biography of John Wayne, the iconic male hero of classic American cinema and an enduring figure in popular culture. Davis culls information from more than 65 interviews, extensive research, articles, and an extensive collaboration with Wayne's agent.
Western Nonfiction Contemporary (1900 to Present)
1994 Rivers in the Desert by Margaret Leslie Davis1995 Raven's Exile by Ellen Meloy
In this tribute to Desolation Canyon in Utah's red-rock canyon country, Meloy, a writer, artist, and native of the West who has written for "Outside" and "Harper's," chronicles a back country river ranger's season, when she and her husband spent an utterly roofless half a year. As a natural historian, Meloy touches on everything from the Anasazi Indians to the sex life of cottonwood trees. In the tradition of Diane Ackerman, Meloy enters into her descriptions with all senses wide open.
1996 We Are a People in This World by Conger Beasley1997 New Westers by Michael L. Johnson
These "New Westers", Johnson reveals, line-dance and two-step, listen to Garth Brooks and George Strait, drink beer from long-neck bottles, wear clothes ordered from Sheplers, watch rodeo on ESPN, play Wild West arcade games, eat fajitas and tacos in stuccoed Mexican cafes, collect Western art and Native American crafts, and vacation in and move to the West. "New Westers" rewrite the history and biography of the West. They reimagine the West in Cowboy sagas and poetry, Native American novels, Mexican-American drama, nature writing, revisionist films, eclectic visual artwork, and neo-traditional music. They flock to movies like Thelma and Louise, Unforgiven, and Dances with Wolves, watch mini-series like Lonesome Dove, and read bestsellers like The Crossing and All The Pretty Horses. "New Westers" are men and women who may or may not have ever hitched up a horse but who crave connection with the West. At the end of a century of urbanization, technological change, and cultural confusion, they seek a more natural home, a fuller and wider sense of place, and a deeper and more colorful personal identity. They also want to revive the dream of the mythic West - but on different terms. They overrun the Old West and yet strive to preserve it, raising troubling new concerns about the differences between the mythic and the real, between traditional and contemporary cultural influences.
1998 Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas
An account of the social unrest that rocked the American West in the early years of the 20th century. When the ex-governor of Idaho was murdered by an assassin's bomb, Pinkerton detective James McFarland kidnaps labor leader Bill Haywood and brings him to Idaho to stand trial. During a period of great labor unrest, this became one of the fiercest labor-vs.-capital struggles ever waged.
1999 Devil's Bargains by Hal K. Rothman
The American West has always been seen as a land of opportunity, but tourism has transformed it into a land of opportunism. From Sun Valley to Santa Fe, towns all over the region have been turned over to outsiders -- not just those who visit, but those who control.
Western Nonfiction Historical (Up to 1900)
1955 Bent's Fort by David Lavender
Bent's Fort was a landmark of the American frontier, a huge private fort on the upper Arkansas River in present southeastern Colorado. Established by the adventurers Charles and William Bent, it stood until 1849 as the center of the Indian trade of the central plains.
1957 Men to Match My Mountains the Story of the Opening by Irving Stone
A collection of stories which provide an insight into the colorful and diverse personalities of the settlers who helped tame America's Far West.
1959 Cripple Creek Days by Mabel Barbee Lee1961 South Pass, 1868 James Chisholm's Journal of the Wyoming Gold Rush by Lola M. Homsher, James Chisholm
James Chisholm's journal exudes the smell of sagebrush and scenic panoramas, of torrential rain storms and night packing, of being small in a big land, and of honest, earthy people who, in business-like fashion, went about the task of risking life, limb, health, and what small fortunes they had, to hit the big one.
1963 Great Surveys of the American West by Richard A. Bartlett1964 Bonanza West by William Greever
1966 The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest by Alvin M. Josephy
This is the story of the so-called Inland Empire of the Northwest, that rugged and majestic region bounded east and west by the Cascades and the Rockies, from the time of the great exploration of Lewis and Clark to the tragic defeat of Chief Joseph in 1877. And at the center of this history - perhaps even more relevant today than at the original publication of this classic volume - is the confrontation of the Indian and non-Indian during this nation's, and this region's, formative period. Heroic characters and dramatic events abound here. Explorers, fur traders, miners, settlers, missionaries, ranchers, and above all a unique succession of Indian chiefs and their tribespeople bring into focus one of the permanently instructive chapters in the history of the American west.
1967 America's Frontier Heritage by Ray A. Billington1969 Gold Rushes and Mining Camps of the Early American West by Vardis Fisher, Opal Laurel Holmes
1995 Precious Dust by Paula Mitchell Marks
In this lively narration of the "mad rush" of the 1800s, an expert recreates the bizarre spectacle of the gold rush stampedes that kept the West booming for half a century.
1996 Seeking Pleasure in the Old West by David Dary
110 photographs and illustrations in text.
1997 Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose
Stephen Ambrose's long fascination with the journey of Lewis and Clark led him to write this book. He chronicles the expedition and shares his knowledge of and passion for the landscape of the trail followed by the two captains, and he also tells the story of Meriwether Lewis's life after the expedition. Captain Lewis was a celebrity in the first decade of the nineteenth century, but despite the patronage of his mentor, President Thomas Jefferson, and the admiration inspired by his trailblazing journey, he was unable to parley his fame into any successful career, and his life ended violently while he was still in his thirties.
1998 El Llano Estacado by John Miller Morris
This story of the legendary Llano Estacado from 1536 to 1860 informs our understanding of discovery and geography in the Southwest. El Llano Estacado is more than a good read: it is also a native son's meditation on the role of the imagination and myth in how we perceive this unique environment. From the dawn of historic contact with the Southern High Plains, a remarkable series of Spanish, French, Mexican, and Anglo-American explorers and adventurers attempted to make sense of its curious environment. "Lo Llano", the first part of this saga, is a detective story on the Lost Coronado Trail. The key to this ancient Southwestern mystery - where did the Spanish go in 1541? - is understanding what they saw and how they remembered it in their writings. Part Two, "The Llano Frontier", studies the three centuries of Spanish exploration and imagination following Coronado. "The Illimitable Prairie", part three of the study, analyzes the romantic discovery of the Llano in the Anglo imagination. In the final part, "The Great Zahara", the author rides the trail of the classic Anglo explorers of the Llano: James W. Abert, Randolph Marcy, John Pope, and others. The visual representations of the Llano are also revealed through numerous illustrations of rare maps and lithographs.
1999 The Contested Plains by Elliott West
An account of the early settlement of the American West, written by a well-regarded historian of the period. West maintains that the California Gold Rush of 1848 provided the greatest impetus to growth in the region, spurring overland travel across the Great Plains and thereby opening it to settlers.
Western Novel
1986 Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Two former Texas Rangers, Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae, drive cattle from Texas to Montana with a crew of oddballs, misfits, and true heroes. With its roots firmly sunk in classic trail-drive lore, this novel nevertheless transcends the Western genre. Commenting on the book's phenomenal success, McMurtry said, "LONESOME DOVE was a critical book. But that's not how it was perceived. The romance of the West is so powerful, you can't really swim against the current. Whatever truth about the West is printed, the legend is always more potent." In 1987 the novel was adapted as a successful TV miniseries.
1987 The Blind Corral by Ralph Beer
Jackson Heckethorne is drawn to, and must reconcile himself with, the Montana land that has broken his grandfather, his father, and his brother, but has given them all that they value.
1989 Mattie by Judy Alter
Mattie Armstrong, illegitimate, survives a harsh childhood on the Western frontier to become a successful doctor.
1991 Sanctuary by Gary D. Svee
When newcomer Mordecai takes up the cause of the Nez Perces Indians, rehabilitates a has-been doctor, and comes to the aid of a disheartened school teacher, his good deeds run afoul of two of the most powerful men in Sanctuary, Montana, the Reverend Timpkins and Jasper, a sadistic bully.
1992 Journal of the Gun Years by Richard Matheson
Adrift at the end of the Civil War, a young man reluctantly winds up with a gun and a reputation as a gunslinger after killing a man in self-defense. Winner of the 1991 Spur Award for Best Western Novel.
1994 Friends by Charles Hackenberry
A lone deputy tracks a killer across the treacherous Dakota Territory in this 1993 Spur Award winner for Best Western Novel.
1997 Blood of Texas by Preston Lewis
This novel follows the adventures of a Mexican living in San Antonio who joins the fight for Texan independence. Winner of the 1996 Spur Award for Best Western Novel.
1998 The Kiowa Verdict by Cynthia Haseloff
Winner of the 1997 Spur Award for Best Western Novel, this tale follows the misfortunes of a Kiowa chief entangled in the Texas legal system, circa 1850.
1999 Journey of the Dead by Loren D. Estleman
Pat Garrett, the legendary sheriff who killed his friend Billy the Kid, is haunted by memories of his past. Narrated by an old Spanish alchemist, this novel explores Garrett's attempts to come to terms with himself and his environment, a desolate strip of desert in New Mexico known as the Journey of the Dead. Winner of the 1998 Spur Award for Best Western Novel.
