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Old West Novels:Historical Novels of the American Old WestThe vast literature of the American Old West evolved from dime novels of the late 1800s which portrayed life on the frontier as an idealized clash pitting virtuous cowboys and lawmen against "savage" Indians or outlaw gunfighters. Classic "Westerns" by writers like Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour in the early to mid-twentieth century generally retained this romanticized approach, but most modern writers present a more realistic view of Western history. Native Americans have been portrayed with more sympathy in recent decades and, increasingly, as complex individuals who are neither vilified nor idealized. Native American authors have been among the most distinguished contributors to Western literature. Some of the most dramatic events in the history of the Old West included the 1849 California Gold Rush, the 1835 Texas Revolution, and the 1845 U.S-Mexican War which resulted in a broad swathe of the Southwest being transferred from Mexico to the U.S. Categories overlap, so if you don't find what you're looking for in one category, try another. The "Native Americans" section also includes novels about Indian wars and about European and African Americans who lived with various tribes. Novels are listed alphabetically by author in the following categories: Cattlemen, Gunfighters and Outlaws Cattlemen, Gunfighters and OutlawsClifton Adams, Tragg's Choice, a traditional Western; 1969 Spur Award winner Clifton Adams, The Last Days of Wolf Garnett, a traditional Western; 1970 Spur Award winner Amelia Bean, The Feud, about a feud between cattlemen and sheepherders in Old West Arizona Amelia Bean, A Time for Outrage, about the “Lincoln County War” between some ranchers and a the owners of a general store in New Mexico; Billy the Kid appears as a minor character Terry Burns, Brother's Keeper, about a faithful Christian man searching for his outlaw twin brother in the Oklahoma territory; Christian message. Terry Burns, Mysterious Ways, about a white con man and his travels with a black ex-slave with more education than he pretends to have; Christian message. Terry Burns, Shepherd's Son, about a young rancher who must switch from cattle to sheep after his father dies, arousing violent opposition from the neighboring cattlemen; Christian message. Forrest Carter, The Outlaw Josey Wales (also titled Gone to Texas), about a Confederate veteran who turns outlaw and flees to Texas Forrest Carter, The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales, sequel to The Outlaw Josey Wales Walter van Tilburg Clark, The Ox-Bow Incident, about rustlers and vigilantes in the 1880s Thomas Cobb, Shavetail (2008), about a 17-year-old Connecticut boy serving in the U.S. Army in Arizona Territory when an Apache attack leads them to take on a near-suicidal mission Pete Dexter, Deadwood, about Wild Bill Hickok Marilyn Durham, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, about an ex-convict who kidnaps a spirited woman running away from her husband in Wyoming Thomas Eidson, St. Agnes' Stand, a man on the run saves a group of nuns from an Apache attack in the Old West; 1994 Spur Award winner
Loren D. Estleman, The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion, about a rough-and-ready theater troupe in the Old West Loren D. Estleman, The Undertaker's Wife, about an undertaker in the Old West; 2006 Spur Award winner Loren D. Estleman, Black Powder, White Smoke, about two killers, one black and one white, whose paths converge in Denver Loren D. Estleman, The Master Executioner, about a hangman in the Old West Loren D. Estleman, The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association, about a fledgling motion picture company in 1913 Los Angeles Loren D. Estleman, Journey of the Dead, about Pat Garrett (the man who killed Billy the Kid) and an ancient Spanish alchemist; 1999 Spur Award winner Loren D. Estleman, Billy Gashade: An American Epic, about a man who plays the piano in saloons and bawdy houses in the Old West Loren D. Estleman, The Hider, about the last buffalo hunter in the Old West Loren D. Estleman, Sudden Country, about a search for Confederate gold in the Black Hills of Dakota Loren D. Estleman, Bloody Season, about the gunfight at the O.K. Corral Loren D. Estleman, Gun Man, about a gunfighter in the Old West Loren D. Estleman, This Old Bill, about Buffalo Bill Cody Loren D. Estleman, Mr. St. John, about an aging hero who puts together a posse for one last manhunt Loren D. Estleman, The Wolfer, about two men hunting a wolf Loren D. Estleman, Aces & Eights, about Wild Bill Hickok Loren D. Estleman, The High Rocks, about a lawman's quest to stop a scalphunter from terrorizing Montana Indians; #1 in the Page Murdock series Loren D. Estleman, Stamping Ground, about a lawman's quest to capture a Cheyenne chief; #2 in the Page Murdock series Loren D. Estleman, Murdock's Law, about a lawman's quest to bring order to an Old West town; #3 in the Page Murdock series Loren D. Estleman, The Stranglers, about a lawman's quest to stop a band of outlaws who lynch peace officers; #4 in the Page Murdock series Loren D. Estleman, City of Widows, about a retired lawman running a saloon in New Mexico; #5 in the Page Murdock series Loren D. Estleman, White Desert, about a lawman pursuing a gang of criminals into Canada; #6 in the Page Murdock series Loren D. Estleman, Port Hazard, about a lawman from the American West on the Barbary Coast; #7 in the Page Murdock series
Brian Garfield, Wild Times (1978), a picaresque novel about the adventures of a gunslinger and Indian fighter; made into a TV miniseries starring Sam Elliott Brian Garfield, Manifest Destiny: A True Romantic Saga of Young Theodore Roosevelt, about Roosevelt's efforts to operate a ranch in the Dakota badlands in the 1880s Molly Gloss, The Hearts of Horses; set in the ranching country of eastern Oregon during World War I Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, about a Mormon-hating cowboy and a young Mormon woman who fall chastely in love when he helps her defend her ranch; published in 1912; perhaps the best-known of Zane Grey's numerous (over 50) romanticized novels of the Old American West Charles Hackenberry, Friends, about a sheriff and his deputy pursuing a killer across the Dakota Territory; 1993 Spur Award winner Oakley Hall, Warlock, about a gunfighter in a fictional Old West town called Warlock Ron Hansen, Desperadoes, a realistic novel about the Old West outlaws, the Dalton Gang Will Henry, I, Tom Horn, a psychological portrait of an Indian fighter and rodeo rider who was capable of both compassion and cold-blooded murder Elmer Kelton, Slaughter, about buffalo hunters in the Old West; 1992 Spur Award winner Elmer Kelton, The Far Canyon, a rancher tries to start over; sequel to Slaughter; 1994 Spur Award winner Elmer Kelton, Hard Trail to Follow (2008), about a former Texas Ranger who leaves his fiancée to track the man he believes killed his friend, a sheriff; #7 in the Texas Rangers series Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs, Last Go Round, about bronc busting at the Pendleton Round-Up in 1911 Richard Liebmann-Smith, The James Boys: A Novel Account of Four Desperate Brothers (2008), a novel which imagines what might have happened if outlaws Frank and Jesse James had been been the younger brothers of philosopher William James and novelist Henry James Richard Matheson, Journal of the Gun Years, a dark psychological study of a man was an outlaw and a lawman at various times; 1991 Spur Award winner Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, a literary novel about the violence of the Old West Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses, a dark literary novel about a Texas man’s journey into Mexico in 1948; #1 in the Border Trilogy Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing, a dark literary novel about a boy who captures a wolf and crosses into Mexico with it during the 1940s; #2 in the Border Trilogy Cormac McCarthy, Cities of the Plains, a dark literary novel about two young ranch hands in 1952 New Mexico; #3 in the Border Trilogy Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove, an epic literary novel about the last days of the Old West trail drive Larry McMurtry, Streets of Laredo, about bounty hunting in the Old West; sequel to Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry, Telegraph Days, about a woman’s experiences as a telegraph operator in the Old West Larry McMurtry, Anything for Billy, about the Old West outlaw Billy the Kid Larry McMurtry, Buffalo Girls, about Calamity Jane Kerry Newcomb, Ghosts of Elkhorn, about gunfighters in 1927 Colorado Kerry Newcomb, Texas Anthem, about a Texan’s quest for vengeance after escaping from a Mexican prison; #1 in the Texas Anthem series Kerry Newcomb, Texas Born, about a Texan’s quest for vengeance; #2 in the Texas Anthem series Kerry Newcomb, Shadow Walker, about a teenaged bounty hunter in Texas; #3 in the Texas Anthem series Kerry Newcomb, Rogue River, about a group of people trying to survive after a battle with the Cheyenne; #4 in the Texas Anthem series Kerry Newcomb, Creed’s Law, about a Texan in the Pacific Northwest; #5 in the Texas Anthem series Robert B. Parker, Appaloosa, about a pair of lawmen and their quest to bring justice to a wily killer Robert B. Parker, Resolution (2008), about a gunman who takes a job at a saloon; sequel to Appaloosa Robert B. Parker, Gunman's Rhapsody, about Wyatt Earp Richard Parry, The Winter Wolf: Wyatt Earp in Alaska, about Wyatt Earp's quest to strike it rich in the Alaska Gold Rush Charles Portis, True Grit, about a woman’s pursuit of the farmhand who murdered her father Conrad Richter, Sea of Grass, about conflicts between farmers and ranchers in late nineteenth century New Mexico Jack Schaefer, Shane, about a former gunslinger who stays with a family in a small Montana town Gary Svee, Sanctuary, about the conflicts that erupt when a traveling minister rides into a brutal Montana ranching town; 1990 Spur Award winner Glendon Swarthout, The Shootist, a gunfighter confronts Death personified in 1901 El Paso Anna Lee Waldo, Prairie: The Legend of Charles Burton Irwin and the Y6 Ranch (1986), a long, thoroughly researched novel about C.B. Irwin, who became a prominent rancher in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was involved with such legendary Westerners as Buffalo Bill Cody, Will Rogers, painter Charlie Russell and outlaw Tom Horn; published both as a single volume and in two volumes. Richard S. Wheeler, Masterson, the aging ex-gunfighter Bat Masterson makes an impulsive trip west to revisit the legendary scenes of his former life; 2000 Spur Award winner Jeanne Williams, Home Mountain, historical romance about a young woman who moves her family to Texas after their parents die, and struggles to make a living ranching; 1990 Spur Award winner Owen Wister, The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, about conflicts among cattlemen in 1890s Wyoming; published in 1902
Native AmericansHervey Allen, The Forest and the Fort (1943), about an eighteenth century frontiersman kidnapped as a boy by the Shawnees;#1 in the Disinherited series. Hervey Allen, Bedford Village (1944), about an eighteenth century frontiersman kidnapped as a boy by the Shawnees;#2 in the Disinherited series. Hervey Allen, Toward the Morning (1948), about an eighteenth century frontiersman kidnapped as a boy by the Shawnees;#3 in the Disinherited series. Hervey Allen, City in the Dawn Piers Anthony, Tatham Mound, about a Native American storyteller's quest to save his people after Europeans invade North America. Elliott Arnold, Blood Brother, about the friendship between Cochise, chief of the Chiricahua Apaches, and the Indian agent Tom Jeffords Thomas Berger, Little Big Man, the humorous but unflinching tale of a white man raised by Indians in the Old West Thomas Berger, The Return of Little Big Man, sequel to Little Big Man Irwin Blacker, Taos, about the Pueblo Revolt in northern New Mexico Win Blevins, Stone Song, about the Sioux war chief Crazy Horse; 1995 Spur Award winner; 1996 Mountains and Plains Bookseller Award winner Win Blevins, The Powder River, about the Cheyenne Win Blevins, RavenShadow, a modern Lakota Sioux makes a pilgrimage to Wounded Knee and experiences a vision of the 1890 massacre of his people that took place there Dee Alexander Brown, Creek Mary’s Blood, about a Creek Indian woman and her descendants Forrest Carter, The Education of Little Tree, the fictional “memoir” of a Cherokee man, actually written by the white segregationist Asa Earl Carter; published in 1976 Alan Cheuse, To Catch the Lightning (2008), about Edward Curtis, who gave up his career as a studio photographer and left his wife and children to travel the West photographing Native Americans. Frederick J. Chiaventone, A Road We Do Not Know, about Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn Frederick J. Chiaventone, Moon of Bitter Cold, about Red Cloud’s War; prequel to A Road We Do Not Know Amanda Cockrell, When the Horses Came, about a buffalo hunter in prehistoric North America who has a magical dream of a horse; #1 in the Horse Catchers series. Amanda Cockrell, Children of the Horse, about the descendants of the legendary "Horse Bringers" at the time Europeans settled in North America; #2 in the Horse Catchers series. Amanda Cockrell, The Rain Child, about a Native American woman who raises an orphaned baby as her own child; #3 in the Horse Catchers series. Will Levington Comfort, Apache, a biographical novel about Mangas Colorados, a chief of the Chiricahua Apaches
Robert J. Conley, The Dark Way, about the Cherokee before the coming of Europeans to the American continent; #2 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, The White Path, about Sequoyah, the Cherokee leader who fought at the side of Andrew Jackson and developed a system for writing the Cherokee language; #3 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, The Way South,; #4 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, The Long Way Home, Spanish invaders threaten the Cherokee in their ancestral homelands; #5 in the Real People series. Robert J. Conley, The Dark Island, won the 1995 Spur Award for the Western Novel; #6 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, The War Trail North, a young Cherokee travels into Seneca country to avenge the death of his brother; #7 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, War Woman, about the Cherokee; #8 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, The Peace Chief, about the Cherokee; #9 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, Cherokee Dragon, about Dragging Canoe, the great Cherokee war chief; #10 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, Spanish Jack, about a Cherokee adventurer; #11 in the Real People series Robert J. Conley, Geronimo: An American Legend, about the Apache warrior Robert J. Conley, Mountain Windsong: A Novel of the Trail of Tears, about the forced removal of the Cherokees from their homeland to Oklahoma in the 1830s Robert J. Conley, Ned Christie's War, an innocent Cherokee accused of murder becomes a warrior for justice Robert J. Conley, Nickajack, about a murder trial in the years following the Trail of Tears march; 1992 Spur Award winner. Robert J. Conley, Zeke Proctor: Cherokee Outlaw, about an Oklahoma Cherokee in the Old West Robert J. Conley, The Long Trail North, about a half-Cherokee Texas rancher on the trail of the men who killed his partner Robert J. Conley, Captain Dutch, about a Cherokee warrior Robert J. Conley, Incident at Buffalo Crossing, about conflicts between the Cherokee and the white settlers Robert J. Conley, Medicine War, about a Cherokee shaman fighting a curse that has brought him into conflict with U.S. marshals Robert J. Conley, Killing Time, a Cherokee sheriff takes it personally when one of his prisoners is murdered in the jail (1988) Robert J. Conley, Quitting Time, about a hired killer on the trail of some cattle rustlers (1989) Robert J. Conley, Colfax, a gunfighter sets out to avenge the murder of an honest man; sequel to Killing Time (1989) Robert J. Conley, Fugitive's Trail, about a boy who becomes an outlaw when he kills a man for shooting his dog; #1 in the Kid Parmlee series Robert J. Conley, A Cold Hard Trail, Kid Parmlee is condemned to hang for a crime he didn't commit; #2 in the Kid Parmlee series Robert J. Conley, The Devil's Trail, Kid Parmlee joins up with some lawmen hunting criminals; #3 in the Kid Parmlee series Robert J. Conley, Barjack, a humorous novel about a marshal in a small Old West town; #1 in the Barjack series (2000) Robert J. Conley, Broke Loose, a humorous novel about a marshal in a small Western town who enjoys trouble too much for his own good; #2 in the Barjack series (2000) Robert J. Conley, The Gunfighter, a humorous novel about a marshal in a small Western town and the gunfighter who rides into town to challenge him; #3 in the Barjack series (2001) Robert J. Conley, Strange Company, a Western novel by a Cherokee author Robert J. Conley, Border Line, about a conflict over gold; sequel to Strange Company Robert J. Conley, Go-Ahead Rider, a Harvard-educated Cherokee goes on the trail of a killer; #1 in the Rider series (1990) Robert J. Conley, To Make a Killing, a Harvard-educated Cherokee sheriff tangles with bootleggers; #2 in the Rider series (1994) Robert J. Conley, Outside the Law, a Harvard-educated Cherokee sheriff investigates the murder of a schoolteacher; #3 in the Rider series (1995)
Eric Flint, 1812: The Rivers of War, a novel of alternative history about what might have happened if the Cherokees had teamed up with African-Americans to create an independent nation in Arkansas Eric Flint, The Arkansas War, a novel of alternative history about what might have happened if the Cherokees had teamed up with African-Americans to create an independent nation in Arkansas; sequel to 1812: The Rivers of War Sharon Ewell Foster, Abraham’s Well, about the black slaves of the Cherokee on the 1838 Trail of Tears Charles Frazier, Thirteen Moons, about a white man adopted by the Cherokee W. Michael Gear, The Morning River, a philosophy student turned riverboatman in 1825 falls in love with a Shoshoni medicine woman W. Michael Gear, Coyote Summer, sequel to The Morning River Cynthia Haseloff, Chains of Sarai Stone, inspired by the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, a white woman raised by Indians Cynthia Haseloff, Satanta’s Woman: A Western Story, about a captive white woman’s life among the Kiowa Cynthia Haseloff, The Kiowa Verdict, about a Kiowa war party put on trial in a Texas courtroom; 1998 Spur Award winner Cynthia Haseloff, Man Without Medicine, about two Kiowa men searching for horses taken by white horse thieves Joyce Henderson, To the Edge of the Stars, historical romance about a white woman who falls in love with a half-white, half-Comanche rancher in Texas Joyce Henderson, Walks in Shadow, historical romance set in Texas about a woman rancher and a white man who was raised by Comanches Joyce Henderson, Written on the Wind, historical romance about a white woman raised by Comanches and the Texas Ranger determined to "rescue" her Will Henry, From Where the Sun Now Stands, about Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Ruth Beebe Hill, Hanta Yo, about the Lakota/Dakota Indians before the coming of European settlers Paul Horgan, A Distant Trumpet, about frontier duty in Arizona during the 1880s Oliver La Farge, Laughing Boy, a love story about a young Navajo couple in 1915 Deborah Larsen, The White, about a sixteen-year-old white woman captured by Indians Alan LeMay, The Searchers, about the violence between Indians and white settlers in the Old West and how it affected the survivors; published in 1954 Joseph M. Marshall III, Hundred in the Hand, set in Wyoming, about the Battle of the Hundred in the Hand and the Fetterman Massacre from the point of view of the Lakota Indians Larry McMurtry, Dead Man’s Walk, about two young Texas Rangers; prequel to Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry, Comanche Moon, about conflicts between Indians and Texas Rangers; prequel to Lonesome Dove and sequel to Dead Man’s Walk; 1998 Spur Award winner Larry McMurtry, Sin Killer, about an aristocratic English family on a misguided trip through the Old West; #1 in the Berrybender series Larry McMurtry, Boone’s Lick, about the Fetterman Massacre Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Zeke and Ned, about the last Cherokee warriors Marjorie Mogonye, Flowers & Foxes, about a Choctaw family during the government's forced removal of the tribe from their Nanih Waya ancestral land in Mississipi to Oklahoma's Indian Territory N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn, about a man from a Pueblo Indian reservation after the end of World War II N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain, about the author’s Kiowa ancestors from their origins in Montana to their relocation on an Oklahoma reservation Brian Moore, Black Robe, about a seventeenth century Jesuit mission to the Algonquins in Quebec Vella Munn, Blackfeet Season, about two Blackfeet half-brothers who vie for a woman's love and the honor of leading their tribe into battle Vella Munn, Soul of the Sacred Earth, about a Catholic missionary to the Hopi Vella Munn, Seminole Song, about Florida's Seminole Indians and their fight to remain on their ancestral lands Vella Munn, Cheyenne Summer, about a Cheyenne tribe's struggle to survive after a fire destroys half their village Vella Munn, River's Daughter, about Indians and settlers on the Oregon frontier Vella Munn, Daughter of the Forest, about a conflict between two tribes in the Pacific Northwest after the coming of white settlers Vella Munn, Wind Warrior, about the Chumash tribe of California and their conflicts with the Spanish Vella Munn, Spirit of the Eagle, about a Modoc woman who falls in love with a maverick Army officer on the California-Oregon border Kerry Newcomb, In the Season of the Sun, about two brothers, one an outlaw, the other raised by Indians Kerry Newcomb, The Legend of Mickey Free, about an Apache who unwittingly betrays his people Kerry Newcomb, Morning Star, set in Old West Montana Kerry Newcomb, Sacred is the Wind, about a Cheyenne struggling to save his people Kerry Newcomb, Scalpdancers, about a Blackfeet shaman and a sea captain in the Pacific Northwest Kerry Newcomb, The Arrow Keeper’s Song, about a Cheyenne at the beginning of the 20th century Lucia St. Clair Robson, Ride the Wind, about Cynthia Ann Parker, who was adopted by a tribe of Apaches who kidnapped her Lucia St. Clair Robson, Walk in My Soul, about Sam Houston and his Cherokee wife Lucia St. Clair Robson, Ghost Warrior: Lozen of the Apaches, about an Apache woman in New Mexico Lucia St. Clair Robson, Light a Distant Fire, about Osceola, the leader of the Seminole Indians in Florida Michael Straight, Carrington, about the Fetterman Massacre in 1866 Wyoming Michael Straight, A Very Small Remnant, about the Sand Creek Massacre James Alexander Thom, Panther in the Sky (1990), a biographical novel about the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh. James Alexander Thom, Follow the River (1981), about Mary Ingles, who was kidnapped by the Shawnee in 1755 but escaped by walking a thousand miles back through the wilderness James Alexander Thom, The Children of First Man (1995), a novel which explores the possibility that the Mandan Indians may have been descendants of the Welsh Prince Madoc who, according to legend, sailed to America in medieval times. James Alexander Thom and Dark Rain Thom, Warrior Woman: the Exceptional Life Story of Nonhelema, Shawnee Indian Woman Chief, about a woman chief of the Shawnee Willard Thompson, Dream Helper: A Novel of Early California, about a young Chumash Indian woman who is made a captive after she begs protection at a Franciscan mission Greg Tobin, Prairie: An Epic of the West, about the native people of the Great Plains before and after the coming of European settlers James Welch, The Heartsong of Charging Elk, a literary novel about an Oglala Sioux who travels with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show James Welch, Fools Crow, about the coming-of-age of a young man of the Blackfeet tribe David Marion Wilkinson, Oblivion’s Altar: A Novel of Courage, about the Cherokees and the Trail of Tears Barbara Wood, Sacred Ground, about a woman of the Topaa Indians and her descendants in southern California from prehistoric times to the present
Explorers, Trappers and Mountain MenWin Blevins, So Wild a Dream, about a mountain man in the 1820s Old West; 2004 Spur Award winner; #1 in the Rendezvous series Win Blevins, Beauty for Ashes, about a mountain man in the 1820s Old West; #2 in the Rendezvous series Win Blevins, Dancing With the Golden Bear, about a mountain man in the 1820s Old West; #3 in the Rendezvous series Win Blevins, Heaven is a Long Way Off, about a mountain man in the 1820s Old West; #4 in the Rendezvous series Win Blevins, A Long and Winding Road, about a mountain man searching for two Mexican girls kidnapped by Navajo raiders: #5 in the Rendezvous series Win Blevins, Charbonneau: Man of Two Dreams, a biographical novel about the son of Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who translated for the Lewis and Clark expedition Win Blevins, The Misadventures of Silk and Shakespeare, a humorous novel about a young trapper and his mentor, who used to be a Shakespearean actor Win Blevins, The Snake River, about a mountain man in the Old West Win Blevins, The Yellowstone, about a mountain man in the Old West
Vardis Fisher, Pemmican: A Novel of the Hudson’s Bay Company, published in 1956 Vardis Fisher, Tale of Valor, about the Lewis and Clark Expedition; published in 1958 Vardis Fisher, Mountain Man, a story about an Old West mountain man that inspired the movie Jeremiah Jones A.B. Guthrie, Jr., The Big Sky, about explorers and trappers in the Old West; published in 1947 Brian Hall, I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company, about the Lewis and Clark Expedition; 2004 Spur Award winner Terry C. Johnston, Carry the Wind, about the Rocky Mountains fur trade in the Old West Frederick Manfred, Lord Grizzly, about a mountain man’s struggle to survive after he is attacked by a bear; published in 1954 Vella Munn, Daughter of the Mountain, a love story about a woman in the Donner Party who is rescued by a mountain man Stef Penney, The Tenderness of Wolves, about the Northern Territory and the Hudson Bay Company Irving Stone, Immortal Wife (1944), a biographical novel about Jessie Ann Benton Fremont, the wife of explorer John C. Fremont Irving Stone, Men to Match My Mountains (1956), about the opening of the American West Richard S. Wheeler, Sun River (1989), about a mountain man who reluctantly agrees to lead a group of missionaries through Crow and Cheyenne territory to reach the Blackfoot Nation; #1 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Bannack (1989), about a mountain man; #2 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, The Far Tribes (1990), about a mountain man's efforts to rescue a Massachusetts man from a hostile tribe after he sets out to study Indian ways; #3 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Yellowstone (1990), about a mountain man who leads a wagon train through the Great Plains; #4 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Bitterroot (1991), about a mountain man who agrees to guide a Quaker missionary into Montana's Bitterroot Valley; #5 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Sundance (1992), about a mountain man trying to rescue a girl lost in hostile Sioux country; #6 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Wind River (1993), about a mountain man who takes a job as a scout and translator for the U.S. Department of Indian Affairs and finds his loyalties divided; #7 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Santa Fe (1994), about a mountain man hired to guide a traveling medicine show along the Santa Fe Trail; #8 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Rendezvous (1997), a prequel about Skye's 1826 transformation from a Royal Navy deserter to a mountain man; #9 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Dark Passage (1998), about a mountain man in 1830 who is captured by a hostile Blackfeet tribe after he loses his wife to another mountain man; #10 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Going Home (2000), about a mountain man who has an opportunity in 1832 to clear his name and return to his former home in England; #11 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Downriver (2001), about a mountain man who goes to St. Louis in 1838 to find a job after he learns the beaver are dying out; #12 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, The Deliverance (2003), about a mountain man and his Crow Indian wife who agree to help a Cheyenne woman find her children, kidnapped by the Utes; #13 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, The Fire Arrow (2007), about a mountain man trying to bring his wounded Crow wife home to her people during a harsh winter; #14 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, The Canyon of Bones (2008), about a mountain man who guides an English tabloid writer through the Yellowstone and Missouri country; #15 in the Skye's West series Richard S. Wheeler, Virgin River (2008), about a mountain man guiding a group of young tuberculosis patients across Utah; #16 in the Skye's West series Stewart Edward White, The Long Rifle, about Daniel Boone James Alexander Thom, From Sea to Shining Sea (1986), about the parents and family of Merriwether Clark and Clark's experiences in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. James Alexander Thom, Sign Talker (2001), about George Drouillard, who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition as their translator for Indian tribes they met along the way. Anna Lee Waldo, Sacajawea, about the Shoshoni woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition
Settlers Moving WestJudy Alter, Mattie, about the first woman doctor in Nebraska; 1988 Spur Award winner Amelia Bean, The Fancher Train, about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a wagon train of settlers traveling through southern Utah were massacred Win Blevins, The Rock Child, set in Mormon country in 1862 and featuring a mix of historical characters like Sir Richard Francis Burton and such unlikely fictional characters as a Tibetan nun forced into prostitution in the Old West Susan Cokal, Breath and Bones, about a highly sexed Danish orphan who follows her lover to America and travels through the Old West searching for him H.L. Davis, Honey in the Horn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about Oregon in the early twentieth century David Anthony Durham, Gabriel's Story, about homesteaders in 1870s Kansas Vardis Fisher, Toilers of the Hills, about a struggling farmer and his wife in Idaho; published in 1928 Vardis Fisher, Dark Bridwell (also titled The Wild Ones, a sequel to Toilers of the Hills; published in 1931 Vardis Fisher, Forgive Us Our Virtues, published in 1938 Vardis Fisher, Children of God, about the Mormons; published in 1939 Vardis Fisher, City of Illusion, published in 1941 Vardis Fisher, The Mothers, about the Donner Party; published in 1943 Karen Joy Fowler, Sarah Canary, about a Chinese railway worker and an Anglo-American woman in the Pacific Northwest Judith Freeman, Red Water, a literary novel about the 1837 Mountain Meadows Massacre Kathleen O'Neal Gear, Sand in the Wind, about the Cheyenne and white homesteaders in Old West Montana Kathleen O'Neal Gear, Thin Moon and Cold Mist, about a woman trying to work a gold mining claim in Colorado after the Civil War Leo V. Gordon and Richard Vetterli, Powderkeg, about an 1857 U.S. military expedition against the Mormons in Utah Territory A.B. Guthrie, Jr., The Way West, about a wagon train traveling west in 1846; sequel to The Big Sky; published in 1949 A.B. Guthrie, Jr., Fair Land, Fair Land, about an old frontiersman turned conservationist; in the Big Sky series A.B. Guthrie, Jr., These Thousand Hills, about an Old West town in Montana Celia Hayes, To Truckee's Trail, a novel in the form of a diary about the Stephens-Townsend Party, the first to travel to California by wagon train across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, two years before the Donner Party met disaster on the same trail Joanna Hershon, The German Bride, a grim literary novel about a Jewish banker's daughter from Berlin who marries an unscruplous merchant and travels to Santa Fe with him Cecelia Holland, An Ordinary Woman: A Dramatized Biography of Nancy Kelsey, about a pioneer woman who makes the overland journey to California James D. Houston, Snow Mountain Passage, about a family who traveled West with the Donner Party MacKinlay Kantor, Spirit Lake, about a community of Iowa settlers unprepared for a Wahpekute Indian attack that is about to descend on them Michael S. Katz, Shalom on the Range, about a Jewish railroad detective investigating a train robbery in 1870 Colorado Jane Kirkpatrick, A Clearing in the Wild (2006), about a German-American woman in a Bethelite religious colony in 1850s Missouri who takes the opporunity to push for freedom when she joins a group sent to the Northwest to scout a new location for the group; Christian message; #1 in the Change and Cherish trilogy Jane Kirkpatrick, A Tendering in the Storm (2007), about a German-American woman and her husband who break away from a confining religious community to make their own way in 1850s Washington territory; Christian message; #2 in the Change and Cherish trilogy Jane Kirkpatrick, A Mending at the Edge (2008), about a German-American woman struggling to balance her need for community and individual freedom in a confining religious community in 1850s Oregon; Christian message; #3 in the Change and Cherish trilogy Jane Kirkpatrick, All Together in One Place (2000), about a group of women on the Oregon Trail in 1852; Christian message; #1 in the Kinship and Courage trilogy. Jane Kirkpatrick, No Eye Can See (2001), about a blind widow who settles in California after surviving tragedy on the Oregon Trail; Christian message; #2 in the Kinship and Courage trilogy. Jane Kirkpatrick, What Once We Loved (2001), about a group of women struggling to make new lives for themselves in California and Oregon after surviving tragedy on the Oregon Trail; Christian message; #3 in the Kinship and Courage trilogy. Larry McMurtry, The Wandering Hill, about an aristocratic English family on a misguided trip through the Old West; #2 in the Berrybender series Larry McMurtry, By Sorrow’s River, about an aristocratic English family on a misguided trip through the Old West; #3 in the Berrybender series Larry McMurtry, Folly and Glory, about an aristocratic English family on a misguided trip through the Old West; #4 and last in the Berrybender series Hugh Nissenson, The Tree of Life, a minister who has lost his faith moves west to Ohio Tristi Pinkston, Season of Sacrifice, about a Welsh immigrant who joins the Mormon migration to Utah; Christian message. Allison K. Pittman, With Endless Sight (2008), about a fourteen-year-old girl who loses her family on the Oregon Trail and must depend on her faith in God to sustain her through the harsh trials that follow; Christian message Ole E. Rolvaag, Giants in the Earth, about Norwegian immigrants pioneering on the Dakota plains; a classic but technically not a historical novel since it was based on Rolvaag’s own experiences; first published in English in 1927 Jory Sherman, The Medicine Horn, about a young married couple who migrate west to Kentucky; 1991 Spur Award winner; #1 in the Buckskinners series Jory Sherman, Trapper's Moon, about a man and his son struggling to make a living as trappers in the Old West; #2 in the Buckskinners series Annette Snyder, Travis Pass, historical romance about young people from two families in conflict as both move west as part of the Oklahoma Free Land Race. Annette Snyder, Sally Murphy, historical romance about a New York orphan sent west by train and adopted by a preacher. Annette Snyder, Rock Creek, historical romance about a young woman who goes to live with her father after her mother is killed in a barroom brawl. Annette Snyder, Liberty Road, historical romance about a heartbroken young woman and the owner of a saloon and brothel. Annette Snyder, Whiskey Shots, two romantic short stories set in the Old West. Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose, a retired historian, bitter about his failed marriage, researches the story of his grandparents' hard lives and enduring marriage in late nineteenth century California Jack Todd, Sun Going Down, a family saga about a couple who meet during the Civil War and four generations of their family in the American West Nancy Turner, These is My Words, about a pioneer woman in the Arizona territory Alissa York, Effigy (2008), a literary novel about a Utah Mormon's teenaged fourth wife who has unusual skill in taxidermy and begins to have distressingly violent dreams as the time of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre approaches. Jessamyn West, The Massacre at Fall Creek, about the trial of five white men for the murder of peaceful Indians in 1824 Indiana
California and the Gold RushIsabel Allende, Daughter of Fortune, a literary novel about a Chilean woman’s search for love during the California Gold Rush Gwen Bristow, Calico Palace, about Old West California in the year before the Gold Rush Judith Greber, Mendocino, a family saga about a Russian immigrant and his Native American wife in California Bret Harte, The Luck of Roaring Camp, a collection of short stories about the California Gold Rush; published in 1870 (technically not historical fiction) Cecelia Holland, Railroad Schemes, about an orphaned girl protected by an outlaw determined to stop the railroad from coming to 1870s Los Angeles; #1 in the Railroad Schemes series Cecelia Holland, Lily Nevada, about a strong-willed woman who makes a new life for herself in Gilded Age San Francisco; #2 in the Railroad Schemes series Cecelia Holland, The Bear Flag: A Novel of California, about a young woman involved in California’s struggle for independence Cecelia Holland, Pacific Street, about an escaped slave who gains influence in Gold Rush San Francisco James D. Houston, Bird of Another Heaven, about a modern talk show host discovering his family roots in Gold Rush California and nineteenth century Hawaii John Jakes, California Gold, about a real estate tycoon in California in the early 1900s Catherine Lanigan, Wings of Destiny, a descendant of one of San Francisco's founders unearths the story of her grandfather's greed and corruption Louis L'Amour, The Californios, about a family of Irish ranchers in Spanish California Gary McCarthy, The Gringo Amigo, about the violent times after the Gold Rush Ralph Milliken, California Dons, about California during the mission days when it was part of Mexico Robert Lewis Taylor, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, a coming-of-age story about a Scottish boy's journey by wagon train to California during the 1849 Gold Rush Lawrence Thornton, Ghost Woman, about a Native American woman converted to Catholicism who settles in nineteenth century Santa Barbara Naida West, Eye of the Bear, about California before the Gold Rush Richard W. Wheeler, Sierra, about the California Gold Rush; 1996 Spur Award winner Stewart E. White, Gold, about four men who form a partnership during the Gold Rush; #1 in the California trilogy Stewart E. White, The Gray Dawn, about four men who form a partnership during the Gold Rush; #2 in the California trilogy Stewart E. White, The Rose Dawn, about four men who form a partnership during the Gold Rush; #3 in the California trilogy
The Southwest, Texas and the Texas RevolutionElliott Arnold, Time of the Gringo, about the last Mexican governor of New Mexico James Lee Burke, Two for Texas, about the Texas Revolution Will Camp, Blood of Texas, about a Mexican living in San Antonio who joins Sam Houston's army to fight for independence; Will Camp is a pen name of Preston Lewis; 1996 Spur Award winner Willa Cather, Death Comes For the Archbishop, about two priests trying to establish Roman Catholicism in the New Mexico Territory Elizabeth Crook, Promised Lands, about the Texas Revolution Elizabeth Crook, The Raven's Bride: A Novel of Eliza Allen and Sam Houston, about the wife who left Sam Houston only 11 weeks after their wedding Elizabeth Crook, The Night Journal, about a contemporary woman who goes to New Mexico to visit the site of her great-grandparents' home, and discovers a secret that turns the legendary history of her family upside down; 2007 Spur Award winner Randy Lee Eickhoff, Bowie, about Jim Bowie, who died at the Alamo Stephen Harrigan, The Gates of the Alamo, about the siege and fall of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution; 2001 Spur Award winner Tina Juárez, Call No Man Master, about a young woman of mixed heritage who fights for independence from first Spain and then Mexico Elmer Kelton, Sons of Texas, about a young man seeking revenge for his father's murder in Mexican Texas; #1 in the Sons of Texas trilogy Elmer Kelton, The Raiders, about conflicts between American settlers and Mexicans in Texas before the Revolution; #2 in the Sons of Texas trilogy Elmer Kelton, The Rebels, about the Texas Revolution; #3 in the Sons of Texas trilogy Elmer Kelton, The Way of the Coyote, about two former captives of the Comanche who return to Texas after the Civil War, to find themselves battling outlaws, Indians and the Ku Klux Klan; 2002 Spur Award winner Elmer Kelton, Many a River (2008), about two boys whose parents are killed by Comanches while the family is migrating through West Texas, one boy taken captive and sold to a Comanchero trader, the other rescued by militia men and raised by homesteaders Al and JoAnna Lacy, A Line in the Sand (2007), a family saga about a young man who migrates to Texas with his family in 1835 and joins Jim Bowie in the fight for Texas independence; Christian message; #1 in the Kane Legacy trilogy Al and JoAnna Lacy, Web of Destiny (2008), a family saga about three brothers who volunteer to fight in a war against Mexico; Christian message; #2 in the Kane Legacy trilogy Al and JoAnna Lacy, High is the Eagle (2008), a family saga about brothers fighting in a war against Mexico; Christian message; #3 in the Kane Legacy trilogy Tom Lea, Wonderful Country, about life on the violent Texas-Mexico border during the late nineteenth century Jeff Long, Empire of Bones, about Sam Houston and the Texas Revolution; 1993 Spur Award Winner James Michener, The Eagle and the Raven, about Santa Anna and Sam Houston Kerry Newcomb, The Red Ripper, about the Texas Revolution Lucia St. Clair Robson, Fearless, about a woman who joined the U.S. Army during the 1846 war with Mexico Janice Woods Windle, True Women, a family saga set in Guadalupe County, Texas, from pioneer times through the Civil War and into the twentieth century Janice Woods Windle, Hill Country, about a woman in the Texas Hill Country
Old West MysteriesSteve Hockensmith, Holmes on the Range (2006), about a pair of cowpokes who are fans of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories and decide to try out their deductive skill when they run across a dead body; #3 in the Holmes on the Range mystery series. Steve Hockensmith, On the Wrong Track (2007), about a pair of cowpokes who accept jobs as railroad guards in order to take a rest from riding horses and exercise the detective skills they picked up from reading Sherlock Holmes stories; #3 in the Holmes on the Range mystery series. Steve Hockensmith, The Black Dove (2008), about a pair of cowpokes who land in trouble when they try to become professional detectives in 1893 San Francisco; #3 in the Holmes on the Range mystery series. Mardi Oakley Medawar, Death at Rainy Mountain (1996), about a Kiowa healer in 1866 who investigates the murder of a candidate to become the next Kiowa chief; #1 in the Tay-Bodal mystery series Mardi Oakley Medawar, Witch of the Palo Duro (1997), about a Kiowa healer in the late 1860s who investigates a murder while his tribe is at its winter grounds in the Palo Duro Canyon in northwestern Texas; #2 in the Tay-Bodal mystery series Mardi Oakley Medawar, Murder at Medicine Lodge (1999), about a Kiowa healer who must find the real killer after the Kiowa representative at a peace conference in Medicine Lodge, Oklahoma, is accused of murdering a bugler with the U.S. Army; #3 in the Tay-Bodal mystery series Mardi Oakley Medawar, The Ft. Larned Incident (2000), about a Kiowa healer who investigates a murder that threatens to cause war among the Kiowa; #4 in the Tay-Bodal mystery series Erika Mailman, Woman of Ill Fame, about a prostitute in Gold Rush California who investigates a series of murders. A.L. McWilliams, Eye of the Cat, a mystery novel about an Old West gunman framed for a murder he did not commit. Sharan Newman, The Shanghai Tunnel, a new widow woman in 1868 Portland, Oregon, discovers her husband had been involved in unsavory activities. Steven Saylor, A Twist at the End: A Novel of O. Henry, based on an actual 1885 case of serial murders of servant girls in Austin, Texas.
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(1948), an edition which contains all three novels from the Disinherited series