Classic Western Literature

Some of us were lucky enough to have one passionate, funny, inspiring English teacher who helped us fall in love with books. Add a lifetime of teaching Dharma - authentic, traditional approaches to meditation and awakening - and you get award-winning author Dean Sluyter. With droll humor and irreverent wisdom, he unpacks the Dharma of more than twenty major writers, from William Blake to Dr. Seuss, inspiring listeners to deepen their own spiritual life and see literature in a fresh new way: as a path of awakening.

In 1829, Jacob and Martin left Kentucky to become Mountain Men, trappers of the Rocky Mountains. The rugged mountains that lay beyond America's frontier remained mostly unexplored. In those days, when beaver were plentiful and the buffalo roamed freely, the killing was good. The two young men would also find that life would be hardscrabble in the high frontier. They would face grizzly bears and hostile Indians. And they would risk horse wrecks and mountain storms to trade their furs each year at "rendezvous".

Far from the battlefields of Gettysburg or Shiloh or Bull Run, deadly raids in the name of the Confederacy raged on the plains of Eastern Kansas. In a time when boys grew up fast and were called upon to do things beyond their years, this is the story of one such young man. His name, Branson Hawk. Although the cost to young Branson was beyond anything he could have imagined, one goal became a constant in his life as he tried to pick up the pieces: make the marauders pay. It was a promise to his ma, a promise he was bound to keep no matter the consequences.

A lawless land. Criminals running wild. Murder is rampant. One man can solve the problems facing the Old West. That man is United States Marshal Morgan Porter. The name Morgan Porter is famous in the Texas lore of the Old West. The saga of his exploits as a US marshal are legendary. Morgan Porter and his deputies changed the culture of lawlessness to one that was safe for law abiding men and their families. Ride with Marshal Porter as he tames the Wild West.

In this short essay, Mark Twain discusses the patriot William Tell, the city of Interlaken, and the Jungfrau mountain. He describes the beauty of the landscape with great admiration.

The five children have grown up, and World War I has begun in earnest. The sand fairy has become a creature of stories...until, for the first time in 10 years, he suddenly reappears. Before this last adventure ends, all will be changed; the two younger children will have seen the Great War from every possible viewpoint, and the war's impact will be felt right at the heart of their family.

America's richest legends come from the frontier - from the land where the events of a single moment might erase the lines between law and lawlessness, between safety and mortal danger, between heroes and villains. The carefully selected stories in this collection are vibrant proof that the great American West is a fertile ground to storytellers. Here's the most varied collection of short stories, by 17 highly acclaimed Western writers.

"Ranger Bill" is a classic Christian radio adventure series that captivated audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Set in the fictional town of Knotty Pine, the show follows the daring exploits of Ranger Bill Jefferson, a dedicated forest ranger, and his humorous sidekick, Stumpy Jenkins.

IIn the summer of 1850, a topsail schooner slipped into the cove under the rocky promontory of Trinidad Head in California and dropped anchor at the edge of the kelp (algae)-fields. Fifteen minutes later her small-boat deposited on the beach a man armed with long squirrel-rifle and an axe, and carrying food and clothing in a brown canvas pack. From the beach he saw the schooner raise anchor and stand out to sea before the northwest trade winds. When it disappeared from his view, he swung his pack to his broad back and strode resolutely into the timber at the mouth of a little river.

With the civil war over, the president assassinated, and the South in reconstruction, Tyrell Thompsett knew the country would be crying for beef. His long-held dream was to have his own ranch and to follow in the footsteps of his father that started the first ranch in the Medicine Bow range of Wyoming territory. Now, with his new wife, a member of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, and his friend, Grey Wolf and his wife of the Mouache Ute, he set out to make that dream a reality.

Here is a story of a young man of eighteen who wandered for years after an accidental shooting of his brother. He felt as though he was a counterpart of the Biblical killing by Cain of his brother Abel. It was written by Zane Grey, one of the greatest Western novelists. It takes us through a lonely land of prospectors and hermits as it tells of surviving searing Death Valley heat, an area that many consider the deadliest land in the world. Listen now and hear a highly surprising finish.

Zane Grey is considered the first and best author of "Western" novels. In this book, Lin Sloan's obsession with capturing a wild stallion he called "Wildfire" almost costs him his life. Bostil is a man who loves fast horses and is used to getting what he wants. Throw in a beautiful girl just coming into womanhood, a crazed young man with a grudge against her, a treacherous act, horse thieves and a yearly big race and you have all the elements Zane Gray so ably weaves into a fascinating story packed with action and adventure.

Ramona Ortegna, foster child of Señora Moreno, is much loved by all who live and work at the Moreno Ranch, except the Senora herself who cannot bring herself to think of the girl as anything but a mixed blood child. Half white, half Indian, Ramona had been adopted by Senora's sister who then entrusted the child to her upon her death. Already embittered by the loss to the Americans of much of her Southern California land as the result of the 1846 Mexican-American War, the pious old woman is also distraught by the near destruction of California's Catholic Missions.

A collection of 14 western short campfire stories. Bandits, desperadoes, cattle, and bloody shoot-outs are just some of the highlights of these easy to listen to snippets which continued to mimic Andy's life on the cattle trail. Dell and Joel Wells are about to abandon their dead father's claim on Beaver Creek because it won't grow crops. Then unexpected events, and a drover seeking aid, allow them a decent chance in life. The boys develop their own ranch on the Beaver, without capital but with honor. No amount of savvy can entirely prepare them for the risks: cruel winters, rapacious wolf packs, summer droughts, mysterious Texas fever, or the shifting circumstances of the cattle trade.

So manchem Karl-May-Leser wird die Geschichte vertraut vorkommen und doch wieder nicht. May arbeitete seinen ersten großen Wildwest-Roman (noch vor dem "Schatz im Silbersee" geschrieben) mit deutlichen Veränderungen in den zweiten Teil seines "Winnetou" ein. Die unverfälschte Urfassung galt lange Zeit als verschollen und ist an vielen Stellen logischer und ausführlicher als die endgültige Buchversion.

After completing their fort, the residents of Heck's Valley brace for winter. Many speak of spring—and the possibility of staying here and working together to build a town in this breathtaking wilderness. Heck and Hope don't know what the future holds, but so long as they are together, they face it with confidence. But life on the frontier is never easy. They have to guard their stock, keep the peace, and prepare defenses for spring when the Sioux warriors who killed Seeker's parents will again come raiding. Meanwhile, Heck must decide what to do about his amazing discovery.

In 1851, Father Jean Marie Latour becomes the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. While the area is American by law, it's still Mexican and Indian by custom and belief. During the years that follow, Latour tirelessly but gently spreads his faith while facing external and internal obstacles. Loosely based on the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy and the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, this novel chronicles the events that occur after the capture of the southwest by American forces during the Mexican-American war.

Die Fortsetzung des großen Abenteuers - der junge Erzähler ist noch kein Old Shatterhand, besiegt aber trotzdem den edlen Winnetou im Kampf. Die ursprüngliche Version der Geschichte, die später zum zweiten Band des "Winnetou" wurde und von der Elemente auch Eingang in den ersten Band fanden.

In O Pioneers, we meet the Bergsons, a family of farmers in the fictional town of Hanover, Nebraska who have emigrated to America from Sweden. When the family patriarch dies, the running of the farm falls to the eldest daughter, Alexandra, who struggles to make the farm viable and provide for the family. Eventually, the focus turns to the romantic entanglements of Alexandra and her brother as well as touching upon the enormous difficulties of running a farm at the turn of the last century.

The story you’re about to hear took place primarily in what is Southern Utah and has been called the quintessential Western, meaning simply it is a top-notch example of quality. It is composed of an extensive list of ingredients: adventure, action, violence, crisis, suspense, conflict, sentimentalism, and sex - they are all there. This classic of the Western genre was the kind of story the public clamored for, and author Zane Grey had great skill in supplying the desire.