Dramatized Westerns

Joe Miles must save a family from the killing torrents of a flash flood - while under fire from thieves after a railroad payroll. Once fired for being old, he's still young enough to be a hero.

Something tan and cylindrical struck the roof and rolled off. The men inside didn't wait for the dynamite to blow; they lurched into the sunlight, firing as they ran. A brutal war began when two bold men left Kane's mine to work their own strike. This was the final battle.

Brad Kelly planned for weeks, set everything carefully in place - then he hit the Pioneer State Bank for $53,000. Will he kill to keep it?

Tom Dallas has changed his way of living. All the shootings in which he was involved were justified, but there are many who want his scalp which prompts him to make a vow that he will not pack bullets in his .45 for a year. Then a situation develops that can only result in breaking his vow.

About the fascinating Mrs. King, young Rosalia Dures, and the strong, silent Tom Folliard. A story in which bullets supply the answer after all other ways fail.

Jane Candia Coleman is a natural storyteller whose characters come from the lands between the southwestern valleys of Arizona and the Gila Mountains of New Mexico. The night Billy the Kid died is hauntingly depicted in "Corrido for Billy". "Lady Flo" is a memoir, based on historical fact, of the black wife of an Irish nobleman. "Moving On" depicts a young girl abandoned by her family who finds her way with an itinerant Jewish peddler. And "Are You Coming Back, Phin Montana?" is the winner of the 1995 Spur Award for Best Western Short Fiction.

Haseloff's characters embody the fundamental values - honor, duty, courage, and family - that prevailed on the American frontier and were instilled in the young Haseloff by her own "heroes", her mother and her grandmother. Her stories, in a sense, dramatize how these values endure when challenged by the adversities and cruelties of frontier existence.

Brother Shotgun is about an old buffalo hunter whose return to the plains after the Civil War keeps being delayed by the needs of a young woman who has taken in a number of orphans.

Julia's daddy was the judge in town. He used to be fair, but recently it seemed that had changed. What cost to regular folks would there be?

Honest presentation is only one characteristic of Frazee’s well-crafted tales. He tells a convincing, satisfying, and unusual story even when employing stock Western situations. A major strength is his understanding of the nuances of character, of how people are motivated, of the good and bad within each person, and of the conflicts between man and his environment. Drawing upon his years in the mountains of Colorado, he can vividly and realistically depict a variety of Western settings and do so in such a way that the settings assume a character of their own.

Caleb Doorn is better known by his Blackfoot name, Many Coups. Doorn is scouting for the US Army in the Mexican campaign when a small wagon train passes on its way to California. Their trek will take them into Indian country, and to protect the train from attack, the wagon master has foolishly taken a young Blackfoot woman hostage.

Superstition, mystery, and murder also have a niche in western writing with this story by Cynthia Haselhoff.

Matt North's secret plan to force an entire range to reverse its decision to raise sheep.

Matt Hurst seeks justice when a sheriff's posse kills his father and brothers.

Shaw's forte was her ability to create interesting casts of characters through whom and between whom she was able to develop a suspenseful and unpredictable interplay. This story is a good example of her character driven Western fiction.

A classic tale that features all the beloved subjects and icons - stagecoaches, gold rush towns, and whiskey bars - that represent the romance and excitement of America's frontier.

"A Trail to the West": Riding under an alias, Bowdrie joins up with Queen’s ruthless gang to rescue the pretty niece of a powerful Texas judge. "Love and the Cactus Kid": Folks far and wide know that the Cactus Kid can handle a pistol with the best of them. But for all his skill and coolness under fire, there’s just one small weakness he can’t seem to overcome.... "Medicine Ground": The Cactus Kid is on his way to the spring dance to meet his best girl, Bess O’Neal. As the Kid ambles through the lonely mountain trail toward town, two men emerge from the darkness - Miguel and Lobo Fernandez, of the menacing Fernandez brothers.

A traveling prospector wandering around California looking for gold spends a few peaceful days with a man hiding a sad story.

"McNelly Knows a Ranger": From the day Chick Bowdrie rode up to Noah Whipple’s ranch gravely wounded, Whipple had treated him with kindness - almost like a son. When Whipple is shot by a notorious gunfighter, Bowdrie swears vengeance. "A Job for a Ranger": There were bullet holes in the bank window and blood on the hitching rail. Five bandits and 10,000 dollars had ridden out of town. "Desert Death Song": Powder Basin - the rugged country at the edge of a dry, forbidding desert - holds more hiding places than most men could find. Nat Bodine knows most of them....

"The Black Rock Coffin Makers": Cattleman Jum Gatlin isn't the kind of man who goes looking for a fight. But he never turns away when one comes looking for him. And that's just what happens when he finds himself mistaken for another man. "A Mule for Santa Fe": Scott Miles and his son Billy are on their way to a new life in New Mexico, but fate deals them a bad hand in the deceptive currents of the Missouri River. "Case Closed - No Prisoners": Ride with legendary Texas Ranger Chick Bowdrie as he helps out a small town with a big problem.