Welcome to the Best of the West

“My pa used to say that when corruption is visited upon the cities of men, the mountains and the desert await him. The cities are for money, but the high hills are purely for the soul.”
“Galloway” by Louis L’Amour

Western novels take place in the lands west of the Mississippi; and are generally separated into two time periods: The "Old West", which opened the 19th Century- the untamed, wide-open space inhabited by indigenous peoples and frequented by trappers, traders, explorers, and later cowboys and pioneers; and the New West- contemporary novels "of the West", which have the West as their setting.

Native Americans had been driven off their lands in the East by encroaching European settlement, and pushed further into the West. After the Civil War, veteran soldiers rode into the "Indian Territories" to subdue the remaining tribes and provide safety for pioneers traversing the prairie. Competing government and tribal interests ultimately clashed in the final "Indian Battles" that closed the century. Starved and decimated, the reamining indigenous populations were confined to government reservations, where they continue living today.

The Old West is viewed nostalgically as a perilous but romantic place where one could escape the past and start anew, free from the watchful eye of civilization. Character's lives are intertwined, and character itself is sized up pretty quickly, since lives might depend on it. Life was simpler and easier to reckon; good and evil were easy to discern. Loneliness, danger, rough justice, and iving close to the earth- often intermediated by a native- usually had a healing or transforming effect on the hero.

Revenge and betrayal are also recurring themes in the Old West; life has been thrown out of balance, and the hero, though he may abhor violence, may have no other choice but to use it in order to restore justice. We may not know where the hero is headed as he rides into the sunset, but we feel the world is a safer place because he passed this way.

Different perspectives emerged as relationships and experiences transgressed boundaries of culture and religion. As civilization expanded, good and evil became more difficult to define. Interactions became more complex, and increasingly involved the stories of women and romance. The "Wild" West was tamed, but there were still intense moral conflicts for heroes. Natives attempted to adapt and survive in the modern world, yet stay connected to their tribal culture. Often the novels have to do with retaining the values of the Old West or Native American culture (and dealing with the aftermath) in the modern world. These are the novels "of the West".

The pace of westerns may seem like a mosey along a dusty trail, with occasional bursts of action. The best of them have reflective inner dialogue, descriptive imagery worthy of the grandeur of the geographical setting, and likeable characters that find themselves in moral conflicts with which we can identify. Most of them are earthy tales- sometimes gallant, sometimes heartbreaking- the tales of real men and women who lived close to nature, or hold to it in their hearts, and struggled to understand and find their place in the sun.

The sun hasn't set on the West. The best of the Old West includes timeless good reads just waiting to be rediscovered and enjoyed by the modern reader. The more contemporary novels remind us that modern times can be as fraught with peril and challenges as the Old West. Both remind us of the wealth of wisdom and variety of experiences that are contained in our shared heritage.

Western sub-genres generally include the following categories which reflect the interests of western reader’s advisory at my library:

Historical/ Military Westerns: Read to gain an accurate understanding of the real events and people that shaped the West, preferably related in a well-written adventurous tale that moves along at a fairly quick pace, with lots of detailed action.
Terry C. Johnston, The Plainsmen series
Will Henry
Cynthia Haseloff, The Kiowa Verdict: A Western Story
Don Coldsmith, The Trail of the Spanish Bit

Ashes of Heaven. Terry C. Johnston. A Plainsmen Novel, Book XIII.1998. 432p.
The Plainsmen series chronicles the final battles of the war against the indigenous peoples, as seen through the eyes of Seamus Donegan, a likeable and experienced soldier and scout out of Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory. Sent “to finish a long and bloody war”, the quick-paced, action-packed novel tells the story of the vain efforts of some to negotiate a humane end to the conflicts, which instead led to the Lame Deer Fight of 1877 and brought the once-mighty Sioux to their knees.

I, Tom Horn. Will Henry. 1975. 339p.
“Just him and the wind and the wolf, lone three. Out there! Out there!”
The recreated autobiography of Tom Horn, who left home at 14 after enduring his father’s last beating, to begin a life of adventure in the West. Recounted as his sat awaiting his hanging after having been sentenced by a jury that included men he had once arrested for cattle rustling, Tom tells the story of the unfortunate series of events that led up to his execution.

Riders of the Purple Sage. Zane Grey. 1912. 335p.
A young Morman woman, heir to her father’s extensive ranch, dares to defy the Mormon church elders and befriends a young man who is a Gentile, and is threatened and bullied by them. Out of the dust, just in time to save the day, rides the mysterious stranger who wil teach the brutal religious extremists a lesson they won't forget.

Traditional Westerns: A well-written adventure that takes place in the rollicking Old West. Characters are cowboys, outlaws, lawmen, mountain men, miners, gamblers, etc. Quick pace, stereotypical characters, lots of action, and a moral resolution with little and preferably no sex. Historical accuracy secondary.
Louis L’Amour
Elmore Leonard, Hombre
Larry McMurtry
Owen Wister, The Virginian
Elmer Kelton, The Pumpkin Rollers
Jack Schaefer, Shane
Bret Harte
Ivan Doig
Max Brand

Stubby Pringle's Christmas. Jack Schaeffer. 1963. 43p.
It’s Christmas Eve, and the young cowpoke, a “son of the wildest jackass…born to poverty and hard work, weaned on nothing, fed on less, raised to make do with least possible and make the most of that’, has the “night to howl”. As he heads down the snowy trail through the valley to the schoolhouse where the dance is to be held, his only thoughts are who he might choose to be his favorite gal that evening. But something unexpected happens along the trail that night that will completely change his plans.

Outcasts of Poker Flat. Bret Harte. 1964.
A band of moral undesirables is run out of town in a clean-up campaign. As they make their way over the mountains to seek refuge in another town, they are snowed in, and must find a way to survive by relying on each other. The characters are stereotypical, and perhaps the ending is a bit too saccharine, but it works as a fast-paced, highly readable short story.

Jubal Sackett. Louis L’Amour. 1985. 363p.
The first generation of Sacketts, arriving in the 17th Century, joined the growing population that pushed the native population further west. Young Jubal Sackett, the “Strange One”, has “the gift” of foresight and is drawn into interaction with the Indians and frontiersmen, and comes to learn and appreciate their ways. One in the series by L’Amour that chronicles the saga of the Sackett family.

The Bounty Hunters. Elmore Leonard. 1953, 2002. 324p.
A gritty, hard-hitting, action-packed adventure. Dave Flynn is a man’s man- tough as nails and well-seasoned. Sent to Mexico to capture the fierce leader of the Membre Indians, he must deal with a fresh-from-West Point lieutenant, who could be a very dangerous liability. Elmore Leonard’s first novel showed the skillful writing that guaranteed his later success as a mystery writer.

The Mysterious West: A Collection of Suspenseful Stories. Edited by Tony Hillerman.1994. 392p.
Twenty of the best works of contemporary western suspense writers. A tight, terse collection edited by Hillerman, the former president of the Mystery Writers of America (and recipient of their Edgar and Grand Master awards), and former winner of the Silver Spur for Best Novel Set In The West.

Pioneers: The men and women who moved West by wagon train. Characters are “the salt of the earth”, the stories relate the hardships they endured and dangers they survived to settle the West. Includes those stories told from the woman's perspective. Slower paced, less resolved endings but generally promising and hopeful.
O.E. Rolvaag, Giants in the Earth
Willa Cather
Kate Lehrer
Ellen Recknor, Leaving Missouri

My Antonia. Willa Cather. 1918. 175p.
Bohemian immigrants endure incredible hardships to stake their claim to a homestead of their own in Nebraska. Young Jim Burden befriends the girl, Antonia, and forges a lasting friendship.

Native Americans: The struggle for survival and dignity told more from the point of view of the indigenous people, in both the “Old” and contemporary West. Gives compassionate insight into their culture and mores, respect for their plight.
James Willard Schultz
Tony Hillerman
Sherman Alexie
Terry C. Johnston, Carry the Wind

The Journals of Mary Dodd: One Thousand White Women. Jim Fergus. 1998. 304p.
In 1854, a Cherokee chief suggested to Army authorities, in the tradition of his people, that they facilitate the marriage of 1000 white women to men of his tribe, thus guaranteeing the bonds of kinship and loyalty between their peoples. Although that factually never came to fruition, this story supposes that it did, through the eyes of free spirit Mary Dodd, who, in escaping a harsh sentence for her “transgressions”, volunteers to be one of those women just to leave her unhappy past behind.

Perma Red. Debra Magpie Ewing. 2002. 296p.
A powerful, violent, epic tale of fate and the redeeming power of true love. Set on the Flathead Reservation in the 1940s, star-crossed lovers White Elk and Baptiste Yellow Knife must create for themselves, out of nothing, a life worth living. Masterfully told by another Spur award winner, it is almost Shakespearean in the depth of its tragedy and redemption. 2003 “Best Novel of the West” Spur, and Willa Awards winner.

Ten Little Indians. Sherman Alexie. 2003. 243p.
“Grandson, we always knew the White Man was coming. We knew the exact date. We knew he’d eat all the food in the house and poop on the living room carpet…we always knew the White Man was coming, and we’ve always known he was leaving. So what’s the future of Indians? Well, someday soon, I think we’re going to have a lot more breathing room.” Nine short stories that center around Native American characters and their contemporary cultural experiences, brilliantly told by the author, a winner of the Pen/Faulkner Malamud Award, and the Murry Morgan Prize.

Young adult: Novels that mainly give young people a sense of what life was like in the Old West, or is like today, mainly by communicating the values of character.

Touching Spirit Bear. Ben Mikaelsen. 2001. 240p.
“Fall seven times, stand up eight” reads the Japanese proverb that opens the story. Cole Matthews has fallen, and doesn’t want to pick himself up. Facing a jail sentence after the brutal beating of a boy in school, Cole’s only option is to participate in the Tlingit “circle justice”. Will he just blow it off, like he does with everything else in his life? Or will he finally meet his true self face-to-face? A well-deserved Spur Award Winner.

With the Indians in the Rockies. James Willard Schultz. 1912. 144p.
A classic tale of two young friends, one Indian, one White, who are left with nothing but their lives after being attacked by a marauding band of Indians while hunting miles from their home fort. Trapped in the mountains by an early snowfall, they must survive by their wits, and each boy draws from his culture the knowledge and skills that enable them as a team to survive.

Some of the best sites and resources useful to both librarians seeking more information about the genre and specific writers, or recommended reading in the western genre. Sites were selected based on currency (unless otherwise noted), authoritativeness, extent, and usefulness:

Founded in 1953 to promote literature of the American West, its original promoters were authors who wrote traditional western fiction. The organization now includes over 500 members, among them nonfiction authors, young adult, romance writers, and writers “of the West”. At its annual convention, the Western Writers of America bestows the Spur Awards to distinguished writers in the western field. Includes up-to-date links to Roundup Online Magazine, which features an extensive list of current books in review; the Best Westerns: a list of the best authors, novels, non-fiction, TV series, and films as compiled by a large committee of members; and the Homestead Foundation, which supports the “literary preservation of Western culture, history and traditions”.

Women Writing the West is promotes the women’s view of the west, and bestows the “Willa Award” each year at its annual convention. Founding members includes Joan Lowrey Nixon, “prize-winning author of more than 140 murder mysteries and historical novels for children and young adults”, who passed away last year. The website is up-to-date, and includes a link to their newsletter, which offers information useful to readers and writers in the genre.

Reader’s Round-up: American Western Classics 2000: Reader’s Poll of the Best Westerns of the Past 100 Years. A featured link of the American Western Magazine, “the internet source for everything western”. Extensive links to a variety of features, from “Cowboy Poetry” with Baxter Black (often featured on National Public Radio), to a current listing of rodeo events.

The ALA’s online website that promoted Ken Burn’s documentary on the West with supporting library materials and links. There is still a wealth of information available, including a bibliography, and annotated list of related movies and videos, but because it was first posted in 1996, some of the links are no longer active. The PBS link is now archived at:
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/

Everything related to this very popular author of traditional western fiction. Includes his personal commentary on his work and western fiction, as well as extensive links to his biography, photographs, articles, and a “trading post” that offers audiotapes, books, calendars, and other merchandise for sale.

Another very popular author of traditional western fiction. Includes links to his biography, photographs, articles, suggestions for getting started reading the author’s works, lists of his works (both chronological and alphabetical), details of the annual convention, and the project to rebuild the writer’s cabin.

Annual awards given to “great stories of the West, both past and present” in fifteen multimedia categories including literature, movies, TV, film, and music; as chosen by a group of “qualified professionals outside the museum staff”.

Lists an extensive selection of sub-genres to choose from at the Barnes and Noble website, as well as what’s new and recommended.

Genreflecting: a guide to reading interests in genre fiction. Fifth edition. Diana Tixier Herald. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 2000.
Extensive bibliographic lists of western genre themes and types, but only a handful of annotations. Short list of most popular authors with brief description of their focus and output. Includes lists of Spur, and Wrangler Awards winners.

West of Everything: the inner life of westerns. Jane P. Tompkins. Oxford University Press, 1992.
You’ll never view Zane Grey in the same way again. Gets to the deeper meaning behind the language, characters, and themes of the western genre. Very interesting reading!

The reader’s advisory guide to genre fiction. Joyce G. Saricks. Chicago: American Library Association, 2001.
Thorough definition, explanation of the characteristics and appeal points of the genre; key authors; preparing to work with readers; the RA interview; and suggestions to expand reader’s horizons. Very handy and useful tool for librarians needing quick and comprehensive reader’s advisory.

An interesting article that fixes the “turning point in the tone of Westerns”- from the nostalgic Old West’s good guys always wins, to the more psychologically complex versions of the West- to the end World War II.

"One thing about the West is it continues to represent something for Americans that goes on beyond just the cowboy," said Hal Cannon, founding director of the Western Folklife Center, based in Elko, Nev. "It's sort of a myth that's based on Americans looking at the West and thinking of that as a place of freedom — a place of openness, and a place that doesn't have the pressure and cares that other places do."

Cannon also predicts that because the story of the west is America’s story, it will periodically be rediscovered and appreciated.