RECOMMENDED READING: Reading Lists
Prepared by Local TNRD Libraries

Western Reading List


Wagons West and Pioneer Life:

Bak     Bakst, Harold           Prairie Widow - Jennifer Vandermeer,
                                newly widowed, learns to farm in the
                                wild land of Kansas.
Gor     Gorman, Edward          Dark Trail - Leo Guild's love life
                                gets him embroiled in a gunfight with
                                a financial and personal prize.
Gut     Guthrie, A.B.           The Big Sky - learning lessons from
                                Boone Caudill, Dick Summers puts them
                                to violent use as he matures.
Hoa     Hoagland, Edward        Seven Rivers West - a group's journey
                                through the American West amid the
                                peril of Indians, brawling rivers &
                                grizzly bears.
Jen     Jennings, William Dale  The Cowboys - the recent gold strike
                                has left the Montana/Wyoming cattle
                                country desperate for cowhands.
                                Schoolboys fit the bill.
Kel     Kelton, Elmer           Slaughter - a clash of cultures
                                between the Comanche and the
                                settlers erupts in battle in West
                                Texas.
Kup     Kupchenko, Yuri         The Horseman of Shandro Crossing - 
                                John Konopale, a recent Ukrainian
                                immigrant to Canada, faces conflict
                                from within and without on the
                                Prairies of 1900.
Pro     Proctor, Geo. W.        Before Honor - Sixty-five year old
                                Clint Wayford finds the ranch help he
                                needs in young Miguel Ramos, an
                                illegal alien from Mexico eager for
                                work.
She     Sherman, Jory           Trapper's Moon - Lemuel and Morgan
                                Hawke Journey's west is fraught with
                                danger when they make an enemy of
                                Major Angus MacDougal
Smi     Smith, Cotton           Dark Trail to Dodge - the people on
                                the cattle drive from Texas to Kansas
                                encounter a series of problems they
                                must overcome to survive.
Sve     Svee, Gary D.           Single Tree - a lone cottonwood tree
                                in the prairie provides a temporary
                                shelter for the Wilders family with
                                disasterous results.

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Outlaws:

Jon     Jones, Douglas C.       The Winding Stair Massacre - Native
                                and White cultures merge in the quest
                                for answers to a massacre in the
                                frontier city of Fort Smith in 1890.
Kel     Kelley, Leo P.          Luke Sutton:  Outrider - Manhunter
                                Luke Sutton is hired by a woman
                                searching for her brother taken by
                                the Apaches.
Kel     Kelley, Leo P.          Luke Sutton - Lawman - Luke Sutton is
                                hired to find a killer only to find
                                that the man is innocent and the
                                killer is on the loose.
Ket     Ketchum, Jack           Cactus Country - Jeff Stuart, a
                                former Confederate, agrees to deliver
                                stolen goods to the Mexican Rurales
                                in exchange for a pardon. However,
                                life becomes more dangerous and
                                complicated than the simple operation
                                seems.
Lee     Lee, W.W.               Rancher's Blood - Tisdale's
                                investigator Jefferson Birch, finds
                                the suspect accused of murdering a
                                wealthy rancher who he believes
                                is innocent.  Birch  must find the
                                real murderer.
Lee     Lee, W.W.               Outlaw's Fortune - Train robber Tom
                                Hogan is pursued by Jefferson Birch,
                                a rival from his past.
Pai     Paine, Lauran           The Open Range Men - Boss Spearman, a
                                freegrazer, is  forced out of Fort
                                Harmon country when one employee is
                                killed and another wounded.  Justice
                                is sought.
Pai     Paine, Lauran           Nightrider's Moon - Frank Tennant
                                discovers that people are capable of
                                both goodness and evil.
Was     Washburn, L.J.          Riders of the Monte - Curtis Daniels,
                                forced to ride with the bandido
                                Ignacio Guerrero, gets involved with
                                a raid that leaves Daniels seeking
                                revenge against Guerrero.

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Gold:

O'Br    O'Brien, Dan            In the Center of the Nation -
                                contemporary cattle ranchers conflict
                                with developers when gold is
                                discovered in South Dakota.
Ols     Olsen, T.V.             Lazlo's Strike - Lazlo Kusik finally
                                strikes gold while on a hunting trip
                                but retrieving it proves to be his
                                greatest adventure.
Ran     Randle, Kevin D.        Spanish Gold - While sitting in a
                                bar, David Travis hears an old man
                                tell a tale of lost gold in the West
                                Texas hills. Travis decides to find
                                out for himself if the tale is true
                                or not.
Whe     Wheeler, Richard S.     Goldfield - Goldfield is the mythic
                                town in Nevada where an assortment of
                                people converge in their greedy
                                quest.
Whe     Wheeler, Richard S.     Sierra: A Novel of the California
                                Gold Rush - life and death are
                                recreated in the gold camps of the
                                Forty Niners as they make their way
                                to California.

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