UPDATED: March 17, 2001. Please note that new entries are placed at the beginning of the section.

Fiction

• The Plainsmen Series
  Sioux Dawn
  Red Cloud's Revenge
  The Stalkers
  Black Sun
  Devil's Backbone
  Shadow Riders
  Dying Thunder
  Blood Song
  Reap the Whirlwind
  A Cold Day in Hell
  Trumpet on the Land
  Wolf Mountain Moon
  Ashes of Heaven
  Cries From the Earth
  by Terry C Johnston. Published by St. Martin Paperback.
  Recommended by Lit'l' Bit - An Amazon.com reviewer wrote: This series brings to life the tragedy of the loss of life and home of the American Indian families and the sacrifice of our American soldiers in typical and terrific Terry Johnston fashion. Through the main character, Seamus Donegon, Johnston gives the reader a spectacular feel for the way things were in the American West as the Indian Wars slowly grind to a close.

• The Sundown Riders
  Across the Rio Colorado
  North to the Bitterroot
  The Winchester Run
  by Ralph Compton. Published by St. Martin's Paperbacks.
  Recommended by Susie Q - "Everyone who loves Louis L'Amour should try Ralph Compton." (Note: Compton is now deceased - Robert Vaughn is a ghost writer for him, but new titles will still appear under Compton).

• The Trail Drive Series
  The Goodnight Trail
  The Western Trail
  The Chisolm Trail
  The Bandera Trail
  The California Trail
  The Shawnee Trail
  The Virginia City Trail
  The Dodge City Trail
  The Oregon Trail
  The Santa Fe Trail
  The Old Spanish Trail
  The Deadwood Trail
  The Green River Trail
  by Ralph Compton. Published by St. Martin's Paperbacks.
  Recommended by Susie Q - "Everyone who loves Louis L'Amour should try Ralph Compton." (Note: Compton is now deceased - Robert Vaughn is a ghost writer for him, but new titles will still appear under Compton).

• His Brother's Guns by Wayne C. Lee. Published by Chivers Press, 1996.
  Recommended by Angela - "Here is the book where you can find Billy Larabee. What's in it? Farmers versus ranchers, with a little mystery to solve and flour mill to run. A great deception piece (that put me in mind of the "runaway" wagon episode from M7's Working Girls) and a horse-race with a twist are among the incidents occurring in this book. I think it was the honest, self-appraising attitude of the title character that made me think, "yes, this one is a bit different," when I got to the end. While utilizing most of the "traditional" western genre characters, the underlying themes tease out some thought provoking questions about values, loyalty, and honor."

• The Morning River by W. Michael Gear. Published by Forge Books (distributed by St. Martin's Press), 1996.
  Recommended by Judy - "Set in 1825, Richard Hamilton, a timid but arrogant Harvard philosophy student, arrives in St. Louis on a "dare" from his father to do some business for him. There he is robbed and beaten. Desparate to save his life he reluctantly joins a french fur trader's keelboat which is headed up the Missouri River (the Morning River) to the beautiful, but wild and dangerous Indian country of the Upper Yellowstone. Richard thought that from his lofty studies of philosophy he knew all about life and the hearts of men. But with the help of his friends-to-be Heals Like a Willow (a Shoshone medicine woman) and Travis Hartman, a grizzled, seasoned and wise fur trader, he learns everything that he thought he already knew. Travis, who calls him "the Doodle," says to Richard early on, "Ye cain't larn everything outa a book, Dick. Some things ye got ter larn with yer soul.""

• Coyote Summer by W. Michael Gear. Published by Forge Books (distributed by St. Martin's Press).
  Recommended by Judy - This is a sequel to The Morning River. In this book Richard has to reconcile his philosophical beliefs to real life, especially real life in the frontier. Also, he must decide whether to remain in the west or return to Boston (hint: he does both). Side note: I did not like this book as much as the first one. The Morning River will remain a part of my permanent collection, I donated this one to the local library. The reason is because Coyote Summer focuses on the relationship between Richard and Willow - and I'm not too into romances."

• Code of the West Series
  It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own
  One Went to Denver and the Other Went Wrong
  Where the Deer and the Antelope Play
  My Foots in the Stirrup...My Pony Won't Stand
  I'm Off to Montana for to Throw the Hoolihan
  by Stephen A. Bly. Published by Crossway Books.
  Recommended by Angela - "I can thoroughly recommend Stephen Bly's works, especially the "Code of the West" series. I have read these books over and over and still enjoy them."

Mystery

• Ella Clah Series
  Blackening Song
  Death Walker
  Bad Medicine
  Enemy Way
  Shooting Chant
  Red Mesa
  by Thurlo, Aimee and David. Published by Forge Books.
  Recommended by Kathi (Aiyanna) - Kathi says, "they are mysteries set on the Navaho Reservation near Shiprock, New Mexico. Same location as Tony Hillerman's novels." Amazon.com says: "Ella Clah is a special investigator for the Navajo police. She's FBI-trained and educated, but the black-and-white technology of modern law enforcement is often at odds with the overtly mystical world of the Navajo reservation. Ella's brother says her investigative skills are a gift from the spirits rather than a product of training and experience. She needs both."

• Anna Pigeon Mystery series
  Track of the Cat
  A Superior Death
  Ill Wind
  Firestorm
  Endangered Species
  Blind Descent
  Liberty Falling
  Deep South
  by Nevada Barr. Publisher - Various; Avon Books, beginning in 1994.
  Recommended by Judy - "Anna is a modern day forest ranger with both a medical and detective background. The setting for each of the books in this series is in a different National Park (the author is a forest ranger, herself). While each story is unrelated, Anna's personal life is a continuing thread through the series; so I recommend you start with the first book, "Track of the Cat.""

• Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn series
  The Blessing Way
  The Fly on the Wall
  Dance Hall of the Dead
  Listening Woman
  People of Darkness
  The Dark Wind
  Skinwalkers
  A Thief of Time
  Talking God
  Coyote Waits
  Sacred Clowns
  The Fallen Man
  The First Eagle
  by Tony Hillerman. Published by Harper Collins Paperbacks.
  Recommended by Kathi, Lynne, Lynda, and Judy. "Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee are detectives with the modern-day Navajo Tribal Police. Hillerman is an excellent storyteller, and he weaves his knowledge of Indian culture, religion, customs, and rituals into his books. The locations in the stories are factual (I use a map of the reservation as a bookmark, to track their movements), which really helps to bring his characters to life. Many authors try to copy Hillerman, but he is an original."

• Molly Bearpaw Series by Jean Hager. Published by Warner books.
  Recommended by Lynda - Molly Bearpaw is a major crimes investigator for the Cherokee Nation of OK. Lynda says, "I love Tony Hillerman and have read all of his books. If you like that type of book there is an author by the name of Jean Hager whose main characters are Cherokee and the setting for the mysteries are in Tahlequah, OK. She goes into quite a bit of Cherokee tradition."

• Anasazi Mystery Series
  The Visitant
  by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear (husband and wife). Published by Tor Books, 2000.
  Recommended by Kathi and Judy - "This is the first in a new series by husband and wife archaeologist-novelist team Michael and Kathleen. This book moves between the present and past as modern day archaelogists, on a dig in New Mexico, try to puzzle together what must have been serial murders of women and children that took place in 1256AD amongst the mysterious Anasazi tribe. This was a well researched novel and gave a lot of insight in to the Anasazi culture (much of which obviously is speculative). The ancient murders have quite a "modern" tone."

History

• Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo. Published by Avon Books, July 1984.
  Recommended by Judy - "This historical fiction transports you back in time and lets you walk the trails with Lewis, Clark, and their guide Sacajawea (they may not have made it without her). The book is long (1400 pages), but the story is worth every page. It is heavy on fiction, but it contains a lot of footnotes, a map, and a bibliography. I noticed that every reviewer at Amazon.com gave it a 5 star rating."

• Ride the Wind by Lucia, St. Clair Robson. Published by Ballantine Books, 1982.
  Recommended by Lynda and Judy - "A true story about Cynthia Ann Parker who was kidnapped in 1836 and raised by Comanche Indians. She married a Comanche warrior, but later was returned to her white family. Which transistion was harder for her?"

• Walk in My Soul by Lucia St. Clair Robson. Published by Ballantine Books, 1987.
  Recommended by Judy - "This book begins with the childhood of Tiana, a Cherokee Indian, and grows to tell of her relationship with Sam Houston (before he became the "father of TX"), whom she met while on the Trail of Tears. A very moving story about childhood happiness, the desolation of Trail of Tears, and personal betrayal of a man who is a "national hero.""

• Fearless by Lucia St. Clair Robson. Published by Ballantine Books, 1999.
  Amazon.com's review says this book takes place in 1845 in TX, and is about Sarah Borginnis Bowman: twice widowed, with cayenne hair and a temper to match, who is known in history books as "a living legend of the American-Mexican War." A strong woman in the old west - a must-read!!

Romance

• Mail Order Bride by Maureen McKade. Published by Avon Books, 2000.
  Recommended by Kerry - "Kathleen Murphy arrives in a Rocky Mountain mining town as a mail-order bride, only to discover that she has become a widow before she ever got to be a wife! In order to earn money to go back east, she takes a job caring for the children of mine superintendent Trev Trevelyan. She becomes quite attached to the children, and before long, quite attracted to their handsome father. But mining is a dangerous occupation, especially when some folks don't want the mine to succeed. Will their love survive the dangers of the present - and the past? Check it out!!" Note: on the Amazon.com page for this book was a link to purchase The Magnificent Seven VCR tape. Think Amazon has us figured out??

• A Dime Novel Hero by Maureen McKade. Published by Avon Books, 1998. Out of print, see Used-Book Resources at the end of this page for possible places to purchase the book.
  "*HIGHLY* recommended by Kerry!! - Kit Thornton writes dime novels under the pseudonym K.T.Thorne. The hero in her stories is her 'real life' hero, bounty hunter and lawyer Jake Cordell, who left town as a young man to pursue his father's killer. Jake eventually returns to his hometown to try and start a new life, but finds his favorite saloon girl dead, her son being raised by Kit, and his gun slinging ways not easily forgotten. What's worse is the reputation that has followed him through the dime novels, whose author he doesn't know -- yet! Throughout the text are excerpts from K.T.'s dime novel, expertly woven into the actual story. Mo's story is filled with wonderful characters who come alive in the skillful weaving of her text. This is just a delightful tale, good for reading and re-reading!"

• Winter Hearts by Maureen McKade. Published by Avon Books, 1997.
  Recommended by Judy - "Libby comes to Deer Creek, hiding her identity as a Doctor, to work as a school teacher. She avoids the Sheriff as long as she can... Now why would she hide her identity, and avoid a sheriff? Curious? Maureen, who is commonly known amongst us pards as "Mo," wrote this as her first book. I'm now ridin' off to read her next!"

• Untamed Heart by Maureen McKade. Published by Avon Books, 1999.
  Recommended by Judy. "This novel is set in Sawtooth, WY in 1887. Red-haired and feisty-tempered Gabby Wade, a gambling hall owner, squares off against the upstanding Ty Ashburn in a Mayoral race (remember, womens' suffrage began in WY). Ty campaigns on a platform of "cleaning up the town" by closing all saloons and gambling halls. Gabby, however, respectably manages to bring down his platform.
  I must say that I usally don't read romance stories. This book caught my attention because the author is a Posse pard, and she dedicated the book to ThePosse. However, I truly enjoyed this story. It is fun and lighthearted; and is full of romance, but not graphic sex. Ty and Gabby are both upstanding characters who grow together."

• The Clayborne Brides Series
  For the Roses
  One Pink Rose
  One White Rose
  One Red Rose
  Come The Spring
  by Julie Garwood. Published by Simon & Schuster.
  Recommended by Tamara. "Plot: No one ever knew what kind of strays, from animals to weary travelers, Mary Rose Clayborne would bring home next. Sometimes her four brothers: runaway slave Adam, ex-pickpocket Douglas, gunslinger Cole, and con man Travis -- wondered whether her boarding school education did a lick of good now that their beautiful, impulsive little sister was back in Blue Belle, Montana. Of course, everyone in town knew better than to mess with the Claybornes. The brothers, four of the toughest hombres in the West, had once been a mismatched gang of street urchins. But they had found an abandoned baby girl in a New York City alley, named her Mary Rose, headed West, and raised her to be a lady. Through the years the Claybornes had become a family, held together by loyalty and love if not by blood -- when they suddenly faced the crisis that could tear them apart.
  Mary Rose finds love in "For the Roses."
  Travis finds love in "One Pink Rose."
  Douglas finds love in "One White Rose."
  Adam finds love in "One Red Rose."
  Cole finds love in "Come the Spring.""

• Springwater Seasons Series
  Springwater
  Springwater Season: Rachael
  Springwater Season: Savannah
  Springwater Season: Miranda
  Springwater Season: Jessica; A Springwater Christmas
  by Linda Lael Miller. Published by Simon & Schuster.
  Recommended by Tamara. "Plot: The development of the town of Springwater, Montana as it goes from a stagecoach stop to a full fledged town. The first one introduces you to the couple who runs the stagecoach stop, and the few folks who live in the town. Each book introduces someone new who establishes a new resource in the town, from saloons to schools etc."

• The Women of Primrose Creek series
  The Women of Primrose Creek: Bridget
  The Women of Primrose Creek: Christy
  The Women of Primrose Creek: Megan
  Skye
  by Linda Lael Miller. Published by Simon & Schuster.
  Recommended by Tamara. "Plot: Four sisters inherit a ranch in Nevada from their grandfather. They lost everything in Virginia following the civil war, and they go west to claim their inheritance. The town grows around them as they grow and find love in Primrose Creek, Nevada."

Nonfiction

• The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell. Publisher - Anchor, 1991.
  Recommended by Lit'l' Bit - "Based on a 6-part PBS series hosted by Bill Moyers. Campbell is the world's foremost authority on mythology. He explains how myths are our ties to the past and how they help us understand ourselves and the world."

History

• Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Ogalala Sioux by John G. Neilhardt and Nicholas Black Elk. Published by University of Nebraska Press - Sept, 1988. Republished by Bisons Book Corp. - Dec, 2000.
  Recommended by Judy - A reviewer at Amazon.com gave a review that does more justice than I could: He wrote, "This is the biography of Black Elk, a wichasha wakon (priest) of the Oglala Sioux, as recorded by John Neihardt. This is not some cheesy new age fiction nor is it a dry documentary told from a western view point. This is the actual life story of a holy man and goes into great detail about his visions. From his words we are able to glimpse Native American religion and spirituality on the Great Plains as it was in the late 1800s/early 1900s. This stands out as one of the greatest works on Native American religion to date."

• The Cowboys (reissued in 1997 under the title Cowboys of the Old West) author unknown. Published by TimeLife Books.
  Recommended by Dorothy, Lit'l' Bit, and Kerry - Dorothy wrote, "I volunteer at a Hospice thrift store and awhile back I came across this book. I am so thrilled to have found it. It has a leather cover and gold color in the binding. If you can find it somewhere, even at the library, believe me it is well worth it. It has so much information and great pictures."

• Wild and Woolley: An Encyclopedia of the Old West by Denis McLoughlin. 1975 by Barnes and Noble Books.
  Recommended by Carrie B. - Well, I work in a used book store and as the person in charge of pricing the books I get first pick, of course (YAY!). But very rarely do we get anything I can't live without. Today, however, was a very notable exception. Imagine my surprise and delight when out of the bag I pulled "The Encyclopedia of the Old West." It's very comprehensive. It doesn't go into a lot of depth on somethings, but it's still fasinating. I was just sitting and reading it and finally had to stop due to information overload, but I feel smarter about the old west already (go ahead, ask me anything LOL).

• Cowboys, Indians, and Gunfighters: The Story of the Cattle Kingdom by Albert Marrin. Atheneum Publishers 1993, New York.
  Recommended by Amy B. - Illustrated in full color and black and white with prints, paintings, photographs and map. Taken from blurb, "Here is the story of that lively period of American history when ranchers and cowboys ruled the Great Plains. In his usual colorful style Albert Marrin describes the battle for Texas's independence, with its rallying cry of "Remember the Alamo." He takes the reader to a roundup and on the long trail drives from Texas ranches to the railroads in Kansas. Life in famous cow towns, like Abilene and Dodge City, is re-created, and readers learn the truth about Wild Bill Hickok, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, black rodeo star Bill Pickett, and other famous westerners."

• Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel. Published by Schocken Books, New York; 1982.
  Recommended by Judy. "From the introduction: "More than a quarter of a million Americans crossed the continental US between 1840 and 1870 in one of the greatest migrations of modern times. The men of the rugged frontier have become an integral part of our history and folklore, but pioneering was, in fact, a family matter, and the westering experiences of American women are central to an accurate pricture of what life was like on the frontier." Professor Schlissel examined diaries of "overland trail" women, and wove them together to give us an inkling of what life was like for these women who walked to a strange, new life in the west. Two things stand out in my mind after reading this book: the fathers and husbands made the decision to go west and the women had no choice but to go and endure, even against their will. And many entries speak of the "illness" of a female friend. Then an entry or two later that friend has a new baby. The pains of pregnancy, childbirth, and new motherhood (while walking The Overland Trail) were all summed up in a single, simple sentence mentioning "illness." How different life is today!"

Art

• Cowboy With A Camera by Erwin E. Smith, Cowboy Photographer. Story by Don Worcester. 1998 Amon Carter Museum, Ft Worth, TX.
  Recommended by Amy B. - Taken from the inside jacket: "Erwin E. Smith (1886 -1947) always wanted to be a cowboy and an artist. As a teenager, he worked on various ranches throughout the Southwest, using his camera as a way to preserve the cowboy way of life that was fading away before his eyes. From 1905 to 1912, he divided his time between home in Bonham, Texas, art schools in Chicago and Boston, and ranches in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, where he made some of the most important photographs of cowyboy life on record. But Erwin didn't just photograph cowboy life- he lived it. He knew firsthand the varied jobs of all he players involved in managing cattle, from the range boss to the wrangler, the bronc buster to the line rider, the cook to the cutting horse. He wanted his photographs to capture all the rugged realitites of life on the open range."

Children's Books

• Cowboys Roundup on An American Ranch by Joan Anderson. Photographs by George Ancona. For ages 9-12. Published in 1966
  Recommended by Amy - "This is a story of a modern day roundup - 'It's spring roundup on the Eby Ranch in Faywood, New Mexico, and young Leedro and Colter are eaer to help out. During two grueling weeks, they ride along with their father, mother, and a crew of seasoned cowboys as all eight hundred head of cattle are gathered in from the barren mesas.'"

• Black Women of the Old West by William Loren Katz. For ages 9-12. Published by Atheneum, 1995.
  Recommended by Amy - "Blurb - Though African-American women appear in few textbooks or movies of the old West, they turned up on every American frontier. Some were born among Native American nations and others travelled west in pioneer wagons. More than devoted mothers and daughters, they built communities, schools and churches, and stayed on to become poets and civil rights agitators, schoolmarms and nurses, cowgirls and homesteaders."

• Cowboys of the Wild West by Russell Freedman. For ages 9-12. Published in 1990.
  Recommended by Amy - "Russell Freedman and Albert Marrin are two of my favorite authors because of their ability to present non-fiction in an storytelling style. Blurb - 'What was the original cowboy really like? Among other things, he was surprisingly young, usually in his late teens or early twenties. By the time he was thirty, he had probably sold his saddle and retired from the cowboy trade for good. Cowboys of the Wild West provides a vivid look at the proud young men who inspired the legend - the old-time, trail driving cowboys in the last third of the nineteenth century. The text includes excerpts from published recollections of the cowboys themselves. The book also features more than fifty old photographs taken on the open range, along the cattle trail, back at the ranch, and in the pineboard photograher's studio found in nearly every cattle town.'"

USED-BOOK RESOURCES

Abebooks.com - Recommended by Kali

Amazon.com Rare & Used Books - Recommended by Don

BOOKSAMILLION.com - Recommended by Don

BookFinder.com - Recommended by Carrie B.

The Clear Springs Book Company - Posse Pard Carrie B. works here

Half.com - Recommended by Don

Powells.com - Recommended by Don