BOOK REVIEWS

judges’ controversial decision. In Let turning over federal land to ranchers. 2020 Spur deadlines ’Er Buck, Nelson writes about Fletcher’s He offers an affectionate portrait of October 1 is the entry deadline for childhood, racial prejudice and the nobil- the Marlboro Man, Darrell Winfield, a ity and courage of Tillman Taylor, a the 2020 Spur Awards for any work real cowboy who whimsically and joy- white sheriff. James’s illustrations, taken first published or released between ously lived, tobacco- and alcohol-free, from his oil-on-board paintings, are a January 1, 2019 and August 31, into 2015. Most alarmingly, in country vital element, showing not only the mus- where it takes one gallon of water to 2019. cular brute force and wild eyes of buck- Entry deadline for works first produce one almond, Bergon portrays ing horses but also gentle and humorous California’s attack on the prehistoric published or released between aspects of Fletcher’s boyhood. waters of its aquifer, suggesting the October 1, 2019 and December 31, – Ollie Reed Jr. imminent doom of the world’s most 2019 is January 15, 2020. wondrous farming region. Log on to WesternWriters.org for – John Mort more information. POETRY PETER BREWITT ADAM FAGIN Same River Twice: The Politics of Dam JUVENILE Furthest Ecology: Poems Removal and River Restoration The Center for Literary Publishing, Colo- Oregon State University Press DAWN NELSON (author) and rado State University Paperback, 288 pages, $24.95 CANDICE ASHBY (illustrator) Paperback, 72 pages, $16.95 OSUPress.oregonstate.edu ColoradoReview.colostate.edu Lollypop and Laren – A Tale of Two Peter Brewitt draws from many Friends Through the lens of poetry, Adam interviews and published works to Crazy Cow Press Fagin looks at the life of Abbott Thayer, produce a timely volume dealing Paperback, no page numbers, no price the American painter and naturalist who, with environmental politics. His take given during World War I, was nicknamed “the on the removal of three dams in the father of camouflage.” Thayer studied Told in pleasant but amateurish Pacific Northwest and the subsequent the theory of animal coloration, which verse, the reader follows the ups and restoration of natural river flow was Fagin’s poems attempt to interpret in downs in the ranch life of Laren, a that interested parties needed to form free verse form. The book caused this “wild” girl (according to the descrip- mega-coalitions to move forward. reviewer to mull over Thayer’s words: “I tion) and her sidekick – an orphan Interestingly, he found in every case bring evidence of concealing power.” calf named Lollypop. Illustrations are that the loss of recreational lakes was colorful and well-done. Young readers – Lynn Bueling the key controversy. He concludes that can decide if it’s OK that the story is ecological restoration is becoming a from the mother’s viewpoint. nationwide political priority and we NONFICTION need to learn how to do it. VAUNDA MICHEAUX – Lynn Bueling NELSON (author) and FRANK BERGON GORDON C. JAMES Two-Buck Chuck and the Marlboro Man: RICHARD BROOKHISER (illustrator) The New Old West John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Let ’Er Buck: George Fletcher, the University of Nevada Press Supreme Court People’s Champion Hardcover, 264 pages, $24.95 Basic Books UNPress.nevada.edu Carolrhoda Books Hardcover, 324 pages, $30 Hardcover, 40 pages, $18.99 In these closely linked essays, Frank BasicBooks.com LernerBooks.com Bergon, a novelist with farming roots in John Marshall’s nomination as chief In 1911, there were three finalists for California’s San Joaquin Valley, takes up justice of the Supreme Court in 1801 the saddle-bronc championship at the for Westerners in California, Nevada and was pretty much a last-minute deci- Pendleton (Oregon) Roundup rodeo – Wyoming. They are mostly minorities or sion, and, by the time he retired 34 John Spain, a white rancher; Jackson of immigrant stock: Chicanos, American years later, he had transformed the Sundown, a Nez Perce Indian; and Indians, Italians, African-Americans nation’s highest court from an after- George Fletcher, a 21-year-old black and Okies. He portrays the shrewd, rich thought to a serious branch of the cowboy. In this compelling, candid and Fred Franzia, “Two-Buck Chuck,” who government – often to the consterna- well-researched book, aimed at readers famously marketed wines for $2 a bottle tion of presidents such as Thomas Jef- ages 8 to 11, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and consistently won quality awards. ferson, Marshall’s cousin, and Andrew and illustrator Gordon C. James tell With firsthand knowledge, Bergon Jackson. Richard Brookhiser, despite and show how that played out to an ventures fearlessly into the violent realm scant letters and documents from his ending more surprising than the rodeo of characters who demonstrate against subject, paints a detailed portrait of the OCTOBER 2019 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE 31 31 justice likely best remembered for his 1832 decision in Worces- ter v. Georgia, in which the court “explicitly recognize[d] the national character of the Cherokees and their right of self government.” To which Jackson allegedly replied: “Well, John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it,” before removing the Cherokee to present-day Oklahoma. A timely read in this polarized age of politics. ROBERT A. CARO Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing Alfred A. Knopf Hardcover, 207 pages, $25 KnopfDoubleday.com Master biographer Robert A. Caro (two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards and three National Book Crit- ics Circle Awards, for starters) describes the inspirational research methods behind his monumental studies of Robert Moses and former President Lyndon Johnson. Every author (fiction, nonfiction, Western or any other genre) can benefit from advice Caro received early in his career: Don’t think with your fingers, and turn every page of documents you’re studying. Caro’s heroic approach to finding secrets in the mil- lions of pages at the Johnson Library is a model of determi- nation. His interview techniques (remembering to shut up, for example) are exemplary. Few writing books are this fascinat- ing and dramatic as well as informative. – David Morrell J. EDWARD CHAMBERLIN The Banker and the Blackfoot: An Untold Story of Friendship, Trust, and Broken Promises in the Old West BlueBridge Hardcover, 238 pages, $24.95 BlueBridgeBooks.com The author tells the story of his grandfather, Jack Cowdry, while blending in a portrait of Alberta from the late 19th Cen- tury through about 1905. The Blackfeet held sovereignty until the founding of Fort Macleod, a police barracks that is today a small town in southwestern Alberta. The Mounties gained favor with the Blackfeet by shutting down whiskey smuggling from Montana and through fair dealing generally. In contrast to the American story, there followed a period of relative peace and harmony between immigrants and the First Na- tions. Jack Cowdry himself became lifelong friends with Crop Eared Wolf, who rose to become chief of the Blackfeet even as Jack filled a vacuum in Fort Macleod and became its first banker. A gentle, ironic, hopeful story. – John Mort CLINT E. CHAMBERS and PAUL H. CARLSON Comanche Jack Stilwell: Army Scout and Plainsman University of Oklahoma Press Paperback, 280 pages, $24.95 OUPress.com Simpson E. “Jack” Stilwell, aka Comanche Jack, was em- ployed as a Santa Fe Trail teamster, cowboy, Army scout and plainsman, and also served as a police officer, deputy federal marshal, U.S. commissioner, lawyer and judge. But when re- membered, if at all, it is for bringing support to the besieged scouts at Beecher Island and for attempting to avenge the death of his brother, Frank, during Wyatt Earp’s Tombstone

32 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2019 vendetta. Now, Stilwell’s “diverse career” is brought to the forefront and successfully charted by Clint E. Chambers, a descendant, and Paul H. Carlson, who “bring the scattered experiences of his short life together in a readable, straight- forward biography.” Select maps would have helped the reader, but their absence is no distraction to this informative and well-documented book. – Stan “Tex” Banash DIANA HINOJOSA DeLUGAN Terrenos: Illustrated History of the Otero Land Grant Arizonac Publishing Trade paperback, 436 pages, no price listed Pieces of the Otero family story are scattered across the borderlands. Descendant Diana Hinojosa DeLugan connects the dots in her exhaustively researched history of the 18th Century Spanish grant — the first privately owned land in Arizona – and the family’s 148-year operation of the Ran- cho de Otero (today’s Tubac Golf Resort), describing how successive generations of Otero men and women defended the grant in court, squabbled over inheritances and expanded their landholdings in southern Arizona. She also explains how subsequent owners and part owners – including avia- trix Joan Schankle Davis and celebrities Will Rogers Jr. and Bing Crosby – helped preserve the Otero legacy into the 21st Century. A skilled practitioner of what C.L. Sonnichsen described as “grassroots history,” DeLugan spotlights the accomplishments of a prominent Arizona family and sheds light on the Hispanic ranching heritage of the Southwest. – Bruce J. Dinges

OCTOBER 2019 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE 33 ESTERN MUSIC W MALCOLM EBRIGHT and RICK HENDRICKS Pueblo Sovereignty: Indian Land and Water in New Mexico and Texas “New San Antonio Rose” by Bob Wills University of Oklahoma Press Hardcover, 245 pages, $45 and His Texas Playboys was the first song I OUPress.com learned by heart because my Grandmother This is a case study of five pueblos – Pojoaque, Nambé, Tes- Stallone had a record of it that I played uque and Isleta in New Mexico and Ysleta del Sur in Texas – over and over. I never tired of it, and if and their centuries-long struggle to retain their land and water Maw Maw did she never said so. rights against the encroachments of Spanish, Mexican, and The song is a classic of Western swing, United States authorities. The authors devote each chapter to OLLIE an infectious – usually up-tempo – dance one of the pueblos, detailing how the tribe fought their battles REED JR. tune that mixes cowboy, polka, Dixieland in the courts, often facing adverse decisions from judges and jazz and other musical styles with swing. juries that favored powerful business interests. Contrary to the Western swing, a genre pioneered by Wills, hit its high point usual stereotypes, Indian agents, including Abraham Mayer, in the 1940s. But it’s still stirring up feet on dance floors today. John Ward, Benjamin Thomas and James Calhoun, at- Think Asleep at the Wheel and consider also the artists who tempted to defend the tribes from fraudulent and incompetent recorded the albums below. land surveyors and disinterested or biased federal officials. The authors take their narrative to the present day and end LEELEE ROBERT on a cautiously optimistic note as the tribes have endured, Swing Set survived and managed with some compromises to keep their Musikode Records, $20 sovereignty. LeeLeeMusic.com – Abraham Hoffman Arizona-native LeeLee Robert is SEAN J. FLYNN known for her very personal cowgirl Without Reservation: Benjamin Reifel and American Indian jazz music, but she kicks things up Acculturation a few notches in this 12-cut Western South Dakota Historical Society Press swing album that includes seven Hardcover, 281 pages, $29.95 SDHSPress.com songs written or – in one case – co-written by Robert. It’s tough to pick favorites here – they’re all a pleasure – but Ben Reifel (1906-1990) was the first Lakota to serve in the I’ll point to “Finger Lickin’ Music,” written by Robert, Peggy U.S. Congress. Many people stereotype American Indians in their pre-reservation roles or see their plight of poverty Malone and Marvin O’Dell, which pays tribute to “finger- in modern-day reservation life, but each person must follow lickin’, guitar-pickin’, boot-kickin’ blues;” “Blue Bonnet Breeze” his or her own path, and Ben Reifel charted his own. Sean by Paul Kelly and Robert’s “Big Hair,” about a waitress with Flynn, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, details Reifel’s big hands, long arms, a big heart and big hair that “puts her that life, leaving the Rosebud Sioux reservation, graduating from much closer to God.” high school and then college. Reifel worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and served in the Army during World War II. STEEL HORSE SWING He represented South Dakota for five terms in the House of Swing Time Baby Representatives. He worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Steel Horse Productions, $15 American Indians, believing education was the key to better SteelHorseSwing.com lives for all. This Colorado group, featuring – Bill Markley Carlos Williams on lead vocals, as- SCOTT HARRIS pires to a mixture of Western swing A Novel Journey: Writing Your First Western (52 Essays to Help and cowboy and rodeo classics. You Get to “The End”) There’s some of all that among this CD’s 11 offerings, start- Dusty Saddle Publishing ing with Williams’s “Swing Time Baby,” about a dance with Hardcover, 589 pages, $14.99 more “sauce” than a two-step or waltz. DSPublishingNetwork.com Other gems are the compelling “I’ve Got a Feelin’ for You,” The first part of this collection includes essays derived from written by Joni Harms and Hobo Jim Varsos; the rowdy “Let Scott Harris’s blogs on writing. There is good general advice the Cowboy Dance,” by Michael Martin Murphey, Don Cook for first-time writers (he kindly reminds us to “find a way and Chick Rains; and Tom Russell and Paul Zarzyski’s change- that works for you”), plus links to Facebook pages and writ- of-pace crooner “Bucking Horse Moon,” about a bronc buster ing organizations specifically directed at the Western genre. who falls for a blue-eyed twister with a smoky whisper. (One misstep in this book, other than the handful of typos, is *** the inclusion and veiled challenge of a previously published Roundup review.) The real treat comes in Part Two, as Harris E-mail Ollie at [email protected] and send CDs to him at invites several award-winning Western authors to share their P.O. Box 2381, Corrales, NM 87048. writing savvy. A complete novel penned by the author makes 34 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2019 up Part Three, accounting for roughly find the series of detailed appendices are deeply interested in cattle drives or half the book’s nearly 600 pages. at the end of the book interesting and thinking of writing a book on one, buy – Micki Fuhrman informative. this book. The text, appendix, notes – Greg Hunt and bibliography provide a wealth of JOHN HART detailed information that can save you Bluecoat and Pioneer: The Recollections CHRISTOPHER KETCHAM hours of research. of John Benton Hart 1864-1868 This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, – Vicky J. Rose University of Oklahoma Press and Corruption are Ruining the American Hardcover, 240 pages, $32.95 West DAVID McCULLOUGH OUPress.com Viking The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the John Hart presents a brief span in Hardcover, 406 pages, $29 Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal PenguinRandomHouse.com West the life of his great grandfather, John Benton Hart. The book begins in 1864 It’s one thing to write a polemic; it’s Simon & Schuster when Hart, a young Union cavalryman, another to write one based on statis- Hardcover, 331 pages, $30 SimonandSchuster.com takes part in ending the last Confed- tics, facts, interviews and extensive erate effort, under the leadership of field research. That’s what Christopher Historian David McCullough (John General Sterling Price, to reclaim Mis- Ketcham has done in his exposure Adams and 1776, etc.) has two Pulitzer souri. Once Price is chased south into of government agencies such as the Prizes and two National Book Awards, Arkansas, Hart’s 11th Kansas Regiment Environmental Protection Agency and along with the Presidential Medal of is sent west to deal with growing Indian the Fish and Wildlife Service turning a Freedom, America’s highest civilian insurrections in Kansas, Wyoming and blind eye and even siding with mining, honor. A new work by him is a publish- Montana. Working from his great- oil and gas, logging and the cattle in- ing event. Here, he describes a little- grandfather’s verbal memoirs, recorded dustry in wreaking havoc on America’s known saga in America’s westward starting in 1918 by his son Harry, the public lands. He finds the public largely migration: the first government-sanc- author provides a unique, ground- unaware of the destruction of wolves, tioned pioneer expedition. After the level view of what life was like for the cougars, eagles and other predators Revolutionary War, the United States ordinary soldier during these dangerous whose decline has upset the balance acquired from Great Britain the vast and fascinating times. For accuracy’s of nature. Plants as well as animals wooded wilderness between the Ohio sake, the book intersperses John Benton have been plowed under for the profits and Mississippi Rivers (eventually to Hart’s 50-year-old recollections with of corporations that prize cattle as a contain Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michi- short excerpts of actual history. But marketable commodity, even though gan and Wisconsin). In a nonfiction even when the old soldier’s memories the industry contributes little to the version of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, sometimes miss the mark, the overall national economy. Ketcham also has McCullough focuses on five histori- story still rings true. little use for the image of the cowboy cal figures as they set out in 1788 to – Greg Hunt as the reality of herding is a difficult, establish a frontier community based on dirty and unglamorous job. This book the principles of religious freedom, free ROBERT R. LAVEN minces no words on how environmental universal education and the prohibi- A Burned Land: The Trans-Mississippi in deterioration has created a situation tion of slavery. Within 20 years, a few the Civil War that will make our descendants wonder hundred pioneers in the area became McFarland & Company what corporations were thinking about a half million. The book’s highlights Paperback, 186 pages, $35 besides making money. include Aaron Burr’s plot to persuade McFarlandBooks.com – Abraham Hoffman the territory to secede from the Union Robert R. Laven draws a stark picture and form a new nation. Some critics of the varying and unconventional ways WAYNE LUDWIG wished McCullough had emphasized that the Civil War was conducted in The Old Chisholm Trail: From Cow Path the injustice the westward expansion to Tourist Stop Missouri. Pro-slavery Missouri and abo- inflicted on Native Americans. Mc- litionist Kansas Territory had already Texas A&M University Press Cullough, a traditional historian, leaves been entangled in a ruthless, undeclared Hardcover, 307 pages, $37 it to his readers to make judgments. TAMUPress.com border war for years before the Civil – David Morrell War started, and the fact that Mis- Perhaps you are interested in cattle souri, a slave state, remained in Union drives, but don’t care if the Chisholm CHRISTOPHER R. hands when war split the nation only Trail was named after Jesse Chisholm MORTENSON made the conflict there more bitter and or John Chisum. Or that a rich Texan Politician in Uniform: General Lew Wallace and the Civil War divisive. Laven, clearly a deep historical went about hither and yonder wher- researcher, does a fine job explaining ever he wished marking the trail, much University of Oklahoma Press the major battles and campaigns, the to the dismay of the Old Time Trail Hardcover, 298 pages, $34.95 OUPress.com reasons for victories and defeats, the Drivers’ Association. Or perhaps your mistakes and repercussions, and the interests lie in the Goodnight-Loving A political appointee, Lew Wallace’s ongoing struggles by the Confederacy Trail or the Western Trail. That doesn’t record as a combat general is spotty to take over the state for the South. mean you won’t benefit by the intensive and less than glorious. Temperamental, Researchers and history buffs will also research that went into this book. If you paranoid and critical of superiors, all of

OCTOBER 2019 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE 35 whom were West Point graduates, his His approach should satisfy both the and nurses who convinced many Indi- best service was as a military governor in military historian and the average reader ans that Western medicine could coexist Maryland and Delaware. His fame as an alike. He treats both sides evenhandedly, with Native customs. author of such books as Ben-Hur would something difficult to do when writing – Abraham Hoffman have suited most. He was appointed am- of Indian/European conflicts. bassador to Turkey and governor of New – Loyd Uglow WEST VIRGINIA WRITERS Mexico Territory, where he negotiated Writerly Advice: Tips & Techniques from with Billy the Kid. But he would have GREGORY D. SMITHERS West Virginia Writers surrendered all that to have had a mo- Native Southerners: Indigenous History Headline Books ment of military glory in the Civil War. from Origins to Removal Paperback, 135 pages, $16.95 A nice piece of little known history. University of Oklahoma Press HeadlineBooks.com – Vernon Schmid Paperback, 270 pages, $29.95 West Virginia Writers Inc., which OUPress.com calls itself the “largest all-volunteer, CANDY MOULTON A careful historical exploration of the writers’ resource and service organiza- The Mormon Handcart Migration: origins of many southeastern Indian tion serving literary interests in West ‘Tounge nor Pen Can Never Tell the tribes and their experience prior to and Virginia,” has put together an anthol- Sorrow’ after the diaspora. The author’s scholar- ogy of tips on a wide range of genres University of Oklahoma Press ship is especially helpful to those with and subjects, including memoir, poetry, Hardcover, 296 pages, $29.95 interest in both the voluntary and forced magazine writing, true crime and, yes, OUPress.com removal of native nations to new trans- Western. No surprise on the latter since Comprehensive and challenging, Mississippi locations. Actions by the the organization’s president is WWA as scholarly as it could be, Candy federal government dating to the found- member R.G. Yoho, who notes in his Moulton’s book presents facts that paint ing of the United States is accurately chapter on writing Westerns that “it is an inspiring and chilling story. Inspiring illustrated and reflects the ongoing fed- critically important that you first kindle because for four years, these 10 compa- eral policies designed to eliminate tribal a genuine respect, almost a reverence, nies, totaling 2,888 people, walked from identity, culture and history. for this largely unique, albeit brief, outfitting posts in Nebraska and Iowa – Vernon Schmid period in American history.” the 1,178 miles required to make it to their Zion. Chilling because – and this CLIFFORD E. TRAFZER DAVID WOLMAN and JULIAN is not fiction – “I hear there are saints Fighting Invisible Enemies: Health and SMITH who fear on account of the lateness of Medical Transitions among Southern Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World’s Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden the season and may suffer in crossing California Indians History of the American West the Rocky Mts. in snow storms … God University of Oklahoma Press will keep the way open to the faithful at Hardcover, 377 pages, $34.95 William Morrow heart.” This is perverse, like the witch OUPress.com Hardcover, 256 pages, $27.95 HarperCollins.com trials. Those who died lost their faith. Focusing primarily on the Mission (My great-grandmother did not die.) Indian Agency in Southern California, Aloha Rodeo tells more than the story This dense, fact-filled book uses no elab- this book assesses the federal govern- of three Hawaiian cowboys in Chey- oration to show the most extraordinary ment’s failure to provide health care for enne in 1908. In a style reminiscent of tales of heroism, trauma and tragedy. the agency’s 29 reservations during the James A. Michener, the authors weave – Edward Massey 19th and 20th centuries. Not until the late rodeo history, Westward expansion 1920s and the efforts of Interior Secre- and Hawaii’s political transitions into a MARK SANTIAGO tary Hubert Work did the Indian Health bright tapestry. The story vividly depicts A Bad Peace and a Good War: Spain and Service begin to work effectively with the cultural forge and environmental the Mescalero Apache Uprising of 1795- agency tribes. Clifford Trafzer includes anvil that shaped the paniolo – horse- 1799 an important chapter on indigenous men who maneuvered jagged lava fields University of Oklahoma Press practices of healing “staying sickness.” and dense forests long before mainland Hardcover, 248 pages, $27.95 “Traveling sicknesses” such as tubercu- cowboys worked the great cattle drives. OUPress.com losis and smallpox inflicted severe losses Rodeo narrative stays true to the era In summer 1795, Mescalero Apache to indigenous populations, but Indians with lasso, bronco and ring rather than warriors struck Spanish ranches. Troops recognized the importance of Western rope, bronc and arena. And “tough” tracked the raiders north across the Rio medicine for diseases where Indians takes on a Polynesian flavor in the Grande, where large Mescalero forces lacked immunity. TB rates among paniolos of the Parker Ranch and other ambushed and almost destroyed the American Indians declined significantly Hawaiian spreads. For them, it wasn’t Spanish columns. The book details the between 1926 and 1946, but after World enough to rope a steer in quick order. aggressive efforts orchestrated by Span- War II a conservative Congress’s termi- They had to swim it out to the boat to ish Commandant General Pedro de nation policy adversely affected medical be taken aboard by sling while hoping Nava to punish and subdue the Mes- treatment for Indians. Often repetitious, the sharks didn’t take the legs off their caleros. Mark Santiago weaves drama Trafzer nonetheless provides a well-doc- horses in the meantime. and suspense into the narrative while umented indictment of federal policies, – Davalynn Spencer keeping it on firm historical ground. but also notes the dedication of doctors

36 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2019 ESTERN VIDEO FICTION W FEDORA AMIS Have Your Ticket Punched by Frank James Five Star Publishing Bronco Billy Hardcover, 311 pages, $25.95 Warner Archive Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar Blu-ray, $21.99 Set in 1898 St. Louis, this is a Victorian novel with witty WBShop.com narrative and snappy dialogue that fits the era. The light- According to Clint Eastwood, it all hearted mystery is filled with whimsically named characters started with a mistake. Hanging around and conversation. Young Jemima “Jemmy” McBustle, cub his office late one Friday afternoon, reporter for the Illuminator under her Ann O’Nimity byline, waiting for the L.A. traffic to clear, he endures a series of near calamities and the attentions of a began to flip through a script by Dennis host of cantankerous admirers in her investigation of the murder of the actor, Quisenberry Sproat. The pace early on Hackin that Eastwood thought was a is measured as Jemmy works through puzzling leads, but biography of The Great Train Robbery suspense builds to a climax that settles the case and promises star, Bronco Billy Anderson. another Jemima McBustle volume. In spite of the book’s What he found instead was this odd title, Frank James makes a cameo and somewhat puzzling little tale of a shoe clerk from New Jer- appearance. He gets about as much coverage as an ugly sey who starred in his own ragtag Wild calico cat with a broken leg. West Show. The show’s other perform- – Harlan Hague ers were fellow dreamers, all of whom were escaping something in their lives CAROLE T. BEERS C. COURTNEY Night Rides: A Pepper Kane Mystery - Book #4 JOYNER but were devoted to Billy. Made between Don Siegel’s tough W&B Publishers Trade paperback, 326 pages, $17.99 Escape from Alcatraz and the ape-lunacy of Any Which Way You Can, Bronco Billy (1980) remains a neglected Eastwood Former reporter Pepper Kane is in Seattle, riding in one effort, perhaps ignored because its gentle lampooning of the of the Northwest’s most important horse shows –prestige, reputation and money at stake. The fierce competition turns star’s image wasn’t wild or extreme enough for his fans to murderous when one of the competition’s judges is found appreciate, as they did his Orangutan adventures. dead. Having some detecting experience, Kane takes a hand. Eastwood said he saw the film as in the mold of “some- When a second person is murdered – neither of them the thing [Frank] Capra might have made,” and although that most sympathetic of victims – what happens next has you comparison might be seen as wish fulfillment, like the best wondering if Kane should’ve backed away. Kane takes what of Capra, Bronco Billy is about family. Not blood relatives seem like a few wrong turns as the story proceeds to an held at a distance, but the friends who are with you through action-filled and twisty conclusion. I appreciated the show good times and bad, giving the movie a sweet countenance, scenes with the horses riding in the ring, feeling the well- even when it treads into surprisingly dark shadows. depicted excitement and thrill of the show. Cast with Eastwood’s own family of actors from his – Carol Crigger 1970s period – Geoffrey Lewis, Tim Bottoms, Woodrow KARI BOVÉE Parfrey and Bill McKinney – the movie’s wild card is also Peccadillo at the Palace: its other central character played, of course, by Sondra An Annie Oakley Mystery Locke. As much as I loved the actress in The Outlaw Josey SparkPress Wales, I find her a bit shrill as the spoiled heiress who’s Trade paperback, 349 pages, $16.95 forced to join Billy’s troupe, but later she perfectly inhabits An invitation from Queen Victoria’s special emissary to the character’s gentler side when trying to talk Billy out of perform before the queen has Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West the insane idea of robbing a train à la Jesse James. show packing up and taking ship for England. It proves to Later, there’s an extraordinarily dark and dramatic be a dangerous voyage as first, Annie Oakley’s horse Buck moment with her character that is relieved by a comedic becomes upset and plunges overboard. Then, Frank Butler, punctuation that Locke pulls off beautifully, saving the tone Annie’s husband, along with Mr. Bhakta, the queen’s emis- of the film. sary, are pushed into the ocean, and while Buck and Frank Scatman Crothers is the show’s ringmaster and Billy’s are saved, Mr. Bhakta is dead. So begins a story fraught with voice of hope. He’s marvelous, as is the cameo by Hank mysteries at every turn. Annie will have a difficult time sort- ing it all out, as she is plagued by constant ill-health and a Worden. recalcitrant younger sister. Kari Bovée peoples her story with Beautifully shot by David Worth, Bronco Billy is all heart plenty of suspects, which is sure to keep you guessing to the and humor and a fine example of Eastwood using his clout very end. to transition from star to filmmaking artist. – Carol Crigger OCTOBER 2019 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE 37 NORMA ELIA CANTÚ 1900s New York. Great storytelling his job. By accident, he kills a wanted Cabanuelas: A Novel here, based on fact, but capped with a man and collects the bounty, which gets University of New Mexico Press fancied funeral parlor scene that ties him thinking about a new way of life. Paperback, 304 pages, $19.95 Masterson’s Western luminary-studded With the reward money, he continues his UNMPress.com adventures into a satisfying bow. quest to collect bounties until he saves a preacher’s daughter and marries her. The Ethnography is the heart of this – Micki Fuhrman story has several highlights that will keep exploration of folklore, fiesta, linguis- C.K. CRIGGER your interest with some moral connota- tics and personal relationships. The Yester’s Ride tions. A pleasant read. author and the protagonist are one and Five Star Publishing – Lowell F. Volk the same as Spain, Mexico and the Hardcover, 258 pages, $25.95 border town of Laredo are blended in Gale.Cengage.com/Fivestar ROBERT FRANKLIN GISH one woman’s search for authenticity. When his part-Chinese half-sister is Twilight Troubadour: Stories Serenading Historical and cultural roots shape the the American Southwest kidnapped by her rapist father, teenager Latina’s belonging to la frontera, where Yester Noonan lights out on a revenge- Sunstone Press family and tradition shape lives. Cantú rescue mission. The 16-year-old boy is Trade paperback, 149 pages, $18.95 uses a fictionalized memoir style, for SunstonePress.com soon joined by his Metis friend, Nat which she is known, that illustrates the Fontaine. The novel alternates view- Thirteen short stories, seemingly passionate connection of soul to place. points between the determined half- drawn from the author’s own life, Cantú continues to be major source for brother and the tough girl as they are recount the difficulties and rewards understanding life on the border. forced to grow up on a treacherous trail of growing up in multi-cultural New – Vernon Schmid from the Palouse country to Lewiston, Mexico – first guitar, attraction to girls, JEROME CHARYN Idaho. Although the heroes are teen- scuffles with friends, shooting birds. Sort The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy agers, the story might be too graphic of a deja vu trip for the reader, remind- King: A Novel of Teddy Roosevelt and His for younger readers. But adults will be ful of sweet and bittersweet memories Times drawn into Crigger’s hard prose and from one’s youth. The tales are short Liveright uncompromising look at the West. enough to be comfortable reading on a flight. Robert Gish’s purpose may not be Hardcover, 304 pages, $26.95 MARK LEE GARDNER and WWNorton.com simply to entertain or amuse. He teaches NATE OLSON writing at the University of New Mexi- A new novel appears about Theodore Shot All to Hell: A Graphic Novel co, so I imagine that he uses these stories Roosevelt in which it is asked if he Insight Comics in his classes (there’s a set of questions were “the perfect bull in a china shop.” Hardcover, 127 pages, $24.99 for each story). I liked this one: “Why is Jerome Charyn spins his tale of Roo- InsightComics.com the guitar associated so much with the sevelt’s life up to the assassination of This compelling graphic novel comes West and its cowboy traditions?” President McKinley and gives voice to a from Mark Lee Gardner’s Spur-award- large cast of TR’s acquaintances, includ- – Ralph Estes winning Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, ing Josephine the cougar. A book that the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West’s HARLAN HAGUE fits into the historical fiction category, it Greatest Escape. Gardner and Nate Olson Leaving Ah-wah-nee is an easy, enjoyable read that could also adapted the book. Olson also provided Graycatbird Books appeal to young adults. stunning artwork, while Nic Chapuis Paperback, 240 pages, $9 – Lynn Bueling added arresting colors. This collabora- HarlanHague.us PAUL COLT tion is so eye-pleasing that readers will This novel takes time getting to the Friends Call Me Bat flip through the pages again and again. real plot: the unlikely romance between a Five Star Publishing The story is told in a documentary style, Yosemite Indian woman and a trans- Hardcover, 237 pages, $25.95 with times, dates and locations adding planted Eastern widower. The theme of Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar realism to the almost tactile illustrations how the “white man” pushed the native of the “most famous bank robbery in tribes off their land is powerful. After his Paul Colt gives us the imagined mus- Western history” and the epical retreat wife and children die, Jason finds new ings of Bat Masterson, as he relates his of the James-Younger Gang into the love with Tahnee, who has been abused incredible life story to newspaperman/ nightmarish Big Woods of Minnesota. by prospectors. Jason shuns the white humorist Damon Runyon. In truth, Oversized, hard-hitting and impressive. man and sides with the natives. A band the two knew each other and Runyon’s of men forces Tahnee’s tribe off their short story, “The Idyll of Miss Sarah – David Morrell land, burning shelters, looting whatever Brown,” the tale of a sweet mission- SCOTT GASTINEAU appeals. Harlan Hague’s research into ary girl who falls for a gambler named Tillman’s Bounty California history is spot on. Masterson, was the basis for the musical Five Star Publishing Guys and Dolls. Colt’s novel rings with Hardcover, 398 pages, $25.95 ROBERT KNOTT authentic dialogue and historic details, Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar Robert B. Parker’s Buckskin as the aging gunfighter/gambler/prize- Max Tillman worked as a miner until G.P. Putnam’s Sons fighter/writer reminisces with Runyon the company went broke and he lost Hardcover, 336 pages, $27 over steaks and drinks during early PenguinRandomHouse.com 38 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2019 Marshals Virgil Cole and Everett lisher lists the book as historical fiction, TERRENCE McCAULEY Hitch are back with another tale taking but, although it is filled with historic Dark Territory, A Sheriff Aaron Mackey place in the town of Appaloosa. Gold characters and refers to actual events, Western has been discovered, and two factions this is fiction as tall tale. It tells the story Pinnacle are fighting over possession. Some of one Benjamin Batman Bunt (1779- Mass-market paperback, 320 pages, $7.99 men from one side have disappeared 1815), who claims to have invented the KensingtonBooks.com and now both are ramping up their game of base ball (he spelled it as two In boomtown Dover Station, Mon- gun hands as the town waits for war to words) while he was a member of the tana, everyone’s out to make a fortune break out. Mix in a psychotic young Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to from the train’s arrival. However, gunfighter with a grudge against the 1806. You don’t have to go beyond the Sheriff Aaron Mackey and Deputy world, and Appaloosa is doomed to le- main character’s name to get an inkling Billy Sunday have something to say thal mayhem just as an Appaloosa Days of the over-the-top humor employed by about it. There is not much to admire celebration is due. As anticipated in a Lalire in his novel. But if you can man- about sullen Mackey, who is quick to Robert Knott/Robert B. Parker story, age to read while rolling your eyes, you shoot and ask questions later. Even the there’s plenty of violence, gun play, sex, just might have a ball with this. townspeople step aside when he walks cussing and all the usual deadly sins. – Ollie Reed Jr. past. However, with so much lawless- The villains are over the top, and Virgil ness about, he can’t afford to be nice. A and Everett’s sharp three-word sentence JON LAND convoluted plot, involving orchestrated conversations carry the action along. Strong As Steel: A Caitlin Strong Novel train robberies by a wanna-be mayor – Carol Crigger Forge Books Hardcover, 336 pages, $27.99 who wants to replace Mackey, keeps the KRIS LACKEY US.macmillan.com pages turning and the reader wonder- ing. Many references to a previous Greasy Bend: A Bill Maytubby & Hannah As in every Caitlin Strong thriller, Bond Mystery plot make for the need to read the first there are two parts to the story. What novel. Blackstone Publishing happened in history, and what is hap- – Melody Groves Hardcover, 226 pages, $25.99 pening right now. In this novel, the past BlackstonePublishing.com is as near as 1994 and concerns Caitlin’s RICHARD PROSCH Johnson County Deputy Hannah father, Texas Ranger Jim Strong, who The Scalper Bond is flagged down by a farmer, investigates several inexplicable deaths Lohman Hills Creative who has discovered a body floating in and a cargo gone missing from a freight Paperback, 183 pages, $9.99 the Washita River that turns out to be train. In the present, Texas Ranger Cait- LohmanHills.com a friend of Hannah’s. Concurrently, lin Strong is involved in a crime and a This compilation of short fiction, detective Bill Maytubby of the Chicka- story hearkening back to her father’s including the Spur-winning title story, saw Lighthorse Police is called to the long-ago case. Only the violence is even is slathered with Richard Prosch’s Golden Play Casino. There has been more lethal this time around. As far as pleasing, folksy style. Peopled by huck- a robbery and his friend, an electri- the woman who seduces Cort Wesley sters, hopefuls and almost-heroes, these cian working there, has been shot and Masters’s son Dylan goes, well, her tales remind readers of life’s inherent killed. All this finds these two lawmen, connection to all this will come as a unpredictability – the schemes that go working together, scouring the Okla- surprise. Nonstop action will keep you wrong, the occasional happy accidents homa countryside to fit the clues they turning the pages in this adventure. and the unknowable recesses of human garner together. From schools, airstrips – Carol Crigger nature. An entertaining, deftly written and casinos, they connect the deaths, collection. only to find themselves facing deadly ROBERT S. LEVINSON opponents as they converge at Greasy Tap Dance – Micki Fuhrman Bend Bridge. An excellent action-filled Five Star Publishing JAMES REASONER and L.J. mystery with wonderful characters and Hardcover, 231 pages, $25.95 WASHBURN Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar a well-depicted setting. Six Gun Law – Carol Crigger Tap Dance is presented as a fictional Five Star Publishing collection of events that occur in the GREGORY J. LALIRE Hardcover, 319 pages, $25.95 West and involve the exploits of part- Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar Our Frontier Pastime: 1804-1815 ners Swaney and McDukes. Their wild Husband-and-wife team James Five Star Publishing adventures and encounters lead them Reasoner and L.J. Washburn have been Hardcover, 423 pages, $25.95 in and out of prison. There is a lot of Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar penning good, solid traditional West- action that will keep you guessing what erns, both individually and as a team, Greg Lalire, editor of Wild West mag- will happen next. It is interesting how for years. Six Gun Law is no exception. azine, won a Stirrup Award in 2015 for the author connects different stories of In the first novella, “Ransom Valley,” his Roundup article about baseball in the the West together. written by Reasoner, Marshal Cole West, so I was expecting this book to – Lowell F. Volk Tyler has to stop a gang of vicious be an expanded history of that subject. bank robbers, who end up kidnapping Boy, was I off base about that. The pub- Brenda Durand, the young, beautiful, BOOK REVIEWS (continued on page 47) OCTOBER 2019 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE 39 8739 Palomar Avenue Joshua Turk Stephen Whitaker Yucca Valley, CA 92284 Turk, who works in business Whitaker has released his debut (760) 285-8174 (Home, cell) development, has Western, Denman Springs: A Story of [email protected] written his debut Texas (Outskirts Press, 2018). novel, Another 9898 Colonnade Boulevard D.M. “Mike” Horridge Outlaw in the West Apt. #10107 This author’s first two novels, Pursuit (Joshua Tree San Antonio, TX 78230 and Trespass, Publishing, 2019). (936) 414-0584 (Home) written as D.M. 484 Everett Avenue [email protected] Haggard, were Crystal Lake, IL published by Dusty Joshua Turk 60014 Saddle Publishing (815) 321-1695 (Work) earlier this year. He (815) 790-8279 (Cell) has written many [email protected] short stories and D.M. “Mike” Horridge articles with a Texas slant. BOOK REVIEWS (from page 39) 13426 La Vista Drive San Antonio, TX 78216 but ruthless heiress to much of the town field worker grapples with Parkinson’s, of Wind River, Wyoming. In Outlaw a girl singer is drawn to hookups with (210) 560-2950 (Home) (210) 241-6862 (Cell) Blood, written by Washburn, outlaw Elvis impersonators, a grandmother and Blade Kendrick returns, looking for his daughter travel to Vietnam to claim the [email protected] older two sons, both of whom had been body of a son and father, along with his Melissa Starr taken from him by his wife when she demons. Addiction is a frequent theme, This former news reporter and ran away from him years previously. as are grief and estrangement. editor, whose pseudonym is Harper The reader will keep the pages turning – Micki Fuhrman Courtland, has sold her first novel, until they find out who survives … or Indiscretions Along Virtue Avenue, to doesn’t. Five Star Publishing, with an expected – James J. Griffin PLAYS release date of December. JOANNE SUNDELL RED SHUTTLEWORTH 3202 Lilac Drive A Slip on Golden Stairs 1980: Kingman, Arizona; 1981: Mount Portsmouth, VA 23703 Five Star Publishing Vernon, Oregon; 1982: Rawlins, (757) 484-6696 (Home, work) Hardcover, 275 pages, $25.95 Wyoming; 1983: Vernal, Utah; 1984: [email protected] Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar Washtucna, Washington; 1985: Winside, Nebraska; 1986: Vermillion, South David G. Thomas The Alaskan Gold Rush is backdrop to this time-bending story by Joanne Dakota; 1987: Raton, New Mexico; 1988: This award-winning author, St. Francis, Kansas; 1989: Laverne, Sundell, whose writings have been historian, Oklahoma compared to Jack London’s adventure playwright and novels – and rightly so. Abigail Grayce, Bunchgrass Press filmmaker has from 1898, and Abby Gray, from 2017, Chapbooks, no prices listed written four PoetRedshuttleWorth.blogspot.com make the same arduous trip up the volumes in the treacherous Golden Staircase, an ice- Two women sit amid the ruins Mesilla Valley carved pathway leading to the Alaskan of a house consumed by flames. A History Series, gold fields. The two women reach out 40-year-old prison guard notes that including Giovanni to each other through tenuous slips in “Whiskey and coffee bring me to life David G. Thomas Maria de Agostini time portals, with the help of a hand- every evening … as I wait. I don’t really and Billy The Kid’s Grave: A History of some Western man. One careless step know what or who I’m waiting for.” A the Wild West’s Most Famous Death could mean destiny, or death. 20-year-old woman hiking in Kansas Marker (Doc45 Publications). – Micki Fuhrman discovers that “this is a world where 824 Mormon Drive, Apt. A you have to put your own Pop Tarts Las Cruces, NM 88011 CONSTANCE SQUIRES into your toaster.” And a young police- (575) 640-8091 (Cell) Hit Your Brights man regrets giving a newspaper reporter [email protected] University of Oklahoma Press an interview, saying that the next time Doc45.com Trade paperback, 184 pages, $19.99 “I am gonna grin-stupid and walk OUPress.com away.” In Red Shuttleworth’s “Ameri- A collection of razor-sharp modern cana West” series of short plays and fiction, showcasing desperate souls at monologues, men and women still need the outermost reaches of their sanity grit to survive in Reagan’s America. and ability to cope: an Oklahoma oil-

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