WESTERN MUSIC WESTERN DVDs

JIM OWEN. Six Guns and Trail Songs. Jim Owen Music, McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Criterion. Blu-Ray, $39.95; DVD, $10, [email protected]. $29.95, Criterion.com. I’d had one of the toughest weeks Within Westerns, cameramen and directors seemed forever in my life. And when you consider joined by their collaborative visuals, the images I’m 68, you know that’s saying they painted, for more than a century, mold- something. I was feeling pretty ing the genre into what it is. John Ford’s deep- beat down and disappointed shadowed landscapes, captured by Bert Glennon in myself. But leaving home and, later, William Clothier, are now the stuff of one morning at the end of that legend. Lucien Ballard’s vivid Technicolor palette miserable week, I put this CD in for Henry Hathaway became naturalistic when my car’s player. As Jim Owen’s he shot for Budd Boetticher version of “Back in the Saddle and Sam Peckinpah, while Again” spilled out, I felt myself shed- Bruce Surtees split the dark- ding the blues like a snake losing old skin. ness of Clint Eastwood’s scenes like the Cowboy songs – especially favorites such as “Ghost Rid- flame of a single candle. ers in the Sky,” “Don’t Fence Me In” and “Big Iron,” all In 1970, cinematographer Vilmos Zsig- on this CD – affect me like that when sung by a voice as mond traveled to the Pacific Northwest to fine as Owen’s. Owen is a superlative writer, too. His stack make, in director Robert Altman’s words, C. COURTNEY of country hits includes “Louisiana JOYNER a “sort-of-a-western.” It was the perfect Woman, Mississippi Man,” the classic time for their collaboration. The genre version of which was performed by was pumping, energized by the success of The Wild Bunch and Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But this story of mumbling He penned three of the songs on this gambler Warren Beatty, who comes to the dogtrot known as record. Of those, my pick is “Pisto- Presbyterian Church, then teams with madam Julie Christie to lero,” the story of an old Ranger who build it into a bustling town, wasn’t going to play out as a usual OLLIE tracks down and deals with a nephew Western. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) was to find its own tone REED JR. gone bad. and rhythms in its naturalistic performance, setting and stark violence, as well as in the beating heart of its characters, all JAMES MICHAEL. Meadowlark. James Michael Music, captured by Zsigmond’s photography which set a new standard $15, [email protected]. for use of color and light in American film. Many songs written by James Michael come from his Altman’s tale is a study in naturalism, as eccentric as a man own life. Since he is the working cowboy son of a cowboy of the wilderness and romantic as a lonesome cowboy. The father, that makes for Western records that are as authentic warm, yellow light of Zsigmond’s interiors sneaks into rooms as they are pleasing. “All- through wall slats and dirty windows. Outside, the bitter cold American Cowboy” and is a cloudless sky, hanging like a shroud over these men and “Store-Bought Buckle” are women. drawn from his dad’s life, the Death comes, as in any Western, but for Altman, a gunfight is love song “Meadowlark” is just another aspect of this hard life. Keith Carradine’s hot-shot about his mom and dad, and meets his maker in slow-motion that’s not fanciful, but rather an “Turn to Die” was inspired icy vision created by director and cinematographer that can’t be by the time a horse fell on shaken. Michael. All good stuff. But McCabe & Mrs. Miller’s other glories are many: wonderful sup- one of the best cuts here is porting performances, Gene Callahan’s production design and “Lizzy Knight,” a song that the brave choice of Leonard Cohen’s songs for the soundtrack. tells the true story of a woman who emigrated from Eng- Criterion’s Blu-Ray presents this “sort-of-a-western” in its fin- land to Colorado in 1875 and worked hard to make a place est form. Ever. The Blu-Ray extras include a new documentary, for herself and her family. I also like “Gaishena,” a mysti- original location featurette, an interview with Zsigmond, and cal poem about a girl of long-ago Chaco Canyon. Michael two episodes of The Dick Cavett Show, with Altman and critic is a man of many talents. But he only wears one hat – and Pauline Kael discussing the film’s original critical reception. that’s cowboy. *** *** C. Courtney Joyner writes in many formats, including E-mail Ollie at [email protected] and send CDs to screenplays, fiction and nonfiction. E-mail him at olcourt@ him at P.O. Box 2381, Corrales, NM 87048. yahoo.com.

12 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2017 BOOK REVIEWS

Sacred. South Dakota Historical Society and American Indians from the 1860s JUVENILE Press. Trade paperback, 102 pages, to Wounded Knee in 1890. Yes, this $16.95, SDHSPress.com. is the story Dee Brown told in the ALICE V. BROCK. The River of A prolific writer of books for young groundbreaking Bury My Heart at Cattle. Pen-L. Trade paperback, 225 adults, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve Wounded Knee (1970), but Cozzens pages, $13.97, Pen-L.com. offers this one based on the untold seeks to “bring historical balance to Will Whitaker and his beloved stories of women in her native culture. the story of the Indian Wars.” Even so, stallion, Buck, leave their Texas ranch She reminds us that values such as The Earth Is Weeping is poignant and with Will’s father, Dan, to join a cattle those taught by the White Buffalo Calf disheartening, a well-written, concise drive bound for the New Mexico Woman still hold a place of high honor treatise of the West’s darkest chapter. It Territory. But 11-year-old Will has to in the modern world. This book, a might not replace Brown’s masterpiece find a way to cope with crushing loss product of her study of winter counts in your hearts, but The Earth Is Weep- – not only the sale of the family ranch (calendar of events, originally painted ing is among the best-written Western but the death of his mother. Struggling on animal hides) and oral histories, histories of 2016. with his anger and grief on the grueling illustrates the quality of her work drive, Will also works to prove himself for which she has been awarded the DONALD L. CUTLER. “Hang a real cowboy. As the drovers traverse National Humanities Medal. As one of Them All”: George Wright and the Plateau Comanche country, Will faces another the judges said, “She has brought the Indian War. University of Oklahoma challenge when a homeless 12-year-old, richness of Native American culture Press. Hardcover, 392 pages, $29.95, Two Feathers, tries to steal Buck. What and heritage to thousands.” OUpress.com. begins in hatred between the two boys – Lynn Bueling George Wright, “a hero with a turns ultimately into trust and friendship now-unsteady legacy” according to the as they rescue each other from life- author, commanded Army troops in threatening dangers. This middle-grade NONFICTION Washington and Oregon territories in novel paints a vivid picture of hardship, the late 1850s. His campaign against perseverance, and prejudice overcome in TOM CLAVIN. Dodge City: Wyatt various tribes on the Columbia Pla- the post-Civil War Southwest. Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest teau terrorized Indians by hoisting up – Nancy Plain Town in the American West. St. Mar- hostages to strangle, burning villages, tin’s. Hardcover, 400 pages, $29.99, destroying food supplies and slaughter- CANDACE FLEMING. Presenting us.macmillan.com. ing some 700 horses. Donald Cutler Buffalo Bill: The Man Who Invented the Tom Clavin, a 2014 Spur finalist as details Wright’s career before and after Wild West. Roaring Book. Hardcover, co-author (with Bob Drury) of The his assignment to the Pacific North- 259 pages, $19.99, us.macmillan.com. Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold west, including a period of despair over Using sources such as William Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend, lack of advancement, and examines his F. Cody’s autobiography as well turns to a lighter, more rollicking story legacy in this valuable contribution to as respected biographers, Candace in this entertaining look at two Western the history of our nation’s 19th Century Fleming tells Cody’s story in a fashion icons and one legendary town. Dodge Indian policies. that will appeal to young adults. City, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson – Rod Miller Occasional interruptions to the text get their due – again – and while – “Panning for the Truth” – integrate Clavin mixes documented history with MICHAEL R. GRAUER. Rounded questions about Cody’s veracity or tales some historians question if not Up in Glory: Frank Reaugh, Texas Renais- cite historical facts substantiating outright discredit, the author keeps sance Man. University of North Texas or refuting his claims. Several readers engaged by telling his story Press. Hardcover, 403 pages, $39.95, photographs of Cody, his children with zest and a great deal of humor. UNTPress.unt.edu. and his Wild West show supplement Not only does this book present the the text. I can see it being the first in PETER COZZENS. The Earth Is complexities of artist Frank Reaugh, a series about remarkable historical Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian it offers an overview of art during the characters. Wars for the American West. Alfred A. period. Born in Illinois, Reaugh grew – Sandra K. Sagala Knopf. Hardcover, 544 pages, $35, up in Terrell, Texas, studied at the AAKnopf.com. Saint Louis School of Fine Arts and VIRGINIA DRIVING HAWK Peter Cozzens offers a moving his- the Acad mie Julian in Paris. Striving SNEVE. Sioux Women: Traditionally tory of the conflicts between whites to be a painter of history, he took

26 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2017 sketching trips across the Southwest, first on horseback and then by Studebaker. You can view the Reaugh pastel and paint collections at the University of Texas in Austin and at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon. The book includes color plates plus an extensive bibliography. This is a fascinating profile of a noteworthy artist who was much more than just a “longhorn painter.” – Natalie Bright

LLOYD KEITH and JOHN C. JACKSON. The Fur Trade Gamble: North West Company on the Pacific Slope, 1800- 1820. Washington State University Press. Paperback, 336 pages, $24.95, WSUPress.wsu.edu. Books relating to the history and operations of the Rocky Mountain fur trade are common. This well-researched narrative, however, fills a void in the literature of one of the other important fur-trade spheres in North America: the vast Pacific Northwest. Here, the authors, now deceased, explore the workings of the North West Company and John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company, both important regional influences. By introducing the workings of a plethora of characters – Simon Fraser, the McGillivray family, David Thompson, Alexander Mackenzie, Astor, and others, most of whom might be obscure to many readers – Lloyd Keith and John Jackson paint a detailed portrait of the operations of two fiercely competitive companies and their shaping of the North American fur trade. – James A. Crutchfield

MARGOT LIBERTY. Horseback Schoolmarm. University of Oklahoma Press. Hardcover, 123 pages, $24.95. OUPress.com. Imagine teaching in the early 1950s in rural Montana. Imagine instead of driving to work on four wheels, riding in on four legs. Margot Liberty, née Pringle, did just that. With a degree bestowed by Cornell University, followed by a six- week education course, Pringle accepted the job of teaching in a one-room schoolhouse. She had seven students rang- ing from first through seventh grades. How she tackled the process of teaching with what was on hand or could find is a lesson in making learning fun out of scant resources. This is an inspiring read. – Sandy Whiting

JAMES D. McLAIRD. Hugh Glass: Grizzly Survivor. South Dakota Historical Society Press. Trade paperback, 238 pages, $14.95, SDSHSPress.com. James McLaird writes that if a grizzly bear had not mauled trapper Hugh Glass, he “would barely warrant a passing note in fur-trade history.” McLaird brings his investigative skills to bear as he uncovers the real Hugh Glass, who was attacked by a grizzly on the prairie of what is now South Dakota. This excellent book examines Glass and the fur trade, the creation of his legend by poet John G. Neihardt (The Song of Hugh Glass) and novelist Frederick Manfred (Lord Grizzly), and finally the grizzly bear on

FEBRUARY 2017 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE 27 the plains. This book is for anyone cyclical, at least in the eastern plains, rationale. Alternating between the In- interested in the early fur trade. punctuating long periods of adequate dian Wars and the Ostkrieg (Germany’s – Bill Markley rainfall. Sweeney shows the effect of invasion of eastern Europe), Wester- droughts on buffalo migration – and mann demonstrates that the U.S. mo- B. BYRON PRICE (editor). Pictur- Indian unrest – in the 1840s; an early tive involved economic expansion and ing Indian Territory: Portraits of the Land Republic of Texas attempt to move Co- conquering Native resistance. Demands That Became Oklahoma, 1819-1907. Uni- manches to reservations; and the last for extermination of Indians were versity of Oklahoma Press. Hardcover, great land run into the Cherokee Outlet marginal and met by arguments for 147 pages, $34.95, OUPress.com. in the drought year of 1893. A fresh, civilizing the Indians, not killing them. This handsome volume chronicles al- well-written perspective. By contrast, Nazis saw Slavs and Jews most 90 years of visions of Indian Ter- – John Mort as subhuman. Acting under Hitler’s ritory. Well-illustrated with insightful orders, einstatzgruppen (killing squads), essays by James Peck, B. Byron Price PHILLIP THOMAS TUCKER. accompanied by the Wermacht as and Mark Andrew White, Picturing Death at the Little Bighorn: A New Look well as local police, wiped out entire Indian Territory is a wonderful resource at Custer – His Tactics and the Tragic Deci- villages and towns. Westermann gives for lovers of art and/or Oklahoma his- sions Made at the Last Stand. Skyhorse. minimal attention to Auschwitz and tory. Includes an introduction by John Hardcover, 464 pages, $27.99, Sky- other death camps, instead focusing on R. Lovett. horsePublishing.com. the execution by gunshot of hundreds In yet another book about that fate- of thousands of innocent men, women WILLIAM D. STREET (author) ful summer day in Montana in 1876, and children. This important book and WARREN R. STREET (editor). Phillip Tucker argues that the battle’s shows that Hitler’s claim was a false Twenty-Five Years among the Indians and real turning point came when George equivalent. The book is an excellent Buffalo: A Frontier Memoir. University Custer charged Medicine Tail Coulee example of comparative transnational Press of Kansas. Hardcover, 525 pages, Ford and that the fabled Last Stand history. $29.95, KansasPress.ku.edu. on Custer Hill was more or less mop- – Abraham Hoffman Kansas frontiersman William D. up work for Cheyennes and Lakotas. Street, who died in 1911, chronicles Known for rethinking major events his life on the plains, circa 1861- and icons in history (Pickett’s Charge FICTION 78, in this memoir that is only now at Gettysburg, George Washington), being published, thanks to his great- Tucker makes some interesting points, J.v.L. BELL. The Lucky Hat Mine. grandson, who edited the manuscript. but he also relies on sources several Hansen. Trade paperback, eBook, 304 Bill Street, who relied on his journals historians have debunked. Worse, pages, $16, $7.99, HansenPublishing. and his career as a newspaper editor his massive ego mars the narrative com. to recall his adventures, gives us far because Tucker writes as though he Genteel Southern lady Millie Virgin- too much information. But don’t stop knows everything and other historians ia comes to Idaho Springs, Colorado, reading, because just when you’re simply got it all wrong. He could also in 1863 as a mail-order bride. Woe is about to give up he’ll entice you with have used a better editor. How many Millie when she discovers that her in- vivid details about battles with lice and times do we need to read that “Ree” is tended has died in what appears to be a buffalo hunts and life as a soldier or a shorthand for “Arickaree”? A book like mining accident but at least has left his cowboy, along with glimpses of Wild this is sure to stir up heated debates, mine and home to her. When her late Bill Hickok and Sitting Bull. typically the case for anything writ- fiancé’s brother, the rough and ungen- ten about Custer and/or the Little Big tlemanly Dominic Drouillard arrives, KEVIN Z. SWEENEY. Prelude to Horn. the mystery is just beginning. Colorado the Dust Bowl: Drought in the Nineteenth native J.v.L. Bell provides readers with Century Southern Plains. University of EDWARD B. WESTERMANN. an entertaining if predictable blend of Oklahoma Press. Hardcover, 192 pages. Hitler’s Ostkrieg and the Indian Wars: historical fiction, mystery and romance $34.96, OUPress.com. Comparing Genocide and Conquest. Uni- – plus one really cute goat. Kevin Sweeney details Major Ste- versity of Oklahoma Press. Hardcover, phen H. Long’s scientific expedition of 327 pages, $34.95, OUpress.com RUSTY DAVIS. Black Wind Pass, 1820, a journey from Omaha to Colo- Adolf Hitler infamously likened Five Star Publishing. Hardcover, 242 rado to Texas. The poorly provisioned Nazi justification for invading Po- pages, $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/ group met with nothing but privation land and Russia with the U.S. claim FiveStar. and drought, leading cartographers to of “manifest destiny.” In a carefully When Rory Carrick arrives home label the region “The Great American argued and well-documented examina- after being gone 10 years – fighting in Desert” into the 1840s. What Long tion of this comparison, Edward Wes- the Civil War, subsequent survival at didn’t understand was that drought was termann finds little to justify Hitler’s Andersonville, then a misunderstanding

28 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2017 leading to murder in Texas – he finds The author brings her knowledge when Killer Boots, the brute working his entire family dead and strangers of horses, cattle (and cattle drives), for McLendon’s bitter enemy, tracks invading his Wyoming ranch. Haunted weapons and trail cooking to this tale down McLendon and kidnaps Tirrito. by his past, he works to build a future. of a young woman’s struggle to stake Guinn keeps the story moving, Unfortunately, surrounding ranchers her claim in a cattleman’s world. A few peppered with historical figures, have other ideas. Black Wind Pass historical figures make appearances, including a delightfully incompetent sparkles with descriptions of land, but the fictional characters totally rock Ike Clanton. By the way, Silver City obviously a strength of the writer. the story. plays a small role in the story (Guinn However, the characters and plot are as – Richard Lapidus just liked the name). This is a Western predictable as Wyoming snow in winter. you have to love, and Killer Boots The concept behind Carrick’s war- WINSTON GROOM. El Paso. might be the most unnerving Western logged nightmares and the common Liveright. Hardcover, 477 pages, bad man since Blue Duck in Larry plot are solid, but it’s too convenient $27.95, Books.WWNorton.com. McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove. to have two women – one young and The Forrest Gump author returns to single – inhabiting Carrick’s former fiction after a nearly 20-year hiatus HARLAN HAGUE. A Place for Mei ranch. You can guess the rest. with a rollicking tall tale set on the Lin. Five Star. Hardcover, 214 pages, – Melody Groves Texas-Mexico border during the Mexi- $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar. can Revolution. When Pancho Villa’s At the core of author Harlan Hague’s PATRICK DEAREN. Dead Man’s men “liberate” $2.5 million dollars A Place for Mei Lin is a gritty and Boot. Five Star. Hardcover, 261 pages, worth of cattle from an American- desperate romance between a struggling $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar. owned ranch in Chihuahua and prospector and the young woman he A leather pouch, containing gold savagely butcher the foreman, railroad fights to save from a life of indentured nuggets and a tattered map fragment, tycoon John Shaughnessy decides servitude. Set against the backdrop of found in a dead man’s boot along to take matters into his own hands, Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, Hague’s the Pecos River, launches this tale dragging his extended family along for characters battle harsh elements and layered with cowboys, Comanches, a what turns out to be the wild ride of hostile Indians determined to separate wandering widow, a rancher, a writer, their lives. Kidnapping, mayhem and them from their meager mining claim Apaches, skeletons and a Dark Man. a daring rescue attempt by newfangled and one another. A Place for Mei Lin is Patrick Dearen does well creating aeroplane all figure into what amounts a passionate tale that touches the heart strong characters involved in intricate to an epic extended chase. After an deeper than expected. plots and subplots, and he certainly unnecessarily digressive opening few – Chris Enss has a way with words. Readers may chapters, the author settles into a lively get tangled in the chaotic climactic pace and jaunty tone, punctuated by W. HOCK HOCHHEIM. Last of the events in the Guadalupe Mountains, shocking scenes of violence. An emi- Gunmen: A Johann Gunther Adventure. and some will find the moralizing a nent historian in his own right, Groom Lauric. Trade paperback, eBook, 300 little heavy-handed. But all in all, this vividly depicts the anarchy of Revolu- pages, $18.95, LauricPress.com. is a beautifully written, engaging novel tion-era Mexico, and fills his support- After the stock crash of 1907, there is well worth the read. ing cast with familiar figures. Ambrose unrest in Fort Worth, Texas, as desper- – Rod Miller Bierce, Tom Mix, John Reed, Henry O. ate people try to recover. An outlaw Flipper, “Black Jack” Pershing and a gang robs, mugs and murders men and PHYLLIS DE LA GARZA. Lost young George Patton all figure promi- women. Johann Gunther of Remedies Roundup. Silk Label. Trade paperback. nently in the action, vividly rendered Detective Agency and his partner Jefe 245 pages, $17.99, SilkLabelBooks. and sometimes to the detriment of the are hired to find the killers of a former com. novel’s entirely fictional characters. Louisiana judge and soon become Phyllis de la Garza writes about – Kirk Ellis involved in a much larger adventure, strong women in the Old West. In Lost including helping a framed police officer Roundup, Azalea Brown has suddenly JEFF GUINN. Silver City: A Novel find the murderers of his wife and house- become a young widow. Immediately of the American West. G.P. Putnam. keeper. The story is full of suspense and she is duped out of her ranch, cattle Hardcover, 400 pages, $27, will keep you wondering until the end and horses by a gal who claims to PenguinRandomHouse.com. how everything is tied together. be her husband’s long-lost daughter. Noted nonfiction writer Jeff – Lowell F. Volk Azalea has no money, as her husband Guinn closes his wonderful Old West gambled it away just before he died. trilogy about the adventures of Cash MARK C. JACKSON. An Eye for When she discovers ownership papers, McLendon. This time, McLendon an Eye, Book One. Five Star. Hardcover, she decides to go after her rightful is back in Arizona Territory to woo 210 pages, $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/ property. But who will ride with her? Gabrielle Tirrito. But trouble strikes FiveStar.

FEBRUARY 2017 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE 29 This swashbuckling, fur-trapping, in France and comes home fighting GINA L. MULLIGAN. From Across action-packed tale of retribution and memories. The youngest child stays in the Room. Five Star. Hardcover, 271 redemption will keep readers on the town vowing to open a school – and pages, $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/ edge of their seats from start to finish. fights racism. Despite holes in the FiveStar. Set in 1835, Zebadiah Creed reels at plot and a mesmerizing yet disturbing An elegant Victorian tale, told in his brother’s death and vows to hunt omniscient point of view, Lederer leads elegant Victorian prose. A struggling down and kill the men responsible. readers down the path these three take writer of fiction falls head over heels And retrieving his stolen beaver skins as they stumble into adulthood woeful- in love with a proper society damsel would be nice, too. The trail leads ly unprepared. This story is supposed with the required Victorian dignity Zeb down the Great Mississippi to to be about Indian struggles. Instead, and modesty. The story is told through St. Louis and later to New Orleans, it’s a gripping character study. the medium of letters written only by where he discovers bizarre men and – Melody Groves the young author. The lovers, mostly women. And although he finds the at arms length, are beset by overbear- quarry he has been after, the adventure MATTHEW P. MAYO. The Outfit: ing fathers, agonizing separations and is nowhere over. While the action To Hell and Back. Five Star. Hardcover, mutual doubt about the other’s inten- certainly keeps the pages turning, 314 pages, $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/ tions. But love conquers all. Or does it? the things Zeb encounters (think FiveStar. The reader is left to read between the wolverines, a New Orleans witch and This tantalizing novel is the first in a lines of the letters, make assumptions, a French guillotine) and the ease with whole new series for Matthew Mayo. puzzle over insinuations and draw con- which he meets them, take the reader The hero in this entertaining yarn is clusions, even to the final letter. An in- out of the story. However, this is a rip- Rafe Barr, freed by a corrupt warden teresting read, the sort of story that in snorting, rollicking yarn with never a from a cell in Yuma prison where he future will be told only in fiction since dull moment. was unjustly imprisoned for a crime the art and practice of letter-writing – Melody Groves he didn’t commit. The warden offers a died with the introduction of e-mail. full pardon if Barr can find where the – Harlan Hague CARLA KELLY. For This We daughter of the governor has been held Are Soldiers. Sweetwater. Mass- after being kidnapped. This one will KELLY OLIVER. Coyote: A Jessica market paperback, 240 pages, $8.99, keep you awake at night until you’ve James Mystery. Kaos. Trade paperback, CedarFort.com. finished. Let’s hope we won’t have to eBook, 323 pages, $15.99, $1.99, Kaos- Bestselling author Carla Kelly has wait too long for the next one. Press.com. done it again. She moved me to tears – Phil Dunlap Corruption and greed run rampant more than once in this collection on the Montana plains, not unusual of short stories and novellas set on ROBERT McKEE. Killing Blood. in the quest for oil. Murder, drugs and Western military installations in the Five Star. Hardcover, 216 pages, human trafficking are not far behind, late 1800s. Once a ranger/historian at $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar. spreading from the oil fields to the Fort Laramie, Kelly knows whereof Brothers Frank and Billy Young are Blackfeet Reservation. This time, the she writes, keeping the Indian Wars riding the train across the Wyoming seeds of crime reach back 11 years to authentic, while taking you behind prairie when a robbery brings every- when Jessica James’s father was killed Army lives into the hearts of men and thing to a halt. Cold-blooded killers, in a bus accident, along with an Indian women. I just wished they were all the thieves are aiming to kill everyone, woman and her baby. Fast forward to novel length. I wanted more. leaving no witnesses, when Billy makes present day, when Jessica is swept into – Linda Jacobs his move. He succeeds in killing one investigating her cousin’s macabre death thief and thwarting the others, but in a sawmill. An unlikely ally is Kimi PAUL JOSEPH LEDERER. In Our his brother Frank is dead, along with Redfox, an Indian activist whose young Time. Five Star. Hardcover, 337 pages, several others. It’s hard to understand sisters have been hooked on drugs and $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar. the motivation for the murders, and forced into the sex trade. How these Paul Lederer knows how to write Billy won’t rest until the perpetrators “ripped from the headlines” story lines characters. The three Adair teenagers, are dead. What he doesn’t know is that coincide makes for a fine read. full-blood Cherokees living near the there’s more at stake than a simple – Carol Crigger 1916 Indian town of Broken Post, want train robbery gone wrong. This is an more than their parent’s lives. They exciting Western with lots of action, ANNE SCHROEDER. Maria want better chances at success. The fine characters, a touch of romance Inés. Five Star. Hardcover, 230 pages, oldest strikes out to Hollywood, wooed and even some philosophizing. Good $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar. by the “flickers,” where she finds drugs stuff. Set in the early 1800s as the Catholic and jackals. The brother joins the – Carol Crigger missionaries secularize the native Army only to find himself entrenched peoples of California, the story follows

30 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2017 the hard existence of a woman born of ALETHEA WILLIAMS. Náápiikoan and ranchers he believes threaten his the old ways even as her way of life and Winter. CreateSpace. Trade paperback, kingdom. The recovering hero comes her people are destroyed by Spanish, 286 pages, $19.95, Amazon.com. back to town to clear his name and finds Mexican and American invaders. In this work of historical fiction, himself in the middle of the war, helping Often heartbreaking, the story of the the author tells of the abduction of a mostly reluctant and uncooperative town Salinan people is faithfully depicted young Mexican girl who is kidnapped folk save their community. Another good in Anne Schroeder’s vivid prose. The by the Apaches, then stolen, sold or read from a Western Heritage Wrangler reader will be amazed by the resilience traded through the years. Yet she does Award-winning writer. and toughness of these people who not try to escape, and finally earns a – Rod Miller were treated so cruelly. Meticulously place of importance with the Piika´ni researched, the book contains a tribe. After digging into historical glossary of Salinan words as well as a sources and discovering that captives POETRY glossary of Spanish words and a list of often did not escape their bondage, recommended reading on the topic. Alethea Williams accordingly went on EMMY PEREZ. With the River on – Carol Crigger to draw a credible character for this Our Face. University of Arizona Press. story. The Wyoming writer has penned Trade paperback, 96 pages, $16.95, WALLACE J. SWENSON. Laramie: a good novel to take its place beside uapress.arizona.edu. Journey to the White Clouds. Five Star. her two other award-winning novels. Emmy Perez proves herself adept Hardcover, 360 pages, $25.95, – Lynn Bueling at writing free verse and prose poetry Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar. in this volume where her love of In the fourth of the “Journey to the CALLAN WINK. Dog Run Moon. and concerns for the contemporary White Clouds” series, Wallace Swen- Dial. Hardcover, 256 pages, $26, Southwest become obvious. A line in son continues developing his well- PenguinRandomHouse.com. one politically charged poem alludes to rounded main characters and popu- Michigan-born Callan Wink, a fly- the building of a border wall by stating, lates the novel with a strong supporting fishing guide and short-story writer in “The river rushes past, and people still cast. Young Simon Steele and Buell Livingston, Montana, has put together possess the need to cross it.” Sprinkled Mace find themselves at Fort Laramie an impressive debut collection of with literary allusions, place names and and take jobs at a nearby roadhouse contemporary stories set mostly in archaeological sites, she exhibits the where each, in his own way, contrib- Wyoming and Montana. He writes of a talents of a serious poet. utes to the success of the place while Custer re-enactor who has a long affair – Lynn Bueling attempting to sort out their own lives with an Indian woman, of a father and futures. Owing to the author’s un- and son lost on the Crow reservation RED SHUTTLEWORTH. To Begin timely death, Five Star is working with on a fishing trip and of a construction With. Bunchgrass. Chapbook, price not his son to bring out still another novel worker on the run with a dog he has listed, PoetRedShuttleworth.Blogspot. in the series. Swenson’s fans – which stolen. The nine stories are told with com. should include all lovers of Western humor and a keen understanding of the One of the West’s premier poets, fiction – will look forward to his next human psyche. They are perhaps not whose collection Straight Ahead was entry … and be saddened that we will for all tastes, but fans of Annie Proulx due out in January from Blue Horse see no more of this fine author’s work. and Sherman Alexie will likely be more Press, offers five stunning poems in – Rod Miller than satisfied. this limited-edition chapbook. Red Shuttleworth captures the essence of BEN TYLER. Mabry’s Challenge. MICHAEL ZIMMER. The Rusted the American West, then and now. He Five Star. Hardcover, 262 pages, Sun. Five Star. Hardcover, 270 pages, even offers sage advice, like this line $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar. $25.95, Gale.Cengage.com/FiveStar. from “Ragged in Belleville, Kansas”: Texas U.S. Deputy Marshal Frank I keep waiting for this author to write “Never stop at a roadhouse named The Mabry is forced by his boss, Marshal a bad – even mediocre – novel, but he Skulls,/nor dance with a blonde peeling Banister, to partner with a greenhorn hasn’t done it yet. A traditional-type marriage scars.” lieutenant. They are assigned by the Western, this book starts with a sick and War Department to track down the wounded man riding into an isolated Tucson festival outlaws who killed five soldiers and town and, through no fault of his own, WWA members’ books published in made off with $500,000 in paper bills killing two opponents in a gunfight. 2016 and 2017 can be displayed at and gold coins. The adventures they As he holes up to recover from his the Tucson Festival of Books. Mail to encounter as they pursue the outlaws illness, the rancher who runs the valley Johnny D. Boggs, 10 Dovela Road, will keep you in suspense. The story is and the town sets out to intimidate Santa Fe, NM 87508. Books won’t a great read. the community into submission as be returned and must be received by – Lowell F. Volk he kills or drives away homesteaders March 5.

FEBRUARY 2017 ROUNDUP MAGAZINE 31