A collection of twenty-nine tales of the Old West featuring previously unpublished stories by such classic Western writers as James Reasoner, Douglas Hirt, McKendree Long, and Michael R. Ritt. Edited by award winning author, L. J. Washburn. Western Fictioneers is the only writers' organization devoted solely to traditional Western fiction, and this huge collection will take readers from the dusty plains of Texas to the sweeping vistas of Montana and beyond.Western Fictioneers was f...

In this first book in the series Tall Tales from the High Plains & Beyond. In Book One: The Unexplained and Other Stories, you get up-close-and-personal with characters and events involved in the expansion and development of the American frontier. These sixty-nine true stories, presented in brief, snapshot narratives, feature ghosts, unsolved mysteries, lost treasures, flimflam men, cowboys on strike, a phantom train and other sometimes bizarre events, such as:

Maintaining law and order in the Old West stood as a major challenge to those who chose to wear a badge. The hours were long. The expanse of the areas under a lawman's jurisdiction was huge.Although the responsibilities fell to the most qualified, no formal guidelines or standards were in place. In Tall Tales from the High Plains & Beyond, Book Two: The Law Keepers, novelist Tom Rizzo introduces you to a courageous, sometimes innovative, and mostly persistent cross section of those ...

For one battle-weary Union spy the Civil War is not over.The bodies of an Army patrol carrying out a secret mission for the president lay in the blood-soaked soil of a remote ravine, victims of an ambush by soldiers of the same Army under the command of a rogue military leader.Union spy Grant Bonner’s post-war undercover mission is compromised, exposing him to the danger of a cunning adversary who targets him for death. Forced on a run for his life, his journey takes him to...

Most of the people who settled in the West didn't wake up in the morning and strap on a gun. Nor did they get involved in shootouts. As in any society, the Old West had its share of bad men and women. The rate of homicides on the frontier remains a source of contention. Some historians say most towns averaged about 1.5 murders a year, not all of them shooting. Others however, say the risk of being murdered was high. In Tall Tales from the High Plains & Beyond, Book Three: The LawBreakers, ...

Maintaining law and order in the Old West stood as a major challenge to those who chose to wear a badge. The hours were long. The expanse of the areas under a lawman’s jurisdiction was huge. Although the responsibilities fell to the most qualified, no formal guidelines or standards were in place. In Tall Tales from the High Plains & Beyond, Book Two: The Law Keepers, novelist Tom Rizzo introduces you to a courageous, sometimes innovative, and mostly persistent cross section of tho...

Most of the people who settled in the West didn’t wake up in the morning and strap on a gun. Nor did they get involved in shootouts. As in any society, the Old West had its share of bad men and women. The rate of homicides on the frontier remains a source of contention. Some historians say most towns averaged about 1.5 murders a year, not all of them shooting. Others, however, say the risk of being murdered was high. In Tall Tales from the High Plains & Beyond, Book Three: The...

Much of the legend and the lore of the Old West involve gunslingers and gunfights. Most of the people who populated the new American frontier in the 19th century owned guns and used them to hunt and to protect themselves and their families.Despite the general perception, gunfights didn’t occur on a regular basis. In fact, many communities implemented tough gun control laws. Tombstone, Dodge City, Wichita, and Deadwood banned anyone but law enforcement officials from carrying guns. ...

The True Story Behind True GritImmortalized in the classic novel and films, the real "Rooster" Cogburn was as bold, brash, and bigger-than-life as the American West itself. Now, in this page-turning account, Cogburn's great-great-grandson reveals the truth behind the fiction--and the man behind the myth. . .He was born in 1866 in Fancy Hill, Arkansas, the descendant of pioneers and moonshiners. Six foot three, dark eyed, and a dead shot with a rifle, Frankl...

Known for his ability to make history come vividly to life, Reasoner strips away the dime novel legends and Hollywood myths to show us how the gunfighters of the Old West really lived, killed, and were killed.Praised for his “well-researched” (Booklist) and “lively, suspenseful” (Publishers Weekly) novels, James Reasoner now proves that truth can be even more exciting than fiction.Among the true stories he brings us:• Doc ...

"The names of the gunfighters are legendary: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Doc Holliday, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Henry Plummer, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok.... These men, and others like them, epitomize the image of the Wild West.The gunfighting era was born in the late 1830s when Samuel Colt patented his single-barreled pistol with a revolving bullet chamber.But the gunfighter was not common on the frontier until after the Civil War w...

John Wesley Hardin was the only Wild West outlaw to write his autobiography. This new 2018 edition of his prison-penned memoirs includes an introduction and footnotes by author and translator Damian Stevenson (‘On the Shortness of Life’) which help shed light on this most enigmatic of Old West legends.