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Cover of The Curse of the Painted Cliffs

The Curse of the Painted Cliffs

Tuttle, W. C. (author)
Doubleday, Page & Co. (in Short Stories Magazine) • January 25, 1923
Keywords: Mojave Desert Western fiction, Calico ghost town historical Western, silver mining town frontier drama, 1880s American West outlaw intrigue, gambler saloon poker gunfighter, female protagonist Western suspense, desert noir frontier crime, mine politics corruption power, frontier morality honor and violence, Western literary historical adventure

In the painted cliffs of Calico, a lawless Mojave mining town where silver dust and gun smoke mingle, Luck Sleed inherits an empire she never wanted. Haunted by a vanished gambling debt and drawn nightly to the desert’s vast silence, she searches for something beyond the canyon’s rough music and rougher men. As new power gathers behind the green cloth and the mines begin to falter, Calico tightens around her like a trap. A stark, atmospheric Western of ambition, honor, and survival at the edge of civilization.

Cover of Fire Brands

Fire Brands

Tuttle, W. C. (author)
Doubleday, Page & Co. in Short Stories magazine • 1925
Keywords: classic western fiction, cowboy humor, small town saloon, frontier justice, orphan boy story, cowpuncher protagonists, western adventure, ranch sale plot, dog companion, old west drama

A classic Western tale of two wandering cowpunchers who stumble into trouble in the small cow town of Oreana. Sad Sontag and Swede Harrigan arrive to bid on a ranch sale, but when they defend a young orphan named Speck from a bullying rancher, they find themselves drawn into something more complicated than a simple auction. As they wait for the Bar S Ranch sale—a property lost to drink and debt—the two partners begin to sense something suspicious about the circumstances. With its quick-draw action, colorful characters, and the code of the Old West, this adventure promises gunplay, mystery, and the kind of justice that comes from standing up for what's right.

Cover of Bill of the Wild Streak

Bill of the Wild Streak

Morgan, Howard E. (author)
Frank A. Munsey Company in Argosy Short Story Weekly • 1925
Keywords: sheepdog, animal short story, wilderness fiction, dog protagonist, loyalty and instinct, man and dog, frontier life, nature vs civilization, wolf ancestry, classic animal fiction

On a moonlit hillside at the edge of the wilderness, Bill—a powerful mongrel sheepdog with wolf blood in his veins—stands guard over his master’s flock. Bound by fierce loyalty yet haunted by an inherited hunger for the kill, Bill lives in constant tension between duty and instinct. When danger comes in the night and blood is spilled, his restraint is tested as never before. This quiet, gripping tale explores devotion, trust, and the thin, perilous line between civilization and the wild that still glimmers in a dog’s eyes.

Cover of Bully McGrane

Bully McGrane

Haycox, Ernest (author)
Doubleday, Doran and Company (in Short Stories Magazine) • 1930
Keywords: classic Western short story, frontier boomtown noir, mining camp Western fiction, outlaw redemption Western, marshal and gunmen standoff, dance hall saloon frontier, gritty canyon town setting, romantic Western suspense, lawlessness and frontier justice, pulp era Western literature

In the hard-edged frontier town of Pistol Gap, life burns fast—worked hard, played harder, and ended without warning. When miner-turned-rider Tud Drury returns with a heavy stake and a plan to start clean, the town’s brutal marshal and a trio of dangerous men begin to close in. Drawn to the seamy glow of the Pride of the Hills and the promise of escape, Tud and the woman he won’t abandon must navigate a night where power writes the law and mercy is never guaranteed. A tense Western tale of redemption, devotion, and survival at the ragged edge of the hills.

Cover of Buckin’ the Air

Buckin’ the Air

La Mar, Bud (author), Hoban, Frank (illustrator)
Short story • The Consolidated Magazines Corporation (in Blue Book Magazine) • 1929
Keywords: western comedy fiction, cowboy adventure story, early aviation humor, rodeo riders tale, Old West humor, vintage airplane adventure, comic Western novel, 1920s cowboy story, slapstick Western fiction, aviation frontier comedy

When two down-on-their-luck cowboys strike gold at a rodeo and receive a crooked judge's invitation to split prize money, their celebration lands them in hot water with the law. Fleeing an angry mob—led by a marshal wielding a pistol and a vengeful shopkeeper brandishing a mannequin leg—they hitch a ride that turns into their most dangerous adventure yet: a flight in a questionable airplane with dubious fuel reserves. A wild, humorous tale of Old West mischief colliding with early aviation.