1955 winner: The Violent Land by Wayne D. Overholser.
To help support his struggling family, eighteen-year-old Daniel Nathan finds work with mighty Oregon cattle boss Jim Perrin. But as time passes, Dan finds his loyalties divided between his land-hungry employer and the settlers who are losing their spreads.
RC 60244.

1958 winner: Buffalo Wagons by Elmer Kelton.
It is 1873, and the plains are almost devoid of buffalo. Only one large herd remains, but it is in Comanche territory. Gage Jameson joins a group of skinners desperate enough to venture into the hostile land. RC 46101.

1965 winner: The Trail to Ogallala by Benjamin Capps.
The story of a cattle drive from Texas to Nebraska. Daily life on the trail is made more difficult as Billy Scott, a young cowhand, grapples with the problems of being subordinate to an incompetent boss. RC 24559.

1972 winner: The Day the Cowboys Quit by Elmer Kelton.
Texas, 1883. Wagon boss “Hitch” Hugh Hitchcock wants to keep the peace when the cowboys go on strike for personal rights against the large, syndicate-backed ranchers. But as Hitch's losses mount, he sides with the cowboys. Some strong language.
RC 48755.

1973 winner: Chiricahua by Will Henry.
A vengeful Apache wolf pack, the desperate crew of a Concord coach, and an Apache scout for the United States Cavalry clash in a melee of destruction in Arizona Territory. Strong language. RC 10245.

1974 winner: The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton.
A cantankerous, independent-minded Texan, Charlie Flagg, fights to save his medium-sized ranch in Rio Seco during a drought. His problems are compounded by ineffectual federal aid programs and difficulties with Mexican ranch workers. Some strong language. RC 49217.

1977 winner: The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer by Douglas C. Jones.
An account of the court martial that might have taken place had Custer survived the Battle of Little Bighorn. Witnesses at the trial include Major Reno, Captain Benteen, General Sheridan, and interpreter Fred Girard. RC 10014.

1978 winner: The Great Horse Race by Fred Grove.
In the Old West, a talented trio of quarter-horse racers meets their match. Their winning streak is tested when they ride into Three Springs and enter a high-stakes race. RC 11343.

1979 winner: Riders to Cibola by Norman Zollinger.
Orphaned Ignancio Ortiz, a ten-year-old runaway from Mexico, follows the cattle trails at the turn of the century to New Mexico. Taken in as an equal at the MacAndrews ranch, he becomes a cowboy and is foreman by the time he is 21. Things go downhill after the boss's selfish, crippled son takes over. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 12922.

1980 winner: The Holdouts by William Decker.
Arizona, 1964. Revolves around the events of one tense week after 15 head of Rocking R cattle are found with altered brands at an auction far from the ranch. Foreman Sam Howard is determined to handle this without the sheriff's help, but the mystery is not cleared up until the gunsmoke clears. Some strong language. RC 14119.

1981 winner: The Valiant Women by Jeanne Williams.
A romantic saga set in the Arizona territory during the bloody years preceding the Civil War. Fear of scalpers, the constant threat of an unforgiving desert, and love of the same man unite three very different women:  a Spanish madonna, a sullen Papago, and a golden-haired child-woman bought at great price from the Apache who captured her. RC 18060, BR 5182.

1982 winner: Horizon by Lee Head.
This sprawling western family dynasty yarn begins when a mild-mannered Manhattan accountant ventures to an Oklahoma ranch to visit his cousins. His relatives, the handsome matriarch Saba and the innocent Remony, introduce him to the family history and try to make a gunfighter out of him. RC 18263.

1986 winner: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
A three-thousand-mile cattle drive, from the banks of the Rio Grande to Montana's big sky country, is the setting for this vivid epic which describes the developing American West and the ranchers, cowboys, prostitutes, and adventurers who attempt to make a new life for themselves in its vast reaches. McCrae and Call series, book 3. Strong language, violence, and some descriptions of sex. RC 22959, BR 13696.

1988 winner: Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman.
Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the tribal police force, work with the Navajo people of the Southwest while trying to solve crimes that seem to resist logic. When an unknown assailant attempts to kill Chee, Leaphorn must determine if the incident is related to three recent murders that he has been struggling to solve. The trail leads to the mysteries of Navajo witchcraft. Jim Chee & Joe Leaphorn series, book 7. RC 25396.

1989 winner: The Homesman by Glendon Swarthout.
The rigors of frontier life prove to be too much for a number of women attempting to settle in the West, and they go mad. Mary Lee Cuddy takes on the challenge of escorting four of these women back to Iowa. For help, she takes along John Briggs, whom she saved from lynching. They face various difficulties along the way. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 29819.

1990 winner: The Changing Wind by Don Coldsmith.
Small Elk of the People inherits the medicine cape from his father, White Buffalo, and becomes a powerful medicine man. But his medicine cannot save the People from the winds of change sweeping the land; change that brings new knowledge as well as harsh times and increasing violence from his tribe's implacable foe, the Head Splitters. Spanish Bit Super Edition series, book 1.
RC 37210.

1990 winner: Panther in the Sky by James Alexander Thom.
A fictional retelling of the life of the Shawnee Indian warrior, Tecumseh. His birth, in 1768, was heralded by a shooting star, and his life as a leader of his people bears out the star's portent. Fearing the colonists more than the British, he sided with the redcoats during the Revolutionary War. He was killed in 1813 by the forces of General William Henry Harrison. Some violence. RC 30514.

1991 winner: Home Mountain by Jeanne Williams.
For Katie MacLeod, 16, the responsibilities of adulthood come sooner than expected. In 1881, her parents are killed and she is left to care for her younger brother and sisters. In hopes of fulfilling their father's dream of owning a ranch in Arizona, they head west from Texas. With the help of the people of Galeyville, they begin their ranch, but they still have to contend with a predatory neighbor and raiding Apaches.  RC 32734, BR 8696.

1992 winner: The Medicine Horn by Jory Sherman.
Lemuel Hawke is only 15 when he marries Roberta, but his dream is to be self-sufficient on the land. By 1807, he is farming outside Lexington, Kentucky, when Roberta moves to town, leaving Lemuel with a son and a distrust of women. Buckskinners series, book 1. Some violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. RC 47770.

1993 winner: Slaughter by Elmer Kelton.
By the time the railroad reaches Dodge City, the buffalo herds in the surrounding lands have diminished dramatically. Kelton spins a tale of people involved in the slaughter. The hunting party's oddest member is Englishman Nigel Smithwick, who is forced to join up after being robbed. Other members fought on opposite sides in the Civil War, but they all band together when the Comanches protest their presence. Nigel Smithwick series, book 1. Strong language and violence. RC 38638.

1995 winner: The Far Canyon by Elmer Kelton.
Jeff Layne returns to his southern Texas hometown of Piedras. Accompanying him are newly married Nigel and Arletta Smithwick and Cap Doolittle, who have all soured on their roles in the buffalo massacre. Their plan is to raise cattle, but first Layne must deal with Vesper Freed. Freed caused the death of Layne's father, married his sweetheart, and took away the Layne land. Nigel Smithwick series, book 2. Strong language and violence. RC 39434.

1997 winner: Sierra: A Novel of the California Gold Rush by Richard S. Wheeler.
In 1849, young Ulysses McQueen heads for the California gold field, leaving his pregnant wife in Iowa. That same year, former soldier Stephen Jarvis strikes gold and makes his fortune. The two men become partners in a farming venture, just as McQueen's wife arrives to join him. RC 43937.

1998 winner: Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry.
Texas Rangers McCrae and Call aid white settlers on the frontier as they face Comanche raids and attacks by bandits. McCrae and Call series, book 2. Some violence and some strong language. RC 45001, BR 12758.

1999 winner: The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley.
At 20 years of age, plain, tomboyish Lidie marries abolitionist Thomas Newton, traveling with him to the Kansas Territory in the 1850s. Prairie life is hard, and abolitionists are greatly despised, but Lidie is good with horses and guns. After Thomas is murdered, Lidie dresses as a man and sets off to find his killer, discovering herself in the process. Some violence. RC 46078.

2000 winner: Prophet Annie by Ellen Recknor.
Annie is 22 in 1881 when this humorous story begins. She explains how she came to wed 76-year-old Jonas Newcastle, who died in their marriage bed. Now, Jonas's ghost inhabits Annie and his prophecies cause some wild adventures. Some strong language. RC 52609.

2001 winner: The Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrigan.
Saga of the legendary mission in the Mexican territory called Texas in 1835-1836. Incorporates the fictional characters of Edmund McGowan, a traveling botanist; widow Mary Mott, a San Antonio innkeeper; and her 16-year-old son Terrell, with historical personalities. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. RC 51379.

2002 winner: The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall.
When Edgar Mint was 7 years old, the mailman ran over his head. Edgar describes his recovery, learning to type because he could no longer write, attending a school for delinquents, working with the drug-dealing doctor who saved his life, and living with a dysfunctional Mormon family. Strong language. BR 14084.

2003 winner: Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling.
Growing up on the Flathead Indian reservation in 1940s Montana, Louise White Elk has always known that Baptiste Yellow Knife intended to marry her. But he is not the only man who wants to possess her, and violent passions are provoked. Some descriptions of sex and some violence. RC 56419.

2004 winner: People of the Raven by Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear.
Pacific Northwest, 9,300 years ago. Evening Star, a red-haired slave born to the North Wind People, escapes and seeks refuge with Chief Rain Bear’s Raven People even though the two tribes are mortal enemies. First North Americans series, book 12. Some descriptions of sex and some violence. For senior high and older readers. RC 61406.

The following books won for Best Western Novel, Under 90,000 Words:

1961 winner: The Nameless Breed by Will C. Brown.
As the Republic of Texas pursues independence, Brazos McCloud seeks to rescue his father from the Cherokee Nation. WOD 328.

1969 winner: Down the Long Hills by Louis L’Amour.
When Indians massacre a party of settlers heading west, seven-year-old Hardy Collins and his three-year-old sister are left alone with only a horse and a knife with which to face the hardships of the wilderness. RC 20424, BR 5396.

1976 winner: The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout.
A gunfighter dying of cancer settles into an El Paso boarding house. He finds comfort with a widow but keeps his guns handy to ward off enemies. He resists local businessmen who try to cash in on his death, and sets up one final gunfight to give his last days meaning. Violence and strong language. RC 55309.

1977 winner: The Spirit Horses by Lou Cameron.
Diablito's name was written in legends of fear and terror throughout the Southwest. The most savage of all the Nadenes, he carried out a campaign of raid and plunder, unmindful of the strange United States Camel Corps riding out to end his bloody trail. RC 15480, BR 4453.

1987 winner: The Blind Corral by Ralph Robert Beer.
Jackson Heckerton returns to the family ranch to find that much of what he remembers of rural Montana has changed. He cannot understand why his father and grandfather have stuck it out as long as they have, but he finds he cannot completely turn his back on his heritage either. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. RC 24178.

1989 winner: Mattie by Judy Alter.
Mattie, a poor, illegitimate girl, is taken in by an influential doctor to care for his daughter. Inspired to become a doctor herself, she completes medical school and returns to the farmland of Nebraska, where she finds romance, disappointment, and triumph.
RC 28301.

1991 winner: Sanctuary by Gary Svee.
At age 12, Judd Medicine Elk intimately knows the feel of cold and the ache of hunger in his belly. But on this day in 1880s Sanctuary, Montana, he hopes his luck changes when the train arrives, and someone gives him a few coins for carrying their luggage. Judd's luck does change, and so does the entire town's, for on the train is Mordecai, a new preacher who exemplifies love for all mankind. Some strong language. RC 33219, BR 8658.

1992 winner: Journal of the Gun Years by Richard Matheson. 
Multi-careered Clay Halser's talent with a gun was the stuff of legends. After Halser dies, his journal is discovered. It describes the mortal behind the myth. Violence and some descriptions of sex. RC 35048.

1993 winner: Nickajack by Robert J. Conley.
When peaceable Cherokee Nickajack is forced to kill another Cherokee in self-defense, he is accused of murder. The killing is mistakenly seen as political because the dead man is of the group of tribe members who resisted the United States government's relocation of the tribe, and Nickajack was part of the group who signed the treaty. Although unjustly sentenced to die, Nickajack surprises his friends, and even his accusers, by respecting Cherokee law. RC 36961.

1995 winner: St. Agnes’ Stand by Tom Edison.
Accused of shooting a man in the back, Nat Swanson has been running for his life for a week when he spies the Apaches circling two overturned wagons. Nat spots a woman's face, but knows he cannot save her, so he continues on. Her face haunts him and soon, Nat turns back. Sneaking past the Apaches, Nat finds three nuns and seven orphans who think Nat has been sent by God. Violence and some strong language. RC 38988.

1998 winner: The Kiowa Verdict by Cynthia Haseloff.
A fictional account of the 1871 arrest and trials of Kiowa chiefs Satanta and Adoltay that proved a downturn in the treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. Sequel to Satanta's Woman (RC 48847). Some strong language. RC 48848.

1999 winner: Journey of the Dead by Loren D. Estleman.
After killing Billy the Kid, Sheriff Pat Garrett suffers from nightmares and numerous failures that he attributes to Billy's ghost. Garrett rides into the desert and consults with an aged Spanish alchemist who is searching for treasure promised by his ancestors. Some violence and some descriptions of sex. RC 47714.

2000 winner: Masterson by Richard Wheeler.
Just before Prohibition in 1920, Bat Masterson's wife, Emma, persuades him to take her to Dodge City to fathom his legend. On the pilgrimage to his past, Masterson seeks to separate his actual deeds from the myths propagated by newspapers. Some strong language. RC 50331.

2001 winner: Summer of Pearls by Mike Blakely.
In 1944 Ben Crowell at eighty-four recalls events of 1874, his fourteenth summer. Then, during the pearl rush in Port Caddo, Texas, Judd Kelso, a local riverboat captain, was murdered, and Ben witnessed greed, was rescued from a steamboat explosion, and fell in love. Some strong language. RC 56653.

2002 winner: The Way of the Coyote by Elmer Kelton.
In the fall of 1865, after the Civil War, risks run high on the Texas plains. Former Texas Ranger Rusty Shannon faces many dangers as he makes his way home with 10-year old Andy Pickard, raised by the Comanches and called Badger Boy. Texas Rangers series, book 3. Some strong language. RC 56027.

2003 winner: The Chili Queen by Sandra Dallas.
On the train to Nalgitas, New Mexico, brothel owner Addie French meets Emma Roby, a mail-order bride. When Emma’s prospective husband fails to show, Addie takes her in at her “boarding house”, The Chili Queen. There Emma meets Welcome, the African American cook, and Ned, an outlaw. Together they devise a moneymaking scheme. BR 14986.

2004 winner: I Should be Extremely Happy in Your Company by Brian Hall.
Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the Pacific Ocean and back is the most famous of American journeys. But its fame has obscured the oddness. It was full of longing, loss, self-discovery, ignorance, good luck, mischance, and misunderstanding. WOD 868.

The following books won for Best Historical Novel of the West:

1958 winner: Silver Mountain by Dan Cushman.
In this historical western novel of the "silver rush" in Montana in the 1880s and 1890s, Cushman writes of John Ballard, his partner, Grattan O'More, and the woman they love, Neva Rush. Thousands of people rush to the Montana Territory to prospect for precious ore. Some strike it rich; some die without acclaim. Amid the rush, these two powerful men play out a magnificent drama that could make them rich enough to change the West or leave them penniless and forgotten. Strong language. WOD 326.

1959 winner: The Fancher Train by Amelia Bean.
Fictional account of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where over 100 years ago an entire California-bound wagon train was massacred in southern Utah by unknown persons. WOD 362.

1961 winner: From Where the Sun Now Stands by Will Henry.
The novel recounts the last of the great Indian wars, the Nez Perce campaign, where Chief Joseph led his people more than 1,000 miles from their Oregon reservation. RC 52947.

1963 winner: Moontrap by Don Berry.
The story of the mountain man Johnson Monday and his Native American wife. Some violence and strong language. WOD 327.

1964 winner: Gates of the Mountains by Will Henry.
A fictional reconstruction detailing the adventures of a French-Indian boatman who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition into the unknown territory of the American Northwest during the early nineteenth century.  WOD 324.

1966 winner: Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher.
A fur trapper in the Rocky Mountains during the 1830s befriends a woman whose children have been slaughtered by Indians. When his wife and unborn child are killed, the trapper declares a one-man war against the tribe. Some violence. RC 44306.

1969 winner: The Red Sabbath by Lewis B. Patten.
Told through the eyes of a civilian scout, the author recounts the dramatic events which led up to one of the bloodiest massacres in American history the Battle of Little Big Horn. WOD 325.

1970 winner: The White Man’s Road by Benjamin Capps.
A young Comanche who knows the humiliation of living in defeat on an Oklahoma reservation seeks some meaning to the way he must live. His searching leads him to steal horses from a cavalry encampment. WOD 460, BR 1155.

1977 winner: The Kincaids by Matthew Braun.
A three generation family novel on the expansion of business and frontier life in Kansas and the Oklahoma Territory. Once a buffalo hunter, Jake Kincaid rises from gaming house owner to real estate tycoon and budding oil baron. RC 15895.

1978 winner: Swimming Man Burning by Terrence Kilpatrick.
A white trapper and trader cornered in a deadly Indian ambush is spared by his attackers and forced to undertake a strange mission. He must guide four Indian warriors to Washington, D.C., where they hope to learn the secret of the white man's power. Some strong language. RC 11301.

1983 winner: Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson.
Fact-based saga of a white child raised as a Comanche. Kidnapped by a band of raiding Indians in 1836 when she is nine-years-old, Cynthia quickly absorbs Comanche ways and mores, learning to prefer the Indian ways to those of the white man. Violence and some strong language. RC 18566.

1984 winner: Sam Bass by Bryan Woolley.
Fictionalized biography outlining the life of romantic western outlaw Sam Bass as narrated by three men and two women who were his contemporaries in Texas during the 1870s. Some strong language. RC 20421.

1985 winner: Gone the Dreams and Dancing by Douglas C. Jones.
Concerns a band of proud Comanches who surrender at Fort Sill in 1875 and learn to adjust to the changing world of the white men. The story revolves around Kwahadi, a defiant but wise chief who maintains authority after leading his Antelope band onto a reservation, and Liverpool Morgan, a widowed Confederate Civil War veteran, who learns to love the Comanche ways. Comanche Indians series, book 3. Some strong language. RC 23676.

1986 winner: The Snowblind Moon by John Byrne Cooke.
A panoramic historical novel of the Dakotas in the 1870s and the clash between Indians and settlers. When General Crook attempts to force the near-starving Sioux onto reservations, some Indians and whites search for ways to avoid hostilities. Also touches on the lives of mountain men, Indian scouts, Chinese immigrants, circus performers, soldiers, and ranchers. Some violence and some strong language. RC 22391.

1987 winner: Roman by Douglas C. Jones.
When Roman Hasford's father returns from fighting for the South and takes over the reins of the farm, 18-year-old Roman feels a tinge of jealousy. He decides to go west and "see things," especially some buffalo and Cheyenne Indians. Roman makes good in the stockyards and railroads, but he is disappointed in love. Arkansas series, book 2. Some strong language. RC 24196.

1988 winner: Wanderer Springs by Robert Flynn.
Called home for a funeral, Will Callaghan returns to the dying town of Wanderer Springs in northwest Texas where he recalls the scenes of his youth. Callaghan's remembrances of his own past combine with stories of the town's history in a sometimes funny and sometimes painful narrative. RC 28194.