No writer of „cowboy” stories can equal B. M. Bower. Ever since „Chip” of immortal memory Bower has been easily first among the writers who stage their dramas in the wide spaces of the cattle country. There is something new about this novel. The old legend about the Spook Hills comes to life when the Sunbeam’s newest hand, a young tenderfoot named Shelton C. Sherman, takes a ride in the hills and discovers tracks made by something that seems neither human nor animal. The su...
Beloved Western author B. M. Bower is back with another classic yarn of the Old West. Much like her best-known works, „The Uphill Climb” showcases the inner lives of the cowhands and ranchers who made the region livable – and whose rough-and-tumble lifestyles all too often exacted a harsh toll. Also this story deals with one man’s fight to overcome alcohol addiction. Still very relevant to today. But it also has romance and a good bit of humor from supporting characters. Bo...
„The Lookout Man” is a 1917 novel by American author B. M. Bower. Fans of B. M. Bower’s fast-paced Western novels will love „The Lookout Man”. One man discovers how the Law in the Wild West can be bent, broken, and even beaten. Set in Northern California when the region was still teetering between civilization and Old West devilry, the novel tells the tale of a young protagonist who has a good heart but a seemingly insatiable taste for danger. A Northern California story fu...
B.M Bower had a gift for writing Westerns, weaving tales of adventure, intrigue, mystery, and romance – often with surprise endings. Her gift for creating engaging, human characters is just as evident in „Tiger Eye”, a book with a much tougher, more serious plot than some of her early works. The main character, nicknamed Tiger Eye because of his one yellow eye, is a young Texan who has left home to escape being drawn into an old feud. Arriving in Montana, he literally wande...
Take a trip along the dusty byways of the Old West in this book from renowned author B.M. Bowers. Phil Thurston was born on the range where the trails are dim and silent under the big sky. It was the place his father loved, the place he had to be. After the death of his father when he was five, his mother brought him back to the city, where he grew up and became a writer. To revive his stale writing, he returns to the West, and may just find what he is really missing. Thurs...
In „The Phantom Herd” from 1916 we follow a film director Luck Lindsay who wants to make an authentic western, therefore using the Happy Family boys and some of their friends as actors instead of professional actors. There are many difficulties along the way, some of which bid fair to be insurmountable and they are up against big problems, mostly the weather and deadline. The story is absolutely thrilling and at the same time Bower, with the help from a real western actor, ...
The „Thunder Bird” is a sequel of Johnny Jewel’s story and it looks like our heroes didn’t learn their lessons, as Johnny seems more stubborn and Mary V more spoiled. Johnny is determined to pay his debt before going back to the ranch and to Mary V, but this time his affairs take a foray into an international intrigue. „The Thunder Bird” is written in the year 1919 by B. M. Bower and contains all of the elements that made B. M. Bower’s books a mainstay of the genre of class...
Equal parts daring and prone to disaster, B. M. Bower’s beloved hero with a heart of gold, Casey Ryan, is at it again in „The Trail of the White Mule”. Whether he’s veering through traffic at high speed in the boomtown of Los Angeles or pursuing bootleggers in the country, Ryan always seems to find himself in the middle of a maelstrom. He willingly got involved with moonshiners and transporting booze – but lucked out in the end by helping the authorities. „The Trail of the ...
The career of prolific writer of Westerns novels B. M. Bower was notable for several reasons. The author, who always used initials as part of her pen name, was born Bertha Muzzy and was the first female writer to make a significant mark in the genre. Secondly, many of Bower’s books were adapted for the big screen, and her characters and landscape descriptions have been indelibly stamped on the conventions of classic Western films. Our hero, Jess Robison, a cowboy with talen...
B. M. Bower was the first woman to make a career of writing popular westerns. Her works, featuring cowboys and cows of the Flying U Ranch in Montana, reflected „an interest in ranch life, the use of working cowboys as main characters, the occasional appearance of eastern types for the sake of contrast, a sense of western geography as simultaneously harsh and grand, and a good deal of factual attention to such matters as cattle branding and bronc busting. „The Parowan Bonanz...
„The Gringos” recounts the massive clash of cultures that arose when European-American prospectors streamed into California in pursuit of gold and other natural resources. Dade Hunter and Jack Allen are two cowboys who got caught up in the 1849 California Gold Rush, and had a good fortune in the gold fields. They decide to spend a winter in San Francisco, where Jack gets hooked on gambling, while Dade quickly gets tired of it and moves on. Dade meets Andres, a Spanish Don w...
„The Ranch at the Wolverine” follows an intrepid group of settlers who made a home in the land now known as Idaho. Billy Louise has given up her childhood play and her schooling in order to run the ranch near the Wolverine River after her father dies in an accident. One winter she takes Ward, a young cowboy with mysterious past, to her ranch to work as hired man. After Ward shares his secret with Billy, strange events start to occur. Adventure, danger and a beautifully deta...
Rich west coast spoiled brat meets rich east coast girl. Both are spending the summer in cattle country and neither expected the outcome of their adventures. Of course there is a feud involved here, a pretty young woman, some cowboy hijinks, and some amazing coincidences to bring all the characters together. This short but engaging novel contains all of the elements that made B. M. Bower’s books a mainstay of the genre of classic Westerns. B. M. Bower was one of the most pr...
A lively and amusing story, dealing with the adventures of eighteen jovial, big hearted Montana cowboys. First published in 1910, „The Happy Family” (a sequel to „Chip of the Flying U”) continues the various funny and catchy happenings of the well-known interesting beloved characters – Weary, Irish, Pink, Happy Jack, Big Medicine, and in particular Andy Green, storyteller extraordinaire, and the rest. They were so popular that their creator devoted a series of novels to the...
The gang has to deal with changing times, progress, and civilization, all of which threaten the very existence of the Flying U. Homesteaders! Farmers! What can be done to protect the home country from these people who have no idea that the land claims they are wanting to prove up on are not meant for farming? This is B. M. Bower’s 1915 novel, „The Flying U’s Last Stand”. Another fantastic sequel to „Chip of the Flying U”, this book is not to be missed by those who have read...
B. M. Bower, was an American author who wrote novels, fictional short stories, and screenplays about the American Old West. This is one of her stories. In her prolific career as a writer of many classic Westerns, the most beloved characters ever created by author B. M. Bower were the happy but hardscrabble crew of the Flying U ranch. „The Lonesome Trail” catches up with the band of cowhands and ranchers as some of them have grown weary of range life and have decided to forg...
Pioneering Western writer Bertha Muzzy Bower gained critical acclaim by bringing a unique female perspective to her tales of ranch life. In „The Heritage of the Sioux”, Bower brings a similarly empathic perspective to her fictionalized account of one of the most storied Native American tribes. It is widely considered to be one of the top 100 greatest books of all time. This great novel will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. „The Heritage Of The Sioux” by B.M...
More trouble at the Flying U Ranch! Another installment in the Flying U series brings with it more trouble for the gang! After a suspected cattle-rustling incident turns into attempted murder, Chip soon realizes that his old nemesis, Big Butch Lewis, has bigger and more sinister plans. Chip soon discovers that he is rounding up gunmen from all over Montana in a sweeping plan to make the range a stronghold for outlaws! An action-packed adventure romp in the American Old West...
Billy Boyle knows cattle and horses better than most. Alexander P. Dill, the merchant from Michigan, knows little of livestock and needs Billy’s help to make it in the business. Billy is eager to oblige, but can he beat the weather, the barbed wire, and the mysterious maneuvers of old man Brown? And what is the Pilgrim up to? Surely no good when it comes to Flora Bridger, who Billy wants to make his own. B. M. Bower was one of the most prolific and popular writers in the ea...
In the aftermath of their father’s death, two orphans set out for the wild desert lands of New Mexico with a plan to eke out a living on a goat ranch. Helen May and her brother Vic should moved to this desert after their father arranges to buy property there, to save Helen May from the TB which is threatening her health. Soon after arriving at their destination, the pair strikes up an acquaintance with a mysterious fellow who goes by the name of Starr. Is he a true friend, ...
First published in 1918, „Johnny Jewel” is a the story of a cowboy-cum-aviator in America’s Old West. Johnny learns of a damaged plane abandoned in the desert on the Mexican side of the border, and comes up with a plan to put it to work. His affairs are being monitored by Mary V, the ranch owner’s spunky daughter, who is slowly taking interest in Johnny. But in the meantime, a gang of rustlers are taking advantage of his passion for flying in order to distract him from his ...
Rowdy Vaughn is a goodhearted but somewhat uncouth range rider whose attempts at wooing the local schoolteacher are hampered by a longstanding blood feud. The problems start when Jessie’s brother turns out to be a good-for-nothing kind of guy who had done some nasty things to Rowdy in the past. The subplot, concerning Rowdy’s employer’s attempts to find pasture for his cattle during a drought, provides one of the highlights of the book: several interesting chapters describi...
B. M. Bower (a woman who actually lived in early 20th century Montana when this story was written) has a good sense of humor and touches on some of the big issues of the West such as water rights and land ownership and development. Her intrepid heroine starts out as a girl actor in the silly Westerns of early Hollywood and then switches to a remote ranch for the real cowgirl experience. Many of Bower’s books were adapted for the big screen, and her characters and landscape ...
Claude „Kid” Bennett is a young man starting to carve a place for himself in the world. His mom wants him to go to college and earn his M. D., but his dad thinks he could turn the boy into a useful man if he’d stay on the Montana ranch, and learn to work hard. Kid gets a thorn under his saddle and sets out with his three horses to a six day rodeo in Chicago. Along the way he meets J.N. Harlan, and his free-spoken daughter Dulcie who is a Chicago businessman with plenty of p...
