SPUR AWARDS

It took me three years to read all the books on this list, many of which are now out of print and obtained via inter-library loan.

My two favorites from this list are (1) The Shootist (1975) and (2) Journal of the Gun Years (1991). I guess what I wanted when I started going through this list are novels about gunfighters! It's worth noting that The Shootist has a sequel by the son of the author, The Last Shootist. It picks right up where the previous novel left off and is excellent and should be read as well. Given that Richard Matheson, the author of Journal of the Gun Years, is a famous author who is not known for writing westerns makes his achievement here all the more interesting. (He also wrote a truly excellent novel about World War II, The Beardless Warriors.)

Lonesome Dove (1985) absolutely hit the ball out of the park. It's a page-turner that never lets up. It's as good as everyone says it is. It just might be the single best novel in this entire list.

Elmer Kelton is my favorite western writer, and The Day the Cowboys Quit (1971) and The Time It Never Rained (1973) are his two best novels, I think. They are epic. But how is it that Manhunters never made the Spur Award list? Originally published in 1974, this book is based on a real life story of Gregorio Cortez, a Mexican who shot a sheriff because of a language misunderstanding. The incident led to a manhunt: "During those 10 days, Cortez was pursued by a posse that at times included up to 300 men. He traveled nearly 400 miles on horseback and more than 100 miles on foot. This was one of the largest manhunts in history."

I think Down the Long Hills (1968) - along with Hondo - is probably Louis L'Amour's best novel. It is gripping. A real page-turner. An amazing plot! A seven year-old boy and a three year-old girl on a stallion are the only survivors of an Indian attack and make their way to West to meet the boy's father. But they are pursued by a grizzly bear - who is pursued by an Indian - who is pursued by the father and a pair of his friends. Great stuff!

Riders to Cibola (1978) is another memorable stand-out. I quite enjoyed it. It started out rather in the form of juvenile literature but, as the characters become fleshed out, it became an epic psychological account of a ranching family as seen across generations through the eyes of their Mexican foreman. Excellent.

The Return of Kid Cooper (2019) is wonderful. It starts out as a better-than-average western novel of the usual formula and then takes a totally unexpected and film noir twist in the final chapters. It is distinctly different.

I know nothing about horses and, frankly, don't even find them very interesting, but I nevertheless greatly enjoyed Fred Grove's two horse novels Match Race (1982) and The Great Horse Race (1977). The characters are finely drawn and interesting and the plots are engaging.

Honorable mentions: Leaving Kansas (1983), Legacy of a Lawman (2012), The Undertaker's Wife (2006, about undertaking!), The Trail to Ogallala (1964, best cattle drive book ever), The Gates of the Alamo (2001, as good a novel about the great Texas legend as you'll find) and Summer of Pearls (2000, an excellent coming of age book).

And that's it. The Mustanger and the Lady (2017) was memorably awful, and I never warmed to those Hillerman novels about a lawman on a reservation. You can see there are novels I started but quit. Life is too short!

1953 - Novel: "Lawman" by Wayne D. Overholser using the pseudonym Lee Leighton

1954 - Novel: "The Violent Land" by Wayne D. Overholser

1955 - Novel: "Somewhere They Die" by L.P. Holmes

1956 - Novel: "High Gun" by Leslie Ernenwein

1957 - Novel: "Buffalo Wagons" by Elmer Kelton

1958 - Novel: "Short Cut to Red River" by Noel Loomis

1959 - Novel: "Long Run" by Nelson C. Nye

1960 - Novel: "The Nameless Breed by Will C. Brown

1961 - Novel: "The Honyocker by Giles A. Lutz

1962 - Novel: "Commanche Captives" by Fred Grove

1963 - Novel: "Follow the Free Wind" by Leigh Brackett

1964 - Novel: "The Trail to Ogallala by Benjamin Capps

1965 - Novel: "Sam Chance" by Benjamin Capps

1966 - Novel: "My Brother John" by Herbert R. Purdum

1967 - Novel: "The Valdez Horses" by Lee Hoffman

1968 - Novel: "Down the Long Hills" by Louis L'Amour

1969 - Novel: "Tragg's Choice" by Clifton Adams

1970 - Novel: "The Last Days of Wolf Garnett" by Clifton Adams

1971 - Novel: "The Day the Cowboys Quit" by Elmer Kelton

1972 - Novel: "A Killing in Kiowa" by Lewis B. Patten

1973 - Novel: "The Time It Never Rained" by Elmer Kelton (3)

1974 - Novel: "A Hanging in Sweetwater" by Stephen Overholser (Quit reading half way through!)

1975 - Novel: "The Shootist" by Glendon Swarthout

1976 - Novel (tie): "The Spirit Horses" by Lou Cameron and "The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer" by Douglas C. Jones

1977 - Novel: "The Great Horse Race" by Fred Grove

1978 - Novel: "Riders To Cibola" by Norman Zollinger

1979 - Novel: "The Holdouts" by William Decker

1980 - Novel: "The Valiant Women" by Jeanne Williams (Described as a romance novel; I pass)

1981 - Novel (tie): "Eye of The Hawk" by Elmer Kelton and "Horizon" by Lee Head (Started but not finished)

1982 - Novel: "Match Race" by Fred Grove

1983 - Novel: "Leaving Kansas" by Frank Roderus

1984 - Novel: no award

1985 - Western Novel: "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry

1986 - Western Novel: "The Blind Corral" by Ralph Robert Beer

1987 - Western Novel: "Skinwalkers" by Tony Hillerman

1988 - Western Novel: "Mattie" by Judy Alter

1989 - Western Novel: "Fool's Coach" by Richard S. Wheeler

1990 - Western Novel: "Sanctuary" by Gary Svee

1991 - Western Novel: "Journal of the Gun Years" by Richard Matheson

1992 - Western Novel: "Nickajack" by Robert J. Conley

1993 - Western Novel: "Friends" by Charles Hackenberry

1994 - Western Novel: "St. Agnes' Stand" by Tom Eidson

1995 - Western Novel: "The Dark Island" by Robert J. Conley

1996 - Western Novel: "Blood of Texas" by Preston Lewis (writing as Will Camp)

1998 - Western Novel: "The Kiowa Verdict" by Cynthia Haseloff

1999 - Western Novel: "Journey of the Dead" by Loren D. Estleman

2000 - Western Novel: "Masterson" by Richard S. Wheeler

2000 - Western Novel: "Summer of Pearls" by Mike Blakely

2001 - Western Novel: "The Gates of the Alamo" by Stephen Harrigan

2002 - Western Novel: "The Way of The Coyote" by Elmer Kelton

2003 - Western Novel: "The Chili Queen" by Sandra Dallas

2004 - Western Novel: "I Should Be Extremely Happy In Your Company" By Brian Hall (Started but not finished)

2005 - Western Novel: "Buy The Chief A Cadillac" by Rick Steber (Started but not finished)

2006 - Western Novel (tie): "Camp Ford: A Western Story" by Johnny D. Boggs and "The Undertaker's Wife" by Loren D. Estleman

2007 - Best Western Short Novel: "The Shape Shifter" by Tony Hillerman (Started but not finished)

2008 - Best Western Short Novel: "Tallgrass" By Sandra Dallas (Started but not finished)

2009 - Best Western Short Novel: "Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson (Started but not finished)

2010 - Best Western Short Novel: "Far Bright Star" by Robert Olmstead

2011 - Best Western Short Novel: "Snowbound" by Richard S. Wheeler

2012 - Best Western Short Novel: "Legacy of a Lawman" by Johnny D. Boggs

2013 - Best Western Short Novel: "Tucker's Reckoning" by Matthew Mayo

2014 - Best Western Traditional Novel: "Crossing Purgatory" by Gary Schanbacher

2015 - Best Western Traditional Novel: "The Big Drift" by Patrick Dearen

2016 - Best Western Traditional Novel: "The Last Midwife" by Sandra Dallas (Started and quit)

2017 - Best Western Traditional Novel: "The Mustanger and the Lady" by Dusty Richards

2018 - Best Western Traditional Novel: "Silver City: A Novel of the American West" by Jeff Guinn

2019 - Best Western Traditional Novel: "The Return of Kid Cooper" by Brad Smith

2020 - Best Western Traditional Novel: "Cherokee America" by Margaret Verble (Started and quit)

2021 - Gunpowder Express by Brett Cogb

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