Western Indian Fiction

He came west to the Rockies as a young runaway and grew into a legend among the already legendary frontier mountain men. They called him Preacher - a name that would become a monument to all who sought adventure in the savage wilderness of America's untamed west. The only man with the skills to lead a wagon train on the last leg of the rugged Oregon trail, Preacher knows they're headed into trouble. It's hard enough for a hundred greenhorns to survive the wilds of the northwest; being pursued by thieving renegade outlaws and Indians with a thirst for gold makes it damn near impossible.

A Zuni Indian boy dies in a bizarre ritual slaying - and his best friend, a Navajo youth, is missing. Navajo police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn tracks the friend from Zuni village to Navajo hogan, from anthropological dig to hippie commune, across the desert of New Mexico and Arizona.

Larry McMurtry continues the story of Tasmin Berrybender and her family in the Wild West of the 1830s. This is the point in time when mountain men and trappers like Jim Bridger and Kit Carson, though still alive, are already legendary figures, and when the clash between the Indian tribes and the encroaching white Americans is about to turn into tragedy.

Tell Sackett had fought his share of Indians and managed to take something of value from his battles: a deep and abiding respect. But that respect is lost when Apache braves kidnap his nephew, forcing Tell to cross the border into the Sierra Madres to bring the boy back. What troubles Tell more, though, is the boy’s mother: Could she possibly be inventing a rescue mission to deliver her husband’s brother into an ambush?

The year is 1870, and Fool's Crow, so called after he killed the chief of the Crows during a raid, has a vision at the annual Sun Dance ceremony. The young warrior sees the end of the Indian way of life and the choice that must be made: resistance or humiliating accommodation.

Nell, a beautiful young orphan and seamstress living on her own, works for the abhorrent Mr. Smithers. When he makes advances towards her, leaving her in shocking circumstances, she must fend for herself and move away from the city. Nell hopes the way out of her peril and to resolve her current situation is by answering an advert for a bride placed by Edward Chance. But when she arrives to Great Falls in Montana, Edward is not the man she thought him to be.

When Isabelle Bishop is forced to marry a much older man at the demand of her father, she takes matters into her own hands to escape. She runs away to Nevada to be a mother to a child she has never met. Before he became Sheriff of Rock Creek, Louis "Chayton" Dreyfus had to deal with prejudice and judgment on a daily basis, simply because he was different. He finally proves himself to the entire town and the judgmental stares were replaced with friendly smiles

Lew's skill with firearms gets him a job as a hunter with a trader heading onto the prairies to barter with the Indians. There he meets young Chuck Morris, and together they take on a Cheyenne attack party. Finding shelter in a Sioux village, they absorb the native culture. Lew comes to know the great Sioux chieftains, becoming blood brothers with Sitting Wolf, while Chuck marries the beautiful maiden Zintcallasappa.

William “Bill” Stewart left Missouri to seek his fortune. Along the way, he worked as a cow puncher, range detective, town marshal, sheriff, and US marshal. In each job, he is forced into conflicts with the Indians. Finally his skills as an Indian fighter caught the attention of the US Army, and he was given a commission. He soon discovered that his greatest challenge was in following orders while retaining his humanity.

Elmer Kelton is hailed as the greatest Western author of all time by the Western Writers of America and has earned six Spur Awards during his impressive career. In Badger Boy, Kelton effortlessly sweeps listeners back to the post-Civil War Texas frontier, where ranger Rusty Shannon hopes to settle down as a respectable farmer. But trouble brews when Rusty captures Badger Boy, a white child raised by the Comanches who murdered his parents.

Life has never been simple for Jennifer McBee. As if being shy and hard of hearing wasn’t enough, now Jennifer is faced with the humiliation of her failed wedding. Desperate to escape, Jennifer decides to leave heartbreak behind her and travels west to be with her brother, the pastor of a small Nebraska town called Daisy Creek. While her brother has hopes for her making some new friendships with the townsfolk of Daisy Creek, Jennifer still feels removed from the community of this close-knit town.

Left destitute and alone with her mother after her father abandoned them, Erin Saddler is shocked when she learns her mother has arranged for her to be a mail order bride to a Mr. Rich McNettle. But they are out of money, and marriage is their last chance for a stable life. So Erin agrees to travel west to wed this man she's never met. But when a stagecoach accident and a brave man step in to her destiny, she begins to believe that God has other plans for her.

The Indian, the Bookbinder & Abby: An Oregon Trail Journey, is a wonderful and emotional love story about one young woman traveling the Oregon Trail with her father. She is engaged to a self-centered, controlling, and very angry young man. When a young bookbinder spots her ancient family bible, which is falling apart, he tells her he'll restore it for her. Her fiancé becomes enraged and when the bible is completed there is an altercation and someone dear to Abby gets critically injured. This love story has a fulfilling and satisfying ending.

The Plains Indians were the Native American Indians who once lived once the Great Plains. This educational resource discusses the culture of Plains Indians, as well as the wars they fought as the US expanded its western territory. Learning about the natives will help improve your child’s knowledge of how the US was before territories were invaded and the first inhabitants displaced. 

As a woman of the Lakota Indian tribe, Macha has often been encouraged to mingle with the townsfolk of Daisy Creek. That was how she came to know Mr. Dennis Forks, the town's new blacksmith who settled in Daisy Creek some months ago. Ever since she first saw him, Macha has found herself drawn to Dennis.

One love-struck businessman; one compassionate Sioux maiden; one heart-wrenching decision. Is the power of love enough to save an entire tribe? Five years ago, when Edward James settled in Bear Creek to manage the mines, he saw a future of business and opportunity. He didn’t plan to fall in love. But since the moment he met Morning Sun, his world has been turned upside down. If only her family would accept him, he could be the devoted husband he longed to be, but how can he convince them that he’s worthy of Morning Sun’s love?

Wambleeska, the youngest son of the Lakota Chief, has grown up in a changing world. Gone are the days of his forefathers. Now, the future is bright with possibilities, and Wambleeska is ready to join his people in this exciting new world. There is just one problem. Unlike his brother, who recently found love and happiness, Wambleeska has felt no connection with any of the women from his tribe, or even the ladies belonging to the nearby settlement of Daisy Creek. Longing for a family of his own, Wambleeska decides to take matters into his own hands and advertise for a mail-order bride.

The owner believes his Colorado ski villa is being built in accordance with sacred Navajo traditions. The contractor has to get the roof and walls closed in before autumn snows invade the house and ruin it. The building inspector has figured out who the crew really is and demands a bribe or he’ll stop work on the project. Jacek has met a woman who makes more sense than any of this and he wants to take her home with him, to the Tatra Mountains. The house, if it is ever finished, won’t protect anybody, not actually.

In September 1873, Elizabeth Coughlin, a widow bankrupted by her husband's folly and death, embarks on a buffalo hunt with her estranged and mysterious brother-in-law, Michael. With no money, no family, no job or security, she hopes to salvage something of her former life and the lives of the hired men and their families who depend on her. The buffalo hunt that her husband had planned, she now realizes, was his last hope for saving their land.

Will Cannon rides to west Texas looking for the Blackman Gang, but as soon as he gets there he finds a Texas Ranger, Duke Wills, being attacked by a group of Comanches. Will helps Duke fight off the Comanches and then he finds out about a gang of outlaws that have been making moonshine and selling the moonshine and rifles to the Comanches. Will has to ride into the No Man's Land known as the Indian Nations to find some of the outlaws. He also finds a beautiful woman in Amarillo that needs help.