Books in series
#1
The Yellowstone
1988
What does a man want? Adventures—titanic adventures. A gargantuan land, bristling with mountains and swelling with rivers. A woman to share his fire and his buffalo robes. Children to learn and live beyond. A living, maybe an empire, to leave to them.
Mac Maclean wanted all that and more. He came ahead of the emigrants to the valley of the Yellowstone River, he and a handful of other white men, venturers deep into Indian territory, companions of Indians, friends of Indians, husbands and fathers to Indians. He hunted, he traded, he battled, he wed and bred—he gave his all for the life that made his heart pump hard. He lives still in the Yellowstone country, as legend.
#2
The Smoky Hill
1989
Through the rolling grasslands of Kansas runs the Smoky Hill River, a rich source of opportunity for those bold enough to risk the dream-killing territory. For Gabe, mountain-man and scout, the river means freedom and a chance to map unexplored territory with the Great Pathfinder, John Charles Fremont. For Lem, an Illinois farm boy in pursuit of gold, it is a cruel foe who robs him of his family and his youth. For Jesse, a young Union corporal, this is the country that took his father and uncle and where he must fight warring Indians.
#3
The Colorado
1989
The American West is there to be conquered by Isaac Beard, a brazen pioneer superman who defies Nature herself to carve an empire for his sons from the Colorado wilderness
#4
The Powder River
1990
With the U.S. Army in pursuit, the Cheyenne escape their southwestern reservation and journey northward across the Great Plains in search of the freedom of the Powder River
#5
The Russian River
1991
Along the harsh North California coast the otters swam, enough to fill the Russians' trading ships with valuable pelts. So there they raised an outpost. But inland lay another land, a river wilderness, where game and grizzly thrived. Into this wild land, stripped of his rank for marrying an Indian girl, Lieutenant Anton Rostov is cast. He is an man without a country, but still he is a man. He can hunt, trap, and conquer. And he discovers a power greater than his allegiance to a faraway Czar - the lure of a new world and the sweeping current of the Russian River.
#6
The Arkansas River
1991
Rivers West is one of the most exciting frontier series of our time… tales of mountain men and intrepid women, pioneer families and Native American warriors. Here is the story of North America in all its awesome splendor.
The Arkansas River
Eastward, as far as the eye could see, stretched the Great Plains. Westward rose the Rockies, snow-capped shadows against the sky. In the middle flowed a mighty river—silent, glistening, and turbulent—the bloodline of a wide and wild land. Three hard, tough men staked their claims on its potent shores; Jake Stonecipher, pioneer merchant, seeking his fortune—yet finding a war. Will Burke, a mountain man as savage as the wilderness itself. And Francisco Serrano, determined to carve a fertile ranch out of the stubborn soil. Three men blazing trails, forging a future… building lives as bold—and treacherous—as the Arkansas River.
#7
The American River
1992
Sutter's Mill, where the first nugget was found, was driven by the American River and began the biggest migration of humans in the history of the world up to that time. Three hundred thousand flooded to California from all over the world...and with them came murder, theft, prostitution, and crime beyond the ken of most. Gary McCarthy is a historian who weaves history and fiction like no other author. Don't miss this great novel of California.
#8
The Snake River
1992
While leading a group of missionaries downriver to the remote headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company, mountain trapper and gambler Flare O'Flaherty falls for the beauty of Margaret Jewel, a teacher of Indian children. Original.
#9
The Two Medicine River
1993
While Marie Therese de Paris sets out on a quest—to save the Blackfeet from their cruel fate—Peter Kipp follows his father into the American Fur Company, determined to prove himself in a white man's world.
#10
The Gila River
1993
Miguel Santana, a young Spaniard abandoned by his gold-hungry comrades, and his Pima son, Vitorio, find their lives entwined with those of beautiful Jacova and the mysterious "man of three bloods" on the banks of the Gila River. Original.
#11
The High Missouri
1994
Those who followed the treacherous, sidewinding course of the Snake were carried to some of the most bounteous country on earth, the virgin Pacific Northwest. Flare O’Flaherty, son of Ireland, mountain trapper, and gambler, signs on to lead a group of missionaries downriver to the remote headquarters of the mighty Hudson’s Bay Company. Along the way he faces the greatest challenges of a wandering man’s lifetime in the form of Margaret Jewell, a beautiful and strong-willed teacher of Indian children, and a young Shoshone, Sima, who seeks the white father he never knew. Together they will find their destiny along the tumultuous river that bears the shape of a serpent and holds the promise of home.
#12
The Rio Grande
1994
Rivers West
Over one million books were sold in paperback!
Rivers West is one of the most exciting frontier series of our time… tales of mountain men and intrepid women, pioneer families and Native American warriors. Here is the story of North America in all its awesome splendor.
The Rio Grande
From the distant mountains through the vast deserts to the great Mexican gulf flowed a might river known as the Rio Grande, giving life, promising adventure, shaping empires. In this land long held sacred by the Arapaho and the Shoshone, a fierce new battle was being waged as a bold young nation from the north challenged the Spanish for control of the continent. And for many it was a war for survival: Matthew Caine, an agent of the American government torn between his duty to country and his love of a Shoshone woman; Lieutenant Melgares, a Mexican soldier sworn to bring the American spy to the Santa Fe gallows; and Elena Cuevas, a nurse willing to risk death—or worse—to save the wounded Yanqui called El Gigante. Their destinies and their desires were entwined along the banks of the Rio Grande… river of dreams, river of blood.
Jory Sherman is the Spur Award-winning author of The Medicine Horn, Song of the Cheyenne, Home’s Law, Winter of the Wolf, and Grass Kingdom. He has written The Arkansas River, The Brazos, The Rio Grande, The Columbia River, and The South Platte for the Rivers West series. He currently resides with his wife near Pittsburg, Texas.
#13
The Pecos River
1995
Pursuing a dream of freedom and peace, Buck Wallace leaves his lifelong seafaring career and moves to the Guadalupe Mountains where he vows to live peacefully among the Kwahadie Comanche Indians at any cost.
#14
The Columbia River
1995
Seeking his fortune in the fur trade, Jared Flynn, a man running from his tragic past, is accompanied by the slave girl, Swan, and pursued by his brother, Malcolm, who has been hired to kill him. Original.
#15
The Humboldt River
1996
For many bold pioneers headed west, the sweetest sight of all was the Humboldt River, a crooked ribbon of silver snaking through Nevada into California. But to Libby Pike and her family, the Humboldt brought sudden disaster. Stranded with her young daughter, Libby found herself surrounded by hostile renegades and an unforgiving wilderness. Then she stumbled upon a father and his two sons in search of a dream valley where they could settle and prosper. Together, with courage and determination to fight, they would help to tame a harsh and savage wilderness.
#16
The Purgatory River
1997
Caught in a flagrant indiscretion with his employer's daughter and pursued by some rather angry family members, likable and vibrant Aaron Bent flees to St. Louis and the frontier beyond. Forced, as a bond servant, to join a wagon convoy traveling what would become the Santa Fe Trail, Aaron encounters Talks-to-Ghosts. At a place once known to Talks-to-Ghosts' people as Horse Camp, Aaron escapes the convoy and falls in with Herman and Elena Montoya, a brother and sister fleeing their own past. As part of a small settlement party sent to expand the territorial claims of Mexico they hoped to shape a new life in the basin of the Purgatory River. But, like so much of our frontier history, emotions and misunderstandings will rule the day. And a climactic conflagration will threaten to destroy all who live in this place once known as Horse Camp.
#17
The Red River
1997
Elias Mcbee and Seth Booker have fought and killed more than their fair share of river pirates while piloting flatboats on the Mississippi. Tired of the life, they set out on the Red River following vague rumors of riches to be had west, beyond the frontier. The untamed land beyond the frontier is a mystery seen only by a handful of Americans, but it promises wealth and escape for Elias and Seth. But promises are often too good to be true and the two men quickly find themselves living among the smallpox ravaged Kiowa Indians. All too soon they find themselves caught between the warring tribes of the Kiowa and their enemies the Osage. Once again Elias and Seth must decide between flight or fight as their lives hang in the balance.
#18
The South Platte
1998
Rivers West
Over one million books were sold in paperback!
Rivers West is one of the most exciting frontier series of our time… tales of mountain men and intrepid women, pioneer families and Native American warriors. Here is the story of North America in all its awesome splendor.
Across the far western edge of the Great Plains, where the prairie met the mountains, ran the cool, clear waters of the South Platte River, drawing farmers, traders, and trappers to a land long held sacred by two proud tribes. But as more and more pioneers clamored to stake their claim along the pure-running river, the conflict between settler and native threatened to explode into all-out war. Men and women on both sides fought to protect their families, their fortunes, their future: Davey Longworth, a frontiersman who faced a terrible choice between love and friendship; Jan Van Nelle, a homesteader who put a higher value on the precious land than on human life; and Pauline Stewart, a beautiful bond servant who sought freedom in the arms of an Arapaho warrior. A destiny full of promise in a time of turmoil and danger awaited them along the sparkling banks of the South Platte.
#19
The Cimarron River
1998
Andy Parmentier is sixteen the winter his father joins the Union army, working his mother's farm and dreaming of heading west for gold. When his father's death and the murder of his mother's new husband forces Andy to flee their Virginia farm, he teams up with con-artist Gizzard O'Reilly in an adventure that will lead them from a Mississippi river boat along the bullwhacker's trail to Santa Fe. When a Comanche attack leaves Andy in the hands of Comancheros, it isn't long before he finds himself working for the largest cattle ranch in Texas. In a tale than spans the American West, Andy Parmentier journeys through the real America; to the banks of the Cimarron River, a thin ribbon of hope in a land of danger and death.
#20
The Brazos
1999
Rivers West
Over one million books were sold in paperback!
Rivers West is one of the most exciting frontier series of our time… tales of mountain men and intrepid women, pioneer families and Native American warriors. Here is the story of North America in all its awesome splendor.
The Brazos
Through a harsh land of mesquite and prickly pear, scattered oaks and carpets of stubborn grass, the Brazos River wound its way south to the Gulf of Mexico. To its banks came settlers from across America, daring men and women who dreamed of owning ranches and farms, building homes for their families, and one day establishing a United States republic in Mexican-held Texas. Among them were Jon Tallman, a wanderer and adventure with hidden motives and a tragic past; Nancy Stafford, a strong-willed pioneer who would not be turned back no matter what the cost; Jacobs, a wagon train leader forced to learn lessons of courage and survival; and Alan, a young boy whose brutal childhood has robbed him of his innocence but not his need for a family’s love. Together they would endure a hostile Mexican government, Indian fury and savage Comanchero outlaw bands to fulfill their destiny on the dangerous banks of the Brazos.
Authors
Don Coldsmith
Author · 41 books
Don Coldsmith was an American author of primarily Western fiction. A past president of Western Writers of America, Coldsmith wrote more than 40 books, as well as and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. His “Spanish Bit Saga,” a series of related novels, helped to re-define the Western novel by adopting the point of view of the Native Americans, rather than the European immigrants.
Frank Roderus
Author · 44 books
Frank Roderus wrote his first story—it was a western—when he was five. It was really awful, as might be expected, but his mother kept that typed and spell-checked short story tucked away until the day she died. Later, Frank became a newspaper reporter, thinking that books are written by authors which he most assuredly was not. He kept trying to write though, and eventually did it wrong enough to learn how to get it right. That first sale, a young adult novel published by Independence Press, was more than thirty years and a good many books ago. As a journalist, the Colorado Press Association awarded Frank Roderus their highest award, the Sweepstakes Award, for the best news story of 1980, and the Western Writers of America has twice named Frank recipient of their prestigious Spur Award. Frank passed away at age 73 in December 2015.
Richard S. Wheeler
Author · 54 books
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information. There are other authors with this name. One writes Marine Corps history. Another, Civil War history. Another writes in the political sciences. Richard S. (Shaw) Wheeler was born in Milwaukee in 1935 and grew up in nearby Wauwatosa.
Gary McCarthy
Author · 39 books
Gary McCarthy is the author of fourteen American historical novels and thirty-four westerns published by many of New York's major publishing houses. He has over three million books in print and continues to research and write his Canyon Country novels. Growing up with horses and living in California, Nevada and Arizona, Gary is well suited to writing about the American West. He received his B.S. degree in Animal Science and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics. He has a keen interest in Native American cultures, especially the Hopi, Navajo, Havasupai and Haulapai who live in Northern Arizona. Gary and his wife Jane live in Arizona and have often ridden horses and hiked in the Kaibab and Coconino National Forests. Gary is always looking for new stories set in the American West and considers the research to be among his most favorite pursuits.
Jory Sherman
Author · 44 books
Jory Sherman was born in Minnesota and grew up in West Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. He was a magazine editor for a time and had some of his work published, including some poetry, short stories and articles. Sherman had a friend who owned a publishing company and asked him to write a novel for the company. From that offer came five more novels, all written in one year. He wrote the supernatural mystery series, "Chill," which was somewhat revolutionary for the times, but which earned him an eight book contract. He then came up with the idea for "Rivers West," a series which had each book written by a different western author. Then came the "Baron Saga," the first of which was "Grass Kingdom" which earned Sherman a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in Letters. Sherman has also won the Spur Award for his contribution to Western Literature.
