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Nonfiction: books


Lost Frontier: Momentous Moments in the Old West You May Have Missed
Western history is rich with interesting and important events that have somehow escaped our attention. The Lost Frontier: Momentous Moments in the Old West You May Have Missed chronicles frontier episodes and people that merit notice. From an early aviator to an American emperor, explorers to electricity, battles to bloodbaths, you’re sure to learn something new—and noteworthy.


Go West: The Risk and the Reward
Published by the Range Conservation Foundation and edited by Range magazine editor and publisher C.J. Hadley, this is a colorful pictorial featuring historical and contemporary images of the American West. The text, by senior writer Rod Miller, chronicles the risks and rewards of the settlement of the West in a succinct but rich historical overview.





Massacre at Bear River:
​First, Worst, Forgotten
On 29 January 1863, US Army troops launched a sneak attack on a winter camp of Shoshoni Indians. When the soldiers limped away a day later, they left behind the frozen corpses of some 250 to 350 men, women, and children. The deadliest massacre of Indians by the Army in all of Western history, this sad encounter is all but lost to history. Massacre at Bear River: First, Worst, Forgotten, published by Caxton Press, is a history of the massacre, recounting the events leading up to the slaughter and what happened as a result.

 
John Muir: Magnificent Tramp
John Muir: Magnificent Tramp is part of Tom Doherty Associates/Forge Books’ “American Heroes” series, an honor for which the subject certainly qualifies. Not a detailed biography, writer Rod Miller’s compact book is more a “highlight reel” of Muir’s life, arranged thematically to reveal the man’s character, relationships, and accomplishments. The series, and this book, was edited by Western Writers Hall of Fame member Dale L. Walker.


Why Cows Need Cowboys
and Other Seldom-Told Tales
from the American West

A project of Western Writers of America, this anthology features works by 20 WWA members. Written for young readers, the selections are both entertaining and informative. 







The Long Trail Home
Excerpted from the pages of RANGE magazine over the years, the stories in this anthology celebrate Westerners from a few days old to 103 years young. Chronicled are stories of rural values passed down from generation to generation. Writer Rod Miller’s contribution is a profile of Nevada rancher Marie Ormachea Sherman, co-authored with her granddaughter-in-law, Nora Hunt Lee.

 



The Way West: True Stories of the
American Frontier
The Way West: True stories of the American Frontier is an anthology of short accounts of a variety of incidents and events in Western history. In “Bill Cody Gets Buffaloed,” writer Rod Miller recounts an adventure experienced by a young William F. Cody as he accompanies freighters hauling supplies for federal troops during the misguided Utah Expedition. While some historians claim Cody wasn’t there, he and his sister disagree. Western Writers Hall of Fame member James A. Crutchfield edited the volume.

 
The Settlement of America:
Encyclopedia of Westward Expansion from Jamestown to the Closing
of the Frontier
Edited by James A. Crutchfield, The Settlement of America: Encyclopedia of Westward Expansion from Jamestown to the Closing of the Frontier presents a two-volume, illustrated history of America’s frontier movement. Writer Rod Miller wrote entries for several subjects in the encyclopedia, from the fur trade to Mormon history to Indians in the Old West.