Michael R. Ritt Signs That I May Have Reached Geezer-Hood
Although denial is a big part of the aging process, I do have to admit that I have begun to experience some of the signs that I likely have far…
Trending
Signs That I May Have Reached Geezer-Hood
Starlite Pulp Review #1
Visit The Bison Range
Bear Activity at the Cabin
The Ballad of Rosie O’Grady
This Plane Went Down in the Pacific…
This Is Why My Wife Doesn’t Let Me Answer The Phone…
The Sons of Philo Gaines – First Place!
Marty Robbins and the El Paso Trilogy
Six-Gun Justice: Western Stories
Starlite Pulp Review #1
Announcing the release of a new short story, The Book of Life, published in the inaugural issue of a new literary review called The Starlite Pulp Review.
Visit The Bison Range
Formerly a National Wildlife Refuge, the Bison Range, located about an hour north of Missoula, is now under the management of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Bear Activity at the Cabin
The bear is becoming more brazen, coming down to the cabin during dusk.
The Ballad of Rosie O’Grady
April is National Poetry Month. Here's my offering - The Ballad of Rosie O'Grady.
This Plane Went Down in the Pacific…
With no fuel, no radio, and no oxygen, this plane went down in the Pacific; and someone you know was on board.
This Is Why My Wife Doesn’t Let Me Answer The Phone…
This probably ranks up there as the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me...
The Sons of Philo Gaines – First Place!
The Sons of Philo Gaines received the first-place Gold Medallion at the Will Rogers Medallion Award Ceremony in Fort Worth on Saturday, October 23, 2021.
Marty Robbins and the El Paso Trilogy
Marty Robbin's best known song, El Paso, was the first in a trilogy of songs about the West Texas city, a wild young cowboy, and a beautiful Mexican senorita.
Six-Gun Justice: Western Stories
Announcing the release of the Six-gun Justice: Western Stories anthology.
Do Good Fences Really Make Good Neighbors?
With all-due respect to Robert Frost, do good fences really make good neighbors?
The Sons of Philo Gaines is Nominated for Third Award
The Sons of Philo Gaines has been nominated for its third award, the Will Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in Western Literature.
Raid of Souls
Read my review of "Raid of Souls: Book Two in the Empire Barons Series" by Kalen Vaughan Johnson.
Peacemaker Awards from Western Fictioneers
The Sons of Philo Gaines is nominated for two Peacemaker Awards from Western Fictioneers.
The Great Tar Heel Mystery of 2021
Was North Carolina attempting to secede from the Union again, or was there some other explanation for the strange things that were happening?
Amazing Photos of the Past (2)…
12 rare and amazing photos from our past that you have probably never seen.
Snippets of History #5 – Rosie the Riveter
Have you ever met the real "Rosie the Riveter?"
A Montana Winter Story – Living in the Ninemile
I have come to realize that during winter you can expect just about anything.
Till My Last Breath
Read my review of "Till My Last Breath" by Deborah Swenson.
Snippets of History #4 – D.B. Cooper and Flight 305
On the day before Thanksgiving in 1971, a man who would come to be known as D.B. Cooper jumped out of the back of a Boeing 727 and into legend…
30 Things You Didn’t Know About Dances With Wolves
30 years ago today, Dances with Wolves was released. Here's 30 Things You Didn’t Know About Dances With Wolves.
The Day Texas Bombed Oklahoma
Like many states that border each other, Texas and Oklahoma have developed an interesting relationship that some have described as a sibling rivalry. They will prod and poke each other…
Snippets of History #3 – The Punt Gun
If you're looking for a gun that can take out a whole flock of birds with a single shot, then the Punt Gun is for you.
The Last Letter of Sullivan Ballou
Feeling a premonition of the upcoming battle, Major Sullivan Ballou penned this letter to his wife, Sarah. It is undoubtedly the most eloquent and beautiful letter of the Civil War.
Snippets of History #2 – Coincidence or Providence
Coincidence - maybe. Strange - definitely. Against the odds - absolutely. You decide.
Snippets of History #1 – The CSS Shenandoah
Snippets of History #1 - The CSS Shenandoah; the last ship to surrender after the Civil war.
The Siege of Charleston – 1780
A tragic incident during the siege of Charleston, SC during the American Revolutionary war, resulted in more deaths than the entire six-week siege.
Snippets of History
Odd, fascinating bits of historical trivia.
The Twelve Best Western Movies of all Time
Trying to pick the best out of thousands of Western movies is a daunting task, but here’s my list of the twelve best Western movies of all time.
Alone in the Dark…Nighttime on the Mountain
There's more going on in the mountains at night than you might expect. This is the first in a series of posts about life in the Ninemile valley of western…
Amazing Photos of the Past…
10 amazing historical photos you probably have never seen before.
The Odyssey of Geronimo:
Read my review of "The Odyssey of Geronimo: Twenty-Three Years a Prisoner of War" By W. Michael Farmer.
The Founding Fathers and Religious Faith…
"Were our Founding Fathers a bunch of atheists and Deists who purposed to establish a new government separated from the influence of religion?"
The Transformation of Chastity James
Read my review of The Transformation of Chastity James by Kathleen Morris.
Michael R. Ritt – Peacemaker Award Finalist Second Year In A Row…
For the second year in a row, Michael R. Ritt has been chosen as a Peacemaker Finalist for "Best Western Short Fiction."
The Sons of Philo Gaines – By Michael R. Ritt
Dean M. King (author of Sarah's Cross) gives a review of The Sons of Philo Gaines by Michael R. Ritt.
Backtrail – By Greg Hunt
Greg Hunt, author of Backtrail, is a seasoned story-teller with over twenty Western, frontier, and historical novels to his credit.
The Lumberman’s Library…
A specially built railroad car served as a rolling library from 1921 through the late 1950s, and made the rounds of the logging camps throughout Missoula County in Montana.
Six-Gun Justice Review – The Sons of Philo Gaines
My newest book, The Sons of Philo Gaines, was featured on the blog and podcast over at Six-Gun Justice.
Muskrat Hill – By Easy Jackson
Easy Jackson has given us a “who-done-it” that will keep the reader’s fingers flipping page after page with no desire to stop.
Buffalos on Bicycles…
In 1896-97, a 24-year-old 2nd Lieutenant from Fort Missoula, Montana, organized the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps composed entirely of Buffalo (African-American) soldiers, and started out on a grueling 1,900 mile…
Yes, I Did That…But I’m Not Proud Of It
Now, I am not proud of what I did next, but my curiosity got the best of me. They looked so real and so tasty that I couldn’t stop thinking…
Coming Soon: The Sons of Philo Gaines
I'm pleased to announce the upcoming release of my first Western novel, The Sons of Philo Gaines. Continue reading to find out more about the book.
How a Four-Year-Old Girl Changed Christmas
On a snowy December night in 1939, four-year-old Barbara May asked a simple question that led to the creation of a Christmas character that has touched countless lives and become…
How It Looks From Here:
A new collection of poems from twenty-seven different poets. Published by The Nebraska Writers Guild, one of the oldest writing organizations of its kind in the country. One of the…
They Died With Their Boots On – Movie Review
The 1941 Warner Brothers classic, “They Died with Their Boots On,” starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, has a lot going for it; but historical accuracy isn’t one of…
Book Review: When Cowboys Die by Patrick Dearen
Every man deserves to have a place where he belongs. But for Charlie Lyles, his place, his time, turned to dust a hundred years ago. Born a century too late,…
Revisiting The Golden Age of TV Westerns: The Rifleman
The first in a series of posts about the Golden Age of TV Westerns. The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors, aired on ABC from 1958-1963.
Who’s Really Buried in Buffalo Bill’s Grave?
The burial site of Buffalo Bill Cody, on Lookout Mountain west of Denver, is not without its controversy. At one time, doubts arose as to whether the iconic western figure,…
Jeremiah “Liver-eater” Johnston
How did the renowned mountain man, Jeremiah Johnston get his nickname "Liver-eater?" Popular lore tells us that in a vendetta of rage, he killed over three hundred Crow warriors and…
After the Cattle Drives – The Impact of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” on the Meatpacking Industry and Food Inspection
As Western history and fiction lovers, we are all familiar with the cattle drives of the late nineteenth century. They were, at times, romantic, dangerous, and mundane. But what happened…
The Mule-Made Man
What does a Texas mule have to do with helping to launch the careers of several entertainment icons? To answer that question, you need to know what happened in the…
How Roy Bean Saved a Heavyweight Prize Fight
The heavyweight boxing championship fight of 1896 was arguably the most controversial sporting event of all time, escalating at one point into an international incident that involved two great athletes,…
The Conversion of Boze Carter
How far does a hard-drinking, gambling, womanizing cow thief have to go before he decides that he needs to make some changes in his life? If you are Boze Carter,…