This is a pulp that I own and read recently. That’s my copy in the scan. I don’t know who did the cover art. Robert Stanley did a lot of covers for DIME WESTERN MAGAZINE during this era, but I feel like this one isn’t Stanley’s work. But as always when it comes to art, I could be wrong!
The lead novella, “Killers in the Canyon!”, is by John M. Cunningham, best
remembered for writing the story on which the movie HIGH NOON is based. “The
Tin Star” appeared in the December 6, 1947 issue of the slick COLLIER’S. As in that
classic story, the protagonist of “Killers in the Canyon!” is also a lawman,
but he’s not the stern, upright sort like Will Kane. No, he’s a reformed
outlaw, and his old gang wants him to throw in with them again and help them
loot some gold shipments. Our hero’s old flame, now married to one of his
former partners in crime, wants him to turn crooked again, too, and she has
some blackmail material to hold over his head and force him to do so. This is a
fairly traditional plot, but it has a lot of potential. Unfortunately,
Cunningham doesn’t do much with it except for scene after scene of people standing
around talking. Yes, the prose is very slick and smooth, but I kept waiting for
something to happen and it doesn’t until the last few pages of the story. Even
then, the action is low-key and unsatisfying. Also, the title must have been
slapped on by an editor at Popular Publications, because it has nothing to do
with the story. I read all of this story and didn’t give up on it, but in the
end it’s a clear miss for me.
Will C. Brown was the pseudonym of Clarence S. Boyles, the other famous writer
from Cross Plains, Texas, and a classmate of Robert E. Howard although Boyles
was a few years older and they weren’t in the same grade. Nor has his
reputation and popularity endured nearly as long as Howard’s has, but even so, Boyles
had a long and successful career as a Western pulpster and novelist under the Will
C. Brown name. His story in this issue, “He’s Death on Nesters!”, announces its
Texas origins right away with a reference to the Cap Rock, the escarpment that
angles down across Texas and separates the state’s central region from its
western one. In this yarn, the hard-nosed foreman of a big ranch confronts
three nesters who have started a small spread on the edge of the big one, only
to find that there’s more going on there than he expected. This story has a
really nice voice to it, along with interesting characters and a well-done bit
of action. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read by Boyles/Brown in the past, and this
one is excellent.
Dee Linford was a prolific contributor to the Western pulps all through the
Forties and early Fifties and published one novel, MAN WITHOUT A STAR, which
was made into a well-regarded movie starring Kirk Douglas. I haven’t read the
book, but I have seen the movie, which apparently wasn’t very faithful to the source
material. A lot of people like the movie, but I didn’t care for it. But I digress
. . . Linford’s novelette in this issue, “Sudden John’s Ghost Herd”, is a
reprint originally titled “Railroads Are Hell on Cattlemen!” when it was
published in the October 1940 issue of DIME WESTERN MAGAZINE. It’s part of a
series Linford wrote about range detective Sudden John Irons. The plot is the
well-used one about rustlers stealing cattle and blaming their crimes on the local
Indians, but it’s well-written, has a great opening, some nice action, and a
fine protagonist in Sudden John. I don’t think I’ve read anything else by
Linford, but I enjoyed this one a lot and will be on the lookout for his work
in the future. If you’d like to know more about him, there’s a great article on the Pulpflakes blog.
“Baptism of Fire” is a rather uninspired title for a gritty, well-written tale
of the cavalry versus the Apaches written by Clifton Adams. The young officer
in command of a patrol is looking for a fight with the Apaches because he wants
to avenge the death of his older brother. Things don’t go exactly as planned.
Adams was a fine writer, but he could be almost as bleak as H.A. DeRosso and
Lewis B. Patten at times. This is a good story, but its downbeat ending meant
that I admired it more than I actually liked it.
I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read by Robert L. Trimnell. His story in this issue, “Return
of the Vargas”, is a modern-day Western and is narrated by an American
veterinarian who is sent with a Mexican army escort into a former stronghold of
Pancho Villa to vaccinate cattle against hoof and mouth disease. Old grudges
lead to violence. This is certainly an oddball plot, but Trimnell was a good
writer and things don’t turn out exactly as I expected, which is always a
bonus.
Bennett Foster was a pretty big name as a Western author during the Thirties,
Forties, and the first half of the Fifties. He wrote for the top pulps and also
published quite a few stories in the slicks. His novelette in this issue, “One-Man
Horse”, is a reprint from the March 26, 1938 issue of ARGOSY, where it was
published under the title “Wedding Gift”. A young cowboy makes a horse trade
with the father of the girl he’s in love with, and it has unexpected
repercussions. This story is told in a smooth, folksy, entertaining style,
heavy on the humor and romance, but Foster does get some action in, late in the
proceedings. I don’t recall reading anything else by Foster, so I don’t know if
this is typical of his work, but I enjoyed it enough I’d like to read more and
find out. I own several of his novels. I ought to go ahead and read one.
That wraps up the fiction in this issue. My dislike of Cunningham’s novella,
which takes up almost half of the page count, makes it difficult for me to rate
it very highly, but on the other hand, the stories by Will C. Brown and Dee
Linford are very good and the other stories are entertaining. So don’t rush to
your shelves to see if you have a copy, but if the opportunity arises, you
might find it worth dipping into. And of course it’s always possible you might
like Cunningham’s story a lot more than I did. I always want to be fair about
these things.