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

Spur Awardwinning author of the novel Wide Open, Larry graduated from the University of California with degrees in history, political science, and public administration. His family owns and operates a North Dakota farm purchased seventy- five years ago by his grandfather (who once played a violin piece for Buffalo Bill Cody).

Matthew P. Mayo is an award-winning author of novels and short stories. He and his wife, videographer Jennifer Smith- Mayo, along with their trusty pup, Miss Tess, rove the byways of North America in search of hot coffee and high adventure. For more information, drop by Matthews website at MatthewMayo.com.

Jean A. Lukesh, EdD, is a former teacher and school librarian, a member of Western Writers of America, and a WWA Spur Award recipient and Spur Award finalist for teen nonfiction. She has written five biographies and a Nebraska history textbook, earning fifteen national book awards and Nebraskas Mari Sandoz Award. Her short story about Eagle of Delight was adapted from her book Eagle of Delight: Portrait of the Plains Indian Girl in the White House, published by Field Mouse Productions, 2013. The book has received eight national book awards, including the 2014 Western Writers of America Spur Award for Juvenile Nonfiction.

William Groneman III is a former New York City firefighter and a sustaining member of Western Writers of America. He writes about the Alamo, Davy Crockett, John Steinbeck, and the FDNY. He received Western Writers of Americas Branding Iron Award in 2019.

Books by Easy Jackson, aka Vicky J. Rose, include the Tennessee SmithWestern series, ABad Place to Die and A Season in Hell, published by Kensington/Pinnacle. Other books include Muskrat Hill, a Western mystery published by Five Star, and Treasure Hunt inTie Town and Testimony, published by Wolfpack under the name V. J. Rose.

Chris Enss is a New York Times bestselling author who has written more than thirty nonfiction books about women of the Old West.

Candy Moulton, a two- time Spur Award winner, has pushed and pulled a handcart across the Mormon Pioneer Trail and written a book about the handcart migration, in addition to making a documentary film In Pursuit of a Dream, which involved twenty- four young people traveling the trail by wagon train and with handcarts, learning the lessons from the trail. She lives on a ranch near Encampment, Wyoming.

Quackgrass Sally is a working ranch wife and freelance author in Montana. She writes about the West from her own experiences, having ridden her horse and driven her covered wagon thousands of miles along the Western Historic Trails. She is an active patron member of Western Writers of America and a lifetime member of the National Pony Express Association, as well as one of its first female relay riders. Over the years she has relayed mail and taken part in many events involving the Pony Express (XP), from Washington, DC, to Tasmania. She was also chosen as one of the XP Olympic torch bearers, riding a borrowed horse named Walter near Big Springs, Nebraska. She recounts a funny memory: Riders had been told the Olympic torch had been tested in wind tunnels and all types of wild weather. Unfortunately, they never tested it in Nebraskas wind, and during the evening relay the torch kept blowing out. I and several other riders ended up carrying the Mother Lantern, with the flame enclosed in metal and glass. It was heavy and hissed loudly, so I had to keep changing hands while I rode. In that swaying lantern light, I kept seeing Walters ears twitching every mile of the relay, but he never hesitated and neither did I. We carried out our relay in true XP fashion.

Candace Simar is fascinated by how things might have been. Her historical fiction has received awards from the Western Writers of America, the Midwest Book Awards, Women Writing the West, the Western Fictioneers, and the Will Rogers Medallion Awards. Learn more about Candace at www.candacesimar.com.

S. J. Dahlstrom lives in West Texas with his wife and children. A fifth- generation Texan, Dahl-stroms Wilder Good series has won the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, three Will Rogers Medallion Awards, and has been a finalist for the Lamplighter Award and the Spur Award from Western Writers of America.

Nancy Oswald loves the West and writing about it. Oswalds books have won numerous awards and finalist awards, including the Willa Literary Award and the Western Writers of America Spur Award. She lives with her husband, cows, dogs, cats, and one nearly human donkey on their family ranch in Colorado.

Vonn McKee, Louisiana born and descended from horse traders and southern belles, is a two- time Western Writers of America Spur Award finalist for short fiction. Based in Nashville, she enjoys antiquing, road trips, exploring historic sites, and hiking. Her website is vonnmckee.com.

A four- time Spur Award winner for her YA nonfiction, Nancy has also received the National Outdoor Book Award, two Nebraska Book Awards, and was named a finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. WWA president from 2018 to 2020, Nancy loves the American West for its beauty, its spirit, and its stories. Solomon D. Butcher, Camera- Toting Pioneer was adapted from her book Light on the Prairie: Solomon D. Butcher, Photographer of Nebraskas Pioneer Days, published by the University of Nebraska Press. Visit www.nancyplain.com.

Bill Markley has stood at the site of Theodore Roosevelts Elkhorn Ranch and canoed the Little Missouri River, where TR chased his river pirates. Bill writes nonfiction and historical fiction books, as well as stories and features for Western magazines. His latest book is Geronimo and SittingBull: Indian Leaders of the Legendary West. A version of his story from this volume, Tracking Roosevelts River Pirates, was first published in the June 2011, issue of True West Magazine.

Ginger Wadsworth writes nonfiction books for young readers that feature natural science or American heroes. A native Californian, she often writes about her beloved American West. Camping with the President, Yosemites Songster: One Coyotes Story, and Season of the Bear: A Yosemite Story are Western Writers of America Spur Award winners. Her website is GingerWadsworth.com.

Johnny D. Boggs is Western Writers of Americas 2020 Owen Wister Award recipient for lifetime achievement. Winner of a record eight Spur Awards, including three for juvenile fiction, Boggs lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he umpires Little League Baseball games in his spare time. His website is JohnnyDBoggs.com.

Rod Miller is a four- time winner and six- time finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award, recognized for his novels, short stories, poems, and a song. He writes fiction, poetry, and history related to the American West, and his work has been featured in numerous anthologies and magazines.

Joseph Bruchac is an enrolled member of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation. Founder of The Greenfield Review Press, much of his own writing draws on his Native ancestry. Author of more than 160 books for young readers and adults, including his Spur Awardwinning novel