The Best of the West: An Anthology of Classic Writing from the American West

by Tony Hillerman (Editor)

A leading chronicler of the Western landscape selects more than 150 pieces--fiction and non-fiction, classic and contemporary--that evoke the people and spirit of the West

Genres: Fiction, Westerns, Anthologies, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Mystery, American Revolution

528 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Tony Hillerman, who was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, was a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he resided with his wife until his death in 2008. Hillerman, a consistently bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 25th wealthiest man in 1996. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

With 142 separate readings in this 500+ page book, Hillerman's anthology of Western writing makes a great bedside reader for anyone with an interest in the frontier West as it was lived by a vast variety of people. Not surprisingly, this writer of great crime fiction set on the Navajo reservation of New Mexico and Arizona devotes many of the first 100 pages to the "first Westerners," Native Americans, and the Hispanic history of the Southwest. The rest of the book has sections on settlers, cowboys, mining, the military, and the law and outlaws. Additional sections represent women, tall tales and practical jokes, travel, language, and "characters." The book closes with a fiction section of short stories and excerpts from novels.

As you might expect in a book called "The Best of the West," there are writings by Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, Owen Wister, N. Scott Momaday, J. Frank Dobie, Meriwether Lewis, and Helen Hunt Jackson. The great surprise of the book, if you're familiar with Western literature, is the many readings from sources you're likely not to have heard of before. There are absorbing vignettes drawn from period newspapers, journals, memoirs, letters and other little-known publications.

Some of my favorites include a far-fetched autobiographical sketch by Calamity Jane, an account of a "love scrape" in Las Cruces by cowboy writer Charlie Siringo, Eugene Manlove Rhodes' description of loading up a chuck wagon, Raphael Pumpelly's report of the discomforts of travel by overland stage, H. M. Chittenden's account of the amazing bad luck of a man who survived a series of near-death mishaps on a visit to Yellowstone country in 1877, James Rusling's description of traveling down the Columbia River by steamboat and train, Alexander Majors' informative account of the short, perilous history of the pony express, a description of young J. C. Penney's first day of business in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and a selection on sod houses from social historian Everett Dick.

Excerpts from novels are mixed in with the historical accounts. I especially liked John Steinbeck's rhapsodic description of Highway 66 from "The Grapes of Wrath," a breathless homage to the title character of Owen Wister's "The Virginian," a description of the Colorado mining town, Leadville, from Wallace Stegner's Pulitzer Prize winning "Angle of Repose," Dorothy Scarborough's grim account of West Texas wind, in her novel "The Wind," and a description of driving down an early paved road in California from Upton Sinclair's "Oil!" And there are complete short stories: Stephen Crane's "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," capturing the impact that a young bride has on the rough world of frontier men, and Bret Harte's "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," set in 1850 California and giving the reader a more melodramatic rendering of a the same theme -- the taming influence of a young woman's innocence.

I'm happy to recommend this enjoyable anthology to anyone with an interest in the social history of the American West.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the title of this book, you would think of short stories or classic western book excerpts like Shane or The Big Rock Country Mountain. It’s not, but what it is a collection of letters, memoirs, government reports, diaries, etc. It reminds me of something Capt. Kidd might read in Paulette Jiles’ News of the World. The introduction had me laughing from the beginning about the sale of a stallion named Chingadero. I won’t tell the punch line of the story, but Chingadero was a western stock Morgan stallion that was well known because he was a smoky cream color. Most Morgan horses were bay or chestnut, and his introduction of the cream gene produced palomino, buckskin and dun Morgans. I owned a dun Morgan gelding at one time that was a descendant of this stallion. The other funny thing is Chingadero is a Spanish cuss word, the translation would start with the letter f.

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the introduction Hillerman says that he wants to reach readers of mysteries and other fiction (the pleasure reader) rather than historians, scholars, and collectors (the smarty pants). But most of the items included in this book (letters, historical documents, first hand accounts) would actually appeal more to the second group. Maybe a better title might be A Chronicle of the West in Stories and Letters.

[JMM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology of western lore and literature with its excerpts from journals, letters, newspaper and fictional accounts. It has it all – Indians, explorers, fortune-seekers; serious historic documents and tall tales of western characters; famous heroes, infamous outlaws, and regular folk just trying to live; beauty and danger everywhere in the amazing landscape of the west. A great collection for American history buffs!

[Chrisl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A core book in the wide ranging western genre range. A print tasting room for the best vintage writing, a starting place ... 142 entries grouped in 15 clusters.

From Tony Hillerman The Best of the West

#15 ... The Pacifist Warrior by Jack Schaefer :

“To his intense distaste the late Jack Schaefer was best known for Shane, the classic old Western pitting the homesteader against ruthless cattle baron. Schaefer regretted putting the white hats on farmers, saying they did even more damage to the land than did the cattlemen, and he regretted seeing ‘the little wimp’ Alan Ladd cast in the movie role of Shane. His favorites among his books were Monte Walsh, a much less romantic cowboy novel, and The Canyon, a novella-parable concerning a young Cheyenne brave who opposed the warfare culture of his people.”

(My favorite Schaefer is The Collected Stories of Jack Schaefer. From that collection, I will be rereading soon, “The Coup of Long Lance”

The Canyon
Monte Walsh

**
My spiritual tribe ...
#19 "I Will Fight No More Forever"

"Here is a reporter from Harper Weekly's account of the freedom for the few Nez Perce still alive." (Hillerman

"On September 30 Colonel Miles made a sudden attack on the enemy whose camp was situated on a bench of flat in the creek bottom. The Indians occupied the crests of the surrounding hills, and repulsed the charge made on the right by three companies of the Seventh Cavalry. A line of dead horses marked the course of the charge;, and the loss, either killed or wounded, of every commissioned officer but one, of every first sergeant, and many non-commissioned officers, told how coolly it was received ...

"The same bugler who sounded 'To the Charge!" on the 30th, trumpeting the death-call of so many brave fellows, now blew the calming welcome call of 'Cease firing.' The effect on the Indian was almost instantaneous. Where, a moment before, not a head was to be seen nor any sign of life, the ravines now swarmed with people, and little children capered in the sunshine and laughed in the face of death. They seemed to be the swarthy children of the earth, born in a moment, cast forth as if by magic." And then Chief Joseph's "From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever." and the reservation.

[Clay Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource on many every day subjects.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hillerman’s 526-page collection of original documents and publications covers the past 500 years of Western U.S. history. It includes short selections from a number of Pulitzer Prize winners. Any student of the history of the West will enjoy these 142 selections. Some of my favorite quotes: “I must say in defense of the Indians that most of the white men of that day and area were as fine as one could ask for, but some to my knowledge were just scum and they by their actions caused the Indians to hate the Whites and that hatred was often taken out on defenseless people” (James Hastings, “Boyhood at the Chloride Flat”) “During the 1869 campaign, which was a very bitter one, a riot occurred in the streets of Mesilla, resulting in the killing and wounding of a number of people…The democrats and republicans formed in two processions and marched around the town, coming from opposite directions the two processions met in from of the store of Reynolds and Griggs…The fighting became general. Nine men were killed and forty or fifty wounded…No indictments were ever returned and no one was punished” (Ralph Twitchell, “Taking Politics Seriously”). “The glories and the beauties of form, color and sound unite in the Grand Canyon—forms unrivaled even by the mountains, colors that vie with sunsets, and sounds that span the diapason from tempest to tinkling raindrop, from cataract to bubbling fountain….You can see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it you have to toil from month to month through it labyrinths…by a year’s toil a concept of sublimity can be obtained never again to be equaled on the hither side of Paradise” (John Wesley Powell quoted by Ed Abbey, “Why Wilderness”). “With the help of Hollywood we have constructed shrines for such drunken old tarts as Calamity Jane and have burned incense before such homicidal exhibitionists as Wild Bill Hickok. It looks as if the American People have gone shopping for heroes and come home with whatever they could find” (C. LO. Sonnichsen, “Law West of the Pecos”). “The Chinese make, on the whole, the best road-builders in the world…They learn all parts of the work very quickly…They do not drink, fight, or strike…they are very cleanly in their habits” (Charles Nordhoff, “They Do Not Drink, Fight, or Strike”). The book ends with a description of a hellish horror of two men handcuffed together awaiting death in the depths of Death Valley (Frank Norris, “McTeague”).

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall I would have to say I was disappointed in this anthology, lots of variety but somehow lacking in depth. He took a dozen or so 'themes' and arranged the writings around them, short historical documents, newspaper articles, letters, short stories, etc. That sort of worked but still a lot missing. Perhaps nature itself is the biggest gap, as it is dealt with in mostly tangential fashion within various accounts and stories. I was also hoping to learn about unknown (to me) great western writers and the book really didn't do that as well as I expected. There were a few discoveries, including Frank Norris, N. Scott Momaday and Dorothy Scarborough but not many others jumped out. And while many 'greats' are represented, there were many missing, especially in the fiction section. Among the missing were Elmer Kelton, Larry McMurtry, Willa Cather, Zane Grey and A.B. Guthrie.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much interesting material here, but like all collections a few duds. Hillerman has collected snippets of writing on the old west—diaries, letters, reports, tall tales, news articles and fiction. I read it slowly because I had to look up people, locations and incidents to place them. Goldfield, Nevada, the de Anza trail, Fort Ross, etc. This book as an introduction to history and authors has certainly increased my TBR list.

[Hobey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed many of the readings. But the accounts written in the 1800's were often difficult for me to understand. Luckily each reading was pretty short so it was never a slog to get through one. It is crazy that he have such accounts written during that time, that those were actual people experiencing what to me feels almost fictional.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, fascinating collection of previously written or reported incidents over hundreds of years west of the Mississippi. Lots of heavy reading, but also lots of fascinating tidbits. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and just can't believe it took me so many years to get into it.

[Steven Groner · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ambitious collection of materials that relied a little too heavily on 19th Century sources for me. The "West" has seen tremendous change in the 20th Century as well. I particularly enjoyed the original letters and correspondence. Nicely organized!

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave me some good ideas on other books to read in full, but for the most part was not a remarkable compilation.

[Kevin Wyckoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Q

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some decent ones, some not so great.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting snippets of history from people who lived it. It will not blow you away but worth reading.

[Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books was more of local history lesson for me. I live and lived in the middle of where all these story took place. Rabbit Ear Pass, Leadville, Sheridan, Raton, Lake City ect...

[Steve J]

January 1, 1991

[Chad Schimke · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEST OF THE WEST - The Best of the West, An Anthology of Classic Writing from the American West is edited by Tony Hillerman. In theory, this type of book is great…it’s a grab and go anthology; focused on a single topic. When I first pick up this sort of book, I scan the table of contents. In this case, the topics sound exciting: from the original westerners, to law and order, to shorts and fiction excerpts. I really liked the sections that focused on history, letters, memoirs and reports. I was VERY disappointed in the fiction selections. It Must be Something Exciting by Wallace Stegner was the best fiction selection in Best of West. This anthology is remiss by not including two of the best short fiction works in the classic western genre. In my opinion, the first omission - Paso Por Aqui by Eugene Manlove Rhodes is a well-crafted short that includes vivid characters, compelling settings and demonstrates great respect for history. My second omission - Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter is a very different short, dealing with the plight of women, family relations and tragic circumstances.

[Avis Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea for this anthology is good, but the selections suck.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This does have classic writings, not fiction, although there is some that in the last 10% of the book. As an example, there are writings: About how to build a sod house, some writings from the Lewis and Clark expedition, an excerpt from an autobiography about the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California, some writings about some of the characters from the west. Most of these samples are only 2-3 pages long. Very entertaining and enlightening.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of classic and contemporary fiction and nonfiction about the West and its people, selected and introduced by Tony Hillerman. The short story writers include Calamity Jane, General Custer, Bret Harte, Upton Sincliar, Wallace Stegner, John Steinbeck, and many others. Some stories are engaging, some funny, and some a bit boring.

[Cws]

W Hil

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiction and fact, a great visualization of the settling of the west.

[Mike Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of very good writing from ages past to present. Very enjoyable

[Jean Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection. SOme are short stories, but most are carefully-selected excerpts from myriad old favorites. To treasure and re-visit!

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been on my "to read" shelf for a while. A fine collection of western history, stories, excerpts from various genres. Fascinating.

[Sharon Beers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a large collection of western short stories by many famous authors. A good gift for a fan of westerns.