Bitter Creek

by Dane Coolidge

Bitter Creek is the story of prospector and mine owner, California Watson, who is mad at the world. Nearly everyone he has known has taken advantage of him. Rancher Sol Barksdale warns Cal to stay away from his daughter. The hired stock detective, Wayne Crump, takes pot shots at him. Bill Beagle, town marshal, tries to arrest Cal on a false charge of holding up a stagecoach. Cal's trail leads him into Death Valley where he finds Barksdale's stolen cattle, but before he can do anything about it, he is framed and charged by Barksdale with cattle rustling.Dane Coolidge was born in Natick, Massachusetts, but moved early to northern California. His background as a naturalist is a trademark in his Western fiction. Coolidge died in 1940.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2004

About the author

Dane Coolidge was born in Natick, Massachusetts, on March 24, 1873. He was brought up in Riverside, California, and received his higher education at Stanford and Harvard Universities. From 1895 to 1900 he was a field collector of mammals, birds and reptiles in Nevada, Arizona and Southern California for a number of institutions, including Stanford University, the British Museum, U. S. National Zoological Park, and the U. S. National Museum in Italy and France. On July 30, 1906, he married Nary Roberts, and the couple eventually made their home in Berkeley, California. In 1910, his first novel, Hidden Water, was published, and this was followed by a long succession of novels and some non-fiction, with California and Southwest locales. He and his wife collaborated on two books, The Navajo Indians (1930) and The Last of the Seris (1939). In addition, Coolidge contributed short stories and illustrated articles to several magazines, including Youth's Companion, Sunset, Redbook, Harper's and Country Life in America. Mr. Coolidge died in 1940; Mrs. Coolidge, in 1945.

Reviews

[Brian Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book ever that I could not finish. I don't know what kind of vernacular this author was using, but I could not understand half of it. I got the jist of the storyline, but it was not enough to get me to force my way through this book.

I am used to some of the great western writers like Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, and Larry McMurtry and this guy does not even come close.