Gun-Witch From Wyoming - Les Savage Jr.

Texan Bob Hogarth arrives in Wyoming with a herd of cattle in the spring of 1887, following the Big Die-Up, the devastating winter that wiped out the herds of most cattlemen in the Great Plains. Hogarth intends to make a fresh start in Wyoming, along with his sidekick Waco Williams, and his herd gives him the leverage he needs to force his way into the local cattleman’s co-op, one of the members of which is a beautiful, redheaded young woman.

There’s a lot of hostility and intrigue among this organization, however, and Hogarth’s ruthless cunning soon makes him some deadly enemies. A mysterious rustler is also preying on the ranches in the area, adding a new threat that Hogarth has to deal with, all while trying to outsmart the other ranchers, court the beautiful redhead, and survive numerous ambushes, fistfights, and shootouts.

GUN-WITCH FROM WYOMING is a short novel by Les Savage Jr. that appeared originally in the November 1947 issue of LARIAT STORY MAGAZINE. There’s an ebook version available from Wildside Press, and that’s the one I read. Although Les Savage Jr. sold to a variety of Western pulps, including WESTERN STORY, DIME WESTERN, and STAR WESTERN, during a career that lasted only a dozen years before diabetes claimed his life at the early age of 35, he was really a star at Fiction House. His stories appeared regularly, usually featured on the covers, in LARIAT STORY MAGAZINE, ACTION STORIES, FRONTIER STORIES, and NORTH-WEST ROMANCES. He was just about the perfect Fiction House author, since his stories featured plenty of fast-moving, hardboiled action and usually more than one sexy female character. There are two beautiful women in GUN-WITCH FROM WYOMING, and I won’t give away which one winds up being the title character.

Savage packs a lot of plot into this one, which I estimate runs about 25,000 words. Almost too much plot, as there are numerous characters, all with their own shadowy motivations. Also, for much of the story, Bob Hogarth isn’t a very likable protagonist. Despite all that, Savage makes it work and had me flipping the digital pages to find out what was going to happen. I wound up enjoying this book quite a bit. If you’re a traditional Western fan, it’s well worth reading, and if you haven’t read Les Savage Jr. before, it’s pretty representative of his work. Give it a try, and if you like it, there are plenty more of his books still in print.