Saturday Morning Western Pulp: December 23, 1922

101 years ago, this was the Christmas issue of Street & Smith's WESTERN STORY MAGAZINE, when it wasn't as venerable and iconic a pulp as it came to be over the next couple of decades. But it was already the home of a great deal of fine Western fiction. There are several obvious Christmas stories in this one: "Peg Leg's Christmas Party" by F.R. Buckley, "'Merry Christmas'" by Frank Richardson Pierce, and "The Yuletide Trail" by A.M. Chisholm. Plus some stories with titles that might or might not be indicative of holiday subject matter: "The Glacier Cache" by Courtney Ryley Cooper, "The Bladed Barrier" by Joseph B. Ames, and "The Power of Prayer" by John Frederick, actually Frederick Faust his own self. There's another story by Courtney Ryley Cooper, "Bears and Bystanders", which doesn't sound the least bit Christmasy, and one called "The White Chink" by obscure pulpster Lupe Loya. I have no idea who did the art for this cover.

I was somewhat intrigued by Courtney Ryley Cooper because I'd never heard of him. I found this information about him online:

Courtney Ryley Cooper (1886-1940) was an American writer, journalist, circus performer, publicist, and noted crime novelist. Born in Kansas City, he joined the circus at age 16 where he worked first as a clown, eventually working his way up to general manager. After a brief stint as a journalist and as a marine, Cooper turned to writing screenplays, westerns, and crime novels in the 1920s and 1930s. He achieved moderate success with his crime novels, even earning the admiration of F.B.I. director J. Edgar Hoover, who called him "the best informed man on crime in the U.S." Cooper committed suicide by hanging in a New York hotel room in 1940; persistent rumors suggested his death was actually murder, but no suspects were ever found. Cooper was reportedly investigating German activity in Mexico just prior to his death.

Sounds almost like a pulp character himself. There's a free e-book of one of his Westerns on Amazon. I grabbed it and may even get around to reading it one of these days. We'll see.