The Trail to Yesterday

Charles Alden Seltzer

Originally published in 1913, it was one of the earliest works of Western fiction by Charles Alden Seltzer and played a significant role in popularizing that genre. A story of the Old West in which an American girl from the East finds herself confronted with a strange type of man dwelling in the shadow of an ancient grudge. Dakota, the man, first convinces her that he is a brute beyond redemption and then gradually wins her back to the belief in his own essential manliness. Before this happens, however, there has been an attempted bribe, an attempted murder that seems the response to the bribe and a wild ride through the night, that ends at Dakotas shack. Highly recommended for lovers of Western fiction.

The Two-Gun Man

Charles Alden Seltzer

Along with Zane Grey and William MacLeod Raine, Charles Alden Seltzer is remembered today as an originator of whats often called the formula western. In it, a cowboy hero, who is fast with a gun, meets and subdues a vicious villain and who also wins the heart and hand of a pretty sweetheart. The Two-Gun Man has all these elements firmly in place. It is set at an unspecified time in the open ranges of the Southwest, somewhere in the neighborhood of Raton and Cimarron, New Mexico. Rustlers are stealing Two Diamond cattle, and the manager is fit to be tied. The range boss claims its the neighbor, but theres no proof. Everyone finds the neighbors sister desirable, but she finds everyone tedious. Will lies, jealousy, double dealing, and maybe even a cold-blooded killing keep Ned Ferguson from uncovering the truth?