Friends of the University Libraries

Will James
Nevada Writers Hall of Fame 1991

Will James (1892-1942), drifter, dreamer, artist and story-teller, was born Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault in St. Nazaire de Acton, Quebec, Canada. He began working as a cowboy as a teenager. In 1910, he entered the United States with a new name: William Roderick James. By 1914, he was working in Nevada, where he was arrested for rustling cattle. He served his sentence from 1915-16 at the Nevada State Prison at Carson City, taking care of the facility's horses. He then worked as a stunt man in western movies and served in the U. S. Army from 1918-19. He was a horse wrangler for the First Annual Nevada Round-Up in Reno in July 1919. He married Alice Conradt, a Reno native, on July 7, 1920.

His western drawings and short stories began to appear in national magazines, including Red Book, Saturday Evening Post, and Scribner's Magazine. The Drifting Cowboy, a collection of magazine stories, settled him as a professional writer and enabled him to buy a small ranch on Franktown Road in Washoe Valley, Nevada, where he and his wife lived from 1923-1927. James is best known for the beloved Smoky, The Cow Horse, which won the coveted Newbery Medal for children's literature in 1927 and has been made into several movies. James narrated the 1933 film. The novel won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, given by the University of Wisconsin, in 1965. His invented autobiography, Lone Cowboy, was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and bestseller. Gregory Peck starred in the 1971 motion picture adaptation, Shoot Out. The largest public collection of James' writings, drawings, paintings and personal effects is at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana, where James had a ranch.

James died in Hollywood on September 3, 1942. At his memorial service, the minister observed, "There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart. Of such is Will James. His soul has gone to roam the range of the eternal while his art lingers to lead those who love the West toward forgetfulness. That which he created knows no death."

Gwen Clancy's 1990 documentary film, "The Man They Call Will James," won a Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame for its historical excellence. He was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1992. The Will James Society is headquartered in Billings, Montana, where James lived for many years. A new exhibit of James' art opened in July 2005 at the Yellowstone Art Museum.

Bibliography for Will James

Fiction & Folklore:

The American Cowboy. New York: Scribner's, 1942. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3519 .A5298 A75 1942; and Great Basin College, Elko]

Big-Enough. New York: Scribner's, 1931. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3519 .A5298 B54 1997]

Cow Country. New York: Scribner's, 1927. (Tumbleweed Series). [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3519 .A5298 C69 1995]

Cowboy In the Making. New York: Scribner's, 1937. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: F 596 .J27]

The Dark Horse. New York: Scribner's, 1939. (also a Braille ed.) [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3519 .A5298 D37 1939]

The Drifting Cowboy. New York: Scribner's, 1925. [Available: Getchell Library: F 596 .J283]

Flint Spears: Cowboy Rodeo Contestant. New York: Scribners', 1938. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: F 596 .J27 1938]

Greenberg, Martin H. and Charles Waugh, comp. A Newbery Zoo: A Dozen Animal Stories by Newbery Award-Winning Authors. Delacorte, 1995. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PZ 5 .N397 1995]

Home Ranch. New York: Scribner's, 1935. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 3519 .A5298 H66 1935]

Horses I've Known. New York: Scribner's, 1940. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: QL 795 .H7 J192 1940]

In the Saddle with Uncle Bill. New York: Scribner, 1935. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 3519 .A5298 I6 1935]

"Keno, the Cow-Horse: A Life-Story in Pictures." in Sunset: The Pacific Monthly. (Nov. 1920), Vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 38-42. [Available: Getchell Library, Remote Storage: Acc#17K3-6, Request item]

"The Last Catch at Sand Wash." in Sunset Magazine (Sept. 1926), Vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 20-21, 54. (illustrated by Will James). [Available: Getchell Library, Remote Storage: Acc#17K3-6, Request item]

Look-See with Uncle Bill. New York: Scribner's, 1938. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 3519 .A5298 L66 1938]

"Midnight," from Sun Up. in LeVert, Suzanne, ed. Great Horse Stories. New York: Julian Messner, 1984, pp. 15-33.

My First Horse. New York: Scribner's, 1940. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: QL 795 .H7 J195 1940]

Sand: The Story of a Man and a Horse. New York: Scribner's, 1929. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3519 .A5298 S3 1996]

Scorpion: A Good Bad Horse. New York: Scribner's, 1936. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3519 .A5298 S36 1936]

Smoky, the Cow Horse. New York: Scribner's, 1926. (Korean & Japanese eds.) [Available: Getchell Library: QL 795 /H7 J2; also: Great Basin College, Elko; and Western NV Comm. College]

"The Squeak of Leather," in Looking Ahead. Bright, Frank F., ed. NY: Lippincott, 1953. pp. 79-92. (Reading for Life Series). [Excerpt from Smoky, the Cow Horse; available: Getchell Library, Special Collections]

Sun Up: Tales of the Cow Camps. New York: Scribner's, 1931. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: F 596 .J289 1931]

Tenderfoot. Bozeman, Mont.: Nygard & Elliott Pub., 1993.

The Three Mustangeers. New York: Scribner's, 1933. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 3519 .A5298 T4 1933]

Uncle Bill: A Tale of Two Kids and a Cowboy. New York: Scribner, 1932. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 3519 .A5298 U63 1932]

Will James' Book of Cowboy Stories. (Alt. Title: Book of Cowboy Stories) New York: Scribner, 1951. (Illustrated by W. James). [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 3519 .A5298 B66 1951]

The Will James Cowboy Book. New York: Scribner, 1938. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: F 596 .J29 1938]

Young Cowboy. New York: Scribner's Sons, 1935. (Illustrated by W. James; drawn from: Big-Enough and Sun Up). [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: F 596 .J29 1935]

Nonfiction:

All In the Day's Riding. New York: Scribner's, 1933. Illustrated by author. [Available: Getchell Library: F 596 .J22]

Branch, Edward D. The Cowboy and His Interpreters. New York: Cooper Square Pub., 1961. (Illustrated by Will James, et al.) [Available: Getchell Library: F 596 B82 1961, and GBC-Elko]

Burns, Walter N. Tombstone: An Iliad of the Southwest. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1929. (Illustrated by Will James) [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: F 819 T6 B92 1929]

Cowboys, North and South. New York: Scribner, 1924. (Tumbleweed Series). [Available: Getchell Library: F 596 .J265 1995]

Lone Cowboy: My Life Story. New York: Scribner's, 1930. (also a French ed.) [Available: Getchell Library: F 596 J287; and Western NV Community College, Carson City]

Watkins, T. H. and Joan, eds. "Lone Cowboy: My Life Story (excerpt)," in The West: A Treasury of Art and Literature. Southport, CT: H. L. Levine Assoc., 1994. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 561 .W38 1994, and GBC-Elko]

Song Lyric, Art & Exhibition Catalogs:

"Ev'rybody But Me." [n.p.]: J. W. Stern, 1915. (Broadside). [Available: Rhode Island: Brown Univ.]

James, Will. "A Friend in Disguise." in Sunset: The Pacific Monthly. (August 1920), Vol. 45, no. 4, p. 45. [Available: Getchell Library, Remote Storage: Acc#17K3-6, Request item]

James, Will. "Playing With Fire." in Sunset: The Pacific Monthly. (August 1920), Vol. 45, no. 3, p. 45. [Available: Getchell Library, Remote Storage: Acc#17K3-6, Request item]

James, Will. "When a Feller Needs a Friend." in Sunset: The Pacific Monthly. (August 1920), Vol. 45, no. 2, p. 45. [Available: Getchell Library, Remote Storage: Acc#17K3-6, Request item]

Lincoln, Elliott C. "The June Trail." in Sunset: The Pacific Monthly. (July 1920), Vol. 45, no. 1, p. 47. [illustrated by Will James] [Available: Getchell Library, Remote Storage: Acc#17K3-6, Request item]

Mostly Montana. Bigfork, Mont.: The Galleries, Feb. 1968. (Flathead Lake Galleries, 5 illustrations by James).

Sawyer, Eleanor Ecob. "Unencumbered Bachelor." in McClure's Magazine. (July 1922), Vol. 54, no. 5, p. 88. (illustrated by Will James) [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]

A Western Icon: The Stories and Illustrations of Will James. Yellowstone Art Museum, July 10, 2005 - ?.

Will James: A Catalogue: Art, Books, Book Galleys, Unpublished Short Stories, Autographed Letters, Photographs, Ephermera. Billings, Mont.: Thomas Minckler Gallery, 1993. [Available: The Heard Museum Library & Archive, Arizona]

Will James: Drawings and Paintings from the Virginia Snook Collection, Yellowstone Art Center. Billings, MT: The Center, 1995. [Available: Univ. of Texas at Austin Library]

Will James: The Spirit of the Cowboy. Casper, WY: Nicolaysen Art Museum, 1985. (Catalog of a Apr. 30-June 2, 1985 exhibition). [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: N 6537 .J325 A4 1985]

Adaptations:

Berkeley, Martin. Sand: Screenplay. [S.l.]: Twentieth Century-Fox, 1948. (1st draft continuity; 3-9-48).

Big-Enough (audiocassette). Newport Beach, CA: Books on Tape, 2000.

Cow Country (audiocassette). Newport Beach, CA: Books on Tape, 1999.

Cowboys North and South (audiocassette). Newport Beach, CA: Books on Tape, 1999.

The Drifting Cowboy (unabridged audiocassettes). Newport Beach, CA: Books on Tape, 1999.

Dymka (television movie). U.S.S.R. (Russian language adaptation of Smoky). 1985.

Lone Cowboy (motion picture). (Based on the story "Partners"), 1933.

Lone Cowboy: My Life Story (audiocassette). Newport Beach, CA: Books on Tape, 1985.

Sand (motion picture). 1949. (Jeff Keane)

Sand (audiocassette). Newport Beach, CA: Books on Tape, 1999.

Shoot Out (motion picture). Universal Studios, 1971. (Based on The Lone Cowboy).

Smoky, the Cowhorse (audiocassette). Newport Beach, CA: Books on Tape, 1981.

Smoky (motion picture). 1933. (Narrated by Will James)

Smoky (motion picture). 1946. (Fred MacMurray)

Smoky (motion picture). 1966. (Fess Parker)

Uncle Bill: A Tale of Two Kids and a Cowboy (audiocassette). Bethesda, MD: Cutting Corp., 2001.

Will James' Book of Cowboy Stories (audiocassette). Newport Beach, CA: Books on Tape, 1983.

Biographical Sources & Critical Response:

Adcock, A. St. John. "Sand (review)" in Bookman (1932), Vol., 83, p. 82. [Available: Getchell Library: AP 2 .B78 1932]

Allmendinger, Blake. The Cowboy: Representations of Labor in an American Work Culture. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 271 .A43 1992]

ALS, Franktown, Nevada, to Andy Adams, Colorado Springs. (Archival Material, July 24, 1924). [Available: Copley Press, J. S. Copley Library, CA]

Amaral, Anthony. "A Dedication to the Memory of Will James, 1892-1942." in Arizona and the West (1968), Vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 206-210. [Available: Getchell Library: F 806 .A69 1968]

Amaral, Anthony A. The West of Will James: A Portfolio of His Drawings. Reno: Univ. of Nevada Press, 1978.

Amaral, Anthony A. Will James: The Gilt Edged Cowboy. (Great West and Indian series) Los Angeles, CA: Westernlore Press, 1967. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3519 .A5298 Z56 1967; and Great Basin College, Elko]

Amaral, Anthony A. Will James: The Last Cowboy Legend. (Lancehead Series: Nevada and the West; original title: Will James: The Gilt Edged Cowboy, 1967) Reno, NV: Univ. of Nevada Press, 1980. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3519 .A5298 Z56 1980; also Great Basin College,Elko and WNC-Carson City]

American National Biography. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1999. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: CT 213 A68 1999 and online in the American National Biography database via the Library web site]

Anon. "Will James: The Gilt Edged Cowboy (review)" in Montana: The Magazine of Western History (1968), Vol. 18, pp. 84-85. [Available: Getchell Library: F 726 .M74 1968]

Artists of the American West: A Biographical Dictionary. Chicago: Sage Books/Swallow Press, 1974. [Available: Getchell Library: N 6536 D38 Vol. 1, p. 125; and GBC-Elko]

Authors of Books for Young People. 1st-3rd eds. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1964, 1971 & 1990. [Available: Getchell Library: PN 452 .W35 1971 & 1990]

Barrett, Dani Gayle. Lone Cowboy: A Western American Self-Story: Explorations of a Life History (Will James, Autobiography). Berkeley/Alameda, CA: California School of Professional Psychology, 1995. dissertation.

Bell, William G. "Letters from the Lone Cowboy: A Sampling of Will James's Letters to Maxwell Perkins." in Montana: The Magazine of Western History (Autumn 1984), Vol. 34, pp. 16-23. [Available: Getchell Library: F 726 .M74 1984]

Bell, William G. "My Interest Lays Toward the Horse." in American History (Mar./Apr. 1996), Vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 40-47. [Available online in the Academic Search Premier database via the Library web site]

Bell, William G. "Will James: Inevitable Cowboy." in American West (Jan.-Feb.,1983). Vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 36-43. [Available: Getchell Library: F 591 .A1 A4 1983 and Great Basin Clg.-Elko]

Bell, William G. Will James: The Life and Works of a Lone Cowboy. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Press, 1987. [Available: Getchell Library: N 6537 .J325 A5 1987]

Bell, William G. "Will James: The Lone Cowboy" in Will James: The Spirit of the Cowboy. Casper, WY: Nicolaysen Art Museum, 1985. (Catalog of a Apr. 30-June 2, 1985 exhibition). [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: N 6537 .J325 A4 1985]

Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. 1st ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.[Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PN 41 .B4 1991; & at WNC-Douglas]

"Biography for Will James." Internet Movie Database, 2003.

Bramlett, Jim. Ride for the High Points: The Real Story of Will James. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press, 1987. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 3519 .A5298 Z57 1987; and Great Basin College, Elko]

Brickell, Herschel. "The Literary Landscape." in The North American Review. (Dec. 1931), Vol. 232, no. 6, p. 569. (review of Big Enough). [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]

Brickell, Herschel. "The Literary Landscape." in The North American Review. (Dec. 1927), Vol. 224, no. 888, p. 6. (review of Cow Country). [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]

Burke, W. J. and Howe, W. D. American Authors and Books. New York: Crown, 1943 and its 3rd Revised Ed., 1972. [Available: Getchell Library, Main Reference: REF Z 1224 .B87 1992; p. 328.]

Brotherton, Joseph. Interview. (March 5, 1999). Smithsonian Institution. Archives of American Art. (Art Archives Oral History Collection)

Carrel, Charlie. "Happy Birthday, Will. Will James--the Montana Years." in The Western Horseman (Aug. 1992), Vol. 57, no. 8, p. 10.

Clancy, Gwendolyn. The Man They Call Will James: His Art, His Life (videorecording). Reno, NV: Historic Preservation Program, 1989?. [Available: Getchell Library, Multimedia Center: V01816 and V02493; also at GBC-Elko]

Clancy, Gwendolyn. Will James: Research Materials, 1987-1988. (Series: Nevada Women's Archives) [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: 93-02]

Clifton, Guy. "Catch locally made documentary about author." ["Real Nevada" column]. Reno Gazette-Journal. (Jan. 25, 2005) C1-2.

Colbert, Margaret, comp. & ed. Children's Books: Awards & Prizes. New York: Children's Book Council, 1971, 1975, 1977. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1037 A2 C52]

Contemporary Authors. Vol. 137. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992, pp. 224-226. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: Z 1224 .C62 v. 137 and online in the Gale Literature Resource Center database via the Library web site]

"Cowboys North and South" (review) in Bookman (1924) Vol. 67, supp., p. 138. [Available: Getchell Library: AP 2 .B78 1924]

Current Biography Yearbook, 1942. New York: Wilson, 1942. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: CT 100 .C8 1942]

Davison, Stanley R. "Will James: The Gilt Edged Cowboy (review)" in Utah Historical Quarterly (1968), Vol. 36, p. 187. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: F 821 .U92 1968]

Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 3. New York: Scribner's, 1973. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: E176 .D56 Supp. 3]

Dictionary of Literary Biography: Documentary Series. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PS 129 .D48 Vol. 16]

A Dictionary of North American Authors Deceased before 1950. Detroit: Gale Research, 1968. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PS 128 .W3 1968]

Dictionary of Pseudonyms. 3rd ed. NC: McFarland, 1998. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: Z 1041 .R66 1998]

Dobie, J. Frank. "Big Enough" (review) in Southwest Review (1931), Vol. 17, p. iii.

"The Drifting Cowboy (review)" in Bookman (1925), Vol. 69, Supp., p. 126. [Available: Getchell Library: AP 2 .B78 1925]

Drucker, Rebecca. "The Plague of Juveniles." in The Nation (Nov. 16, 1927), Vol. 125, no. 3254, pp. 545-546. (brief review of Cow Country) [Available: Getchell Library, Reference Microforms: Microfiche S29 1927; and online in The Nation Digital Archive via the Library web site]

Dudar, Judith Ann. Feint of Heart and Sleight of Hand: Autobiographical Art and Artifice in the Life-Stories of Will James, Grey Owl, and Frederick Philip Grove (Ernest Dufault, Archibald Belaney, Felix Paul Greve). Canada: Dalhousie Univ., 1994. dissertation.

Dudar, Judy. "The West d'un Cow-boy Solitaire: Will James." in: Bogaards, Winnifred M., ed. Literature of Region and Nation: Proceedings of the 6th International Literature of Region and Nation Conference, 2-7 August 1996. Saint John, NB: Univ. of New Brunswick, 1998, pp. I, 8-16.

Dwyer, Joe. "Of Chiles, Cacti, and Fighting Cocks (review)." in San Francisco Review of Books. (Summer 1990), Vol. 15, p. 23.

Ehrlich, Eugene and Carruth, Gorton. The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 141 .E74 1982]

Encyclopedia of Frontier and Western Fiction. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PS 374 .W4 E53 1983; and WNC-Carson City]

Etulain, Richard W. "Will James: The Gilt Edged Cowboy (review)" in Western American Literature (1968) Vol. 3, pp. 255-256. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 271 .W46 1968]

Flack, Margaret. "Will James at Home." in Wilson Bulletin. (March 1938), Vol. 12, p. 496. [Available: UNR Life & Health Sciences Library: Journal Stacks]

Folsom, James K. "Will James" in Twentieth Century Western Writers. Detroit: Gale Research, 1982, pp. 425-427. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 271 .T84 1982]

Fox, Cheryl A. "Will James (1892-1942)." in Nevada Historical Society Quarterly (1990), Vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 144-148. [Available: Getchell Library, BGIC: 29-H 62 4:1990 and at Western NV Community College-Carson City: NEV F836 .N45 1990]

Frazier, Don. The Will James Books: A Descriptive Bibliography for Enthusiasts and Collectors. Long Valley, NJ: Dark Horse Associates, 1998. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: PS 3519 A5298 Z57 1998]

Goldsmith, Sophie L. "Children's Books--1931." in The Nation. (Nov. 18, 1931), Vol. 133, no. 3463, p. 548. (brief review of Big-Enough) [Available: Getchell Library, Reference Microforms: Microfiche S29 1931; and online in The Nation Digital Archive via the Library web site]

Hart, James D. Oxford Companion to American Literature. 4th-6th eds. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1983, 1995. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PS 21 .H3 1995 and Great Basin Clg.-Elko]

Hays, A. P. "The Art of Will James" in Will James: The Spirit of the Cowboy. Casper, WY: Nicolaysen Art Museum, 1985. (Catalog of a Apr. 30-June 2, 1985 exhibition). [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: N 6537 .J325 A4 1985]

Herzberg, Max J. The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: Crowell, 1962. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 21 .R4]

Higgins, James E. "Smoky, Animal Romance, and the Cowboy Narrator." in The Voice of the Narrator in Children's Literature: Insights from Writers and Critics. New York: Greenwood, 1989; pp. 83-91. [Available: Getchell Library: PN 1009 .A1 V65 1989]

Hofer, E. "New Literary Movement on Pacific Coast." in Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine. (Aug. 1928), Vol. 86, no. 8, pp. 285, 298, 304. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]

Horses I've Known (reviews) in:

Saturday Review of Literature (Oct. 12, 1940), Vol. 22, p. 42. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1219 .S25 1940]
Springfield Republican (Oct. 27, 1940), p. 7e.

Hubbell, Jay. "The Drifting Cowboy (review)" in Yale Review (1926), Vol. 15, p. 800. [Available: Getchell Library: AP 2 .Y2 1926]

The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West. New York: Doubleday, 1976. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: N 8214.5 .U6 S25]

James, Alice Conradt. My Life with Will James, 1936. (manuscript & correspondence) [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: 90-13]

James, Will. [Autobiography] in On Our Way: Young Pages from American Autobiography. New York: Holiday House, 1952.

James, Will. Papers, 1921-1967. [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: NC579]. Collection finding aid.

James, Will. "Self-Portrait." in Arts and Decoration. (Oct. 1930), Vol. 33, p. 81. [Available: Getchell Library, Remote Storage: Request item Acc#18C4-5 ]

"James, Will Roderick." in the American National Biography Online database via the Library web site.

"John Newbery Prize Book: Will James' Smoky." in Journal of the National Education Association. (Oct. 1927), Vol. 16, p. 217. [Available: Getchell Library: L 11 .T6 1927]

Johnson, M., comp. "American First Editions." in Publishers Weekly. (Nov. 21, 1931), Vol. 120, p. 2328. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1219 .P98 1931]

The Junior Book of Authors. 1st & 2nd eds. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1934 & 1951. [Available: Getchell Library: PN 1009 .A1 K8 1951]

Kett, Pamela Kay. "Ride for the High Points: The Real Story of Will James (review)" in Western American Literature (1988) Vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 241-242. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 271 .W46 1988]

Kett, Pamela Kay. "Will James: The Life and Works of a Lone Cowboy (review)" in Western American Literature (1988) Vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 241-242. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 271 .W46 1988]

Kimball, Josephine D. "Cowboy In the Making" (review) in Scribner's Magazine (1937), Vol. 102, p. 64. [Available: Getchell Library: AP 2 .S4 1937]

Kinnell, Susan K., ed. People In History: An Index to U.S. and Canadian Biographies in History Journals and Dissertations. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1988.

Kunitz, Stanley, ed. Twentieth Century Authors: A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature. & its 1st Supplement. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1942 & 1955. [Available: Getchell Library: PN 771 .K86, & WNC-Carson City]

Lamar, Howard R., ed. The Reader's Encyclopedia of the American West. New York: Crowell, 1977. [Available: Getchell Library: F 591 .R38, & GBC-Elko]

Larose, Jean. "Le Cheval du Reel." in Quebec Studies (Fall-Wint., 1989-90), Vol. 9, pp. 38-47. (in French)

Letter to Mr. Barrett. (May 31, 1929). [Available: Univ. of CA, Berkeley Library: From the Estelle Doheny Collection]

Letters, 1923 and 1929. [Available: Natural History Museum Foundation Library, Los Angeles Co., CA]

Letters to Mrs. Kent (1921-1923) [Available: Denver Public Library]

The Lincoln Library of Language Arts. 3rd ed. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press, 1978. [Available: Getchell Library: AG 105 L57 1972 Vol. 2, p. 571]

A Literary Chronology of the American West. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1987.

Lone Cowboy (reviews) in:

Brickell, Hershel. "The Literary Landscape." in The North American Review. (Oct. 1930), Vol. 230, no. 4, p. 499. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]
Dobie, J. Frank. in Southwest Review (1930), Vol. 16, p. iii.
Forum and Century (Oct., 1930), Vol. 84, no. 4, p. xvi. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]
Hadley, Grace T. "Lone Cowboy." in Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine. (Sep. 1935), Vol. 88, no. 9, p. 279. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]
"The Literary West." in Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine (May 1932), Vol. 90, no. 4, p.123. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]
Phelps, William L. in Scribner's Magazine (1930), Vol. 88, p. 442. [Available: Getchell Library: AP 2 .S4 1930]

Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults: A Selection of Sketches from 'Something About the Author'. Detroit: GaleResearch, 1993. [Available: WNC-Carson City]

Mattheson, Sue. "Smoky, the Cowhorse: The Beast Fable Goes West." in Bestia: Yearbook of the Beast Fable Society. (May 1990), Vol. 2, pp. 119-124.

Millar, Ruth. "Rogues, Heros, Adventurers and Trailblazers: Will James, A.K.A. Ernest Dufault." in Saskatchewan History (2001), Vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 39-44.

Miller, Bertha and Field, E. W., eds. Newbery Medal Books, 1922-1955. Boston: Horn Book, 1955. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: Z 1035 A13 M5; & at WNC-Carson City]

Montague, D. "Bucked and Battered to Fame." in American Magazine. (May 1931), Vol. 111, p. 78. [Available: Getchell Library: AP 2 .A346 1931]

Montgomery, Elizabeth R. "Thrown Into Writing: Smoky, the Cowhorse--James, 1926," in The Story Behind Modern Books. New York: Dodd Mead, 1949; pp. 89-95. [Available: Getchell Library: PN 1009 .A1 M684]

My First Horse (reviews) in:

Booklist (Feb. 1, 1941), Vol. 37, p. 243.
Christian Science Monitor (Oct. 28, 1940), p. 11. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference Dept., Microfilm N553]
The Horn Book Magazine (Sept. 1940), Vol. 16, p. 340. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1037 .A1 A15 1940]
Library Journal (Oct. 15, 1940), Vol. 65, pp. 846, 878. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 671 .L7 1940]
New York Times (Sept. 22, 1940), p. 12. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference Dept., Microfilm N5]
The New Yorker (Dec. 7, 1940), Vol. 16, p. 126. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference Dept. Microfilm S97]
Saturday Review of Literature (Dec. 14, 1940), Vol. 23, p. 17. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1219 .S25 1940]

National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White, 1949. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: E 176 .N27 Vol. 2]

Nelson, Jane. "Will James, Writer" in Will James: The Spirit of the Cowboy. Casper, WY: Nicolaysen Art Museum, 1985. (Catalog of a Apr. 30-June 2, 1985 exhibition). [Available: Getchell Library, Special Collections: N 6537 .J325 A4 1985]

Obituary in:

New York Times. (9-4-1942) [Available: Getchell Library, Reference Dept. Microfilm N5]
Publishers Weekly (Sep. 12, 1942), Vol. 142, p. 942. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1219 .P98 1942]
Time. (Sep. 14, 1942), Vol. 40, p. 62. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference Microforms: Microfilm S 188]
Wilson Library Bulletin. (Nov. 1942), Vol. 17, p. 176. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1035 .A1 W5 1942]

"Our Family Album." in Ladies' Home Journal. (Nov. 1927), Vol. 44, p. 38. [Available: Getchell Library: AP 2 .L135 1927]

Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PN 1008.5 .C37 1984]

Patterson, Robert. On Our Way: Young Pages from American Autobiography. NY: Holiday House, 1952.

Portrait. in Publishers Weekly. (April 13, 1935), Vol. 127, p. 1507. [Available: Getchell Library: Z1219 .P98 1935]

Robertson, Gene. "On the Beam." The Sun Reporter (San Francisco) (Mar 27, 1971), p. 31.

Robins, Ted. "Cowboys North and South (review)." in Forum and Century. (Apr. 1925), Vol. 73, no. 4, p. 605. [Available: Getchell Library,: AP 2 F8 1925, and in Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]

Roginski, Jim, comp. Newbery and Caldecott Medalists and Honor Book Winners. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1983. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1037 .N653]

Rundell, Walter, Jr. "Will James: The Gilt Edged Cowboy (review)" in Arizona and the West: A Quarterly Journal of History (1968) Vol. 10, pp. 294-295. [Available: Getchell Library: F 806 .A691968]

Scully, Frank. "Will James," in Rogues' Gallery: Profiles of My Eminent Contemporaries. Hollywood: Murray & Gee, 1943. pp. 162-178. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 3537 .C976 R6]

Silvey, Anita, ed. Children's Books and Their Creators. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. [Available: Getchell Library: PN 1009 .A1 C55 1995; also at GBC-Elko and WNC-Carson City]

Something About the Author. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PN 452 .S6 Vol. 19]

St. James Guide to Children's Writers. 5th ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999.

"Sun Up (review)" in Forum and Century. (July 1931), Vol. 86, no. 1, p. 7. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: American Periodicals Series, Microfilm S1b and online in the American Periodicals Series database via the Library web site]

Syracuse Public Library. Gold Star List of American Fiction. 1945-60, 1962-63. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1231 F4 S9]

Tinker, Edward Larocque. The Horsemen of the Americas and the Literature They Inspired. 2nd and Rev. Ed. Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 1967. [Available: Getchell Library: PN 56 H63 T5 1967]

Turner, Frederick. "The Artist Whose Cowboys Were Based Mostly On Himself." in Smithsonian. (Feb. 1988), Vol. 18, no. 11, pp. 168-174, 176, 178-179. [Available: Getchell Library: AS 30 .S6 1988 and Great Basin Clg., Elko]

Turner, Frederick. Of Chiles, Cacti, and Fighting Cocks: Notes on the American West. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1990. [Available: Getchell Library: F 786 .T89 1990]

Twentieth-Century Children's Writers. 1st-4th eds. Detroit: St. James Press, 1995. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PN 451 .T8 1978; & GBC-Elko, WNC-Carson City]

Van Patten, Nathan. An Index to Bibliographies and Bibliographical Contributions Relating to the Work of American and British Authors, 1923-1932. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1934. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1225 .A1 V2]

Vinson, James, ed. Twentieth-Century Western Writers. 1st-2nd eds. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1982. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 271 .T84 1982, and WNC-Carson City]

Wallace, W. Stewart, comp. A Dictionary of North American Authors Deceased before 1950. (reprint ed.) Detroit: Gale Research, 1968. [Available: Getchell Library: PS 128 .W3 1968; p. 234]

Who Was Who among North American Authors, 1921-1939. Detroit: GaleResearch, 1976. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PS 128 .A9, Vol. 1, p. 773]

Who Was Who in America, 1943-1950. Chicago: Marquis, 1963. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: E176 .W64 Vol. 2, and GBC-Elko]

Who Was Who in American Art. Madison, CT: SoundView Press, 1985. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: N 6512 .F26 1985]

Who Was Who in Literature, 1906-1934. Detroit: GaleResearch, 1979. [Available: Getchell Library, Reference: PR 106 .W5 vol. 1]

Who's Who Among North American Authors: Los Angeles: Golden Syndicate, 1929-30, 1933-35, 1936-39. [Available: Getchell Library: Z 1224 .W62 Vols. 4, 6-7]

Who's Who in America. Chicago: Marquis, 1926/27-1944/45. [Available: Getchell Library: E 176 W642 Vols. 14-23]

"Will James." Encyclopedia Student Britannica Online. [Available via the UNR Libraries]

"Will James gets his due at Reno museum - Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada." Sunset (Nov. 1985). [Available: Getchell Library: F 851 S9 1985]

World Authors, 1900-1950. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1996.

Please direct questions about this bibliography to Betty Glass

University Libraries

Please direct questions to Millie Mitchell
Director of Development, University Libraries

University of Nevada, Reno
Updated 29 March 2008

University of Nevada, Reno Libraries