Savage Land — Fred Grove

Fred Grove's Indian heritage (Osage and Sioux) and his lifelong love of horses bring to his Western stories a unique point of view and authenticity. Add to this his painstaking attention to historical detail and it is little wonder that he won five Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America, two Western Heritage Wrangler Awards (one for "Comanche Son" collected here), and the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award for lifetime achievement. "The Mystery Dogs" concerns a Navajo slave boy. He believes he will die as his Spanish masters threaten, if he dare approach their horses, yet he painfully works up the courage to mount one, and instead of death, experiences the incredible glory of riding to freedom. "The Deadly Friends" has a lieutenant new to the frontier escort a Cheyenne hunting party from the reservation and run into big trouble with hide hunters. A brave young woman in "Satan's Saddlemate" opens the eyes of a lieutenant who doesn't see why anyone would want to stay in what seems to him a desolate land plagued by Comanches. "Price of the Bride" has a beautiful Cheyenne girl entrusted by her father to a white man he believes will cherish her, although a rich and sore loser offered more ponies. As Jeanne Williams writes in her Foreword to these stories: When urged to write a long "big" novel, Fred would grin in his boyish way and say he was best with the quarter mile. He was indeed, but his short stories and novels create a rich panorama as wide-ranging and spirited as the West he loved. Fred Grove was born in Hominy, Oklahoma.