Anyone who can write about mining towns and mountain men with the same passion he puts into tales of the California gold rush or early Oregon must be an adventurer, a loud boisterous individual who likes to attract attention. Or so you’d think. But Richard S. Wheeler, the West’s foremost historical novelist, is a tall, quiet, unassuming guy who lives in Livingston, Montana, at the edge of the Paradise Valley. A former newspaper reporter and editor, Wheeler has been a full-time novelist

True West January/February 2025