An Obituary for Major Reno

An Obituary for Major Reno
Author: Richard S. Wheeler
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2005-11-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1429940336

Major Marcus Reno is a controversal figure, a man accused of being responsible for the worst disaster ever to befall the army of the United States. He had been one of George Armstrong Custer's senior officers when Custer and over 200 men in his command were annihilated by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors above the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory. While declared by his superiors innocent of wrong-doing in the terrible battle, Marcus Reno's honor -the most precious word in his vocabulary - was blackened in the press and by his fellow officers and other Custer idolators. For thirteen years Reno has lived with this stain on his reputation. Now, with time running out, suffering from painful cancer, Reno wants his honor restored. He arranges to give a final newspaper interview to New York Herald correspondent Joseph Richler. Richler, captivated by this officer and gentleman, promises the dying Major that he will write the whole story of Reno's conduct in battle and its aftermath. Richler learns that Reno was tortured by the death of his beloved wife, hell-bent toward self-destruction by alcohol, and plagued by a peculiar dual personality -- decisive and in control on the battlefield, yet unable to win the respect of his fellow officers. In An Obituary for Major Reno, Richard S. Wheeler, a master of the biographical novel, provides a brilliant reconstruction of the Custer battle and Marcus Reno's subsequent courts martial for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman," and brings to life a beleaguered man and his search to restore his lost honor.

Custer, the Seventh Cavalry, and the Little Big Horn

Custer, the Seventh Cavalry, and the Little Big Horn
Author: Mike O'Keefe
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Total Pages: 946
Release: 2012-11-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 0806188146

Since the shocking news first broke in 1876 of the Seventh Cavalry’s disastrous defeat at the Little Big Horn, fascination with the battle—and with Lieutenant George Armstrong Custer—has never ceased. Widespread interest in the subject has spawned a vast outpouring of literature, which only increases with time. This two-volume bibliography of Custer literature is the first to be published in some twenty-five years and the most complete ever assembled. Drawing on years of research, Michael O’Keefe has compiled entries for roughly 3,000 books and 7,000 articles and pamphlets. Covering both nonfiction and fiction (but not juvenile literature), the bibliography focuses on events beginning with Custer’s tenure at West Point during the 1850s and ending with the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. Included within this span are Custer’s experiences in the Civil War and in Texas, the 1873 Yellowstone and 1874 Black Hills expeditions, the Great Sioux War of 1876–77, and the Seventh Cavalry’s pursuit of the Nez Perces in 1877. The literature on Custer, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and the Seventh Cavalry touches the entire American saga of exploration, conflict, and settlement in the West, including virtually all Plains Indian tribes, the frontier army, railroading, mining, and trading. Hence this bibliography will be a valuable resource for a broad audience of historians, librarians, collectors, and Custer enthusiasts.

Reno and Apsaalooka Survive Custer

Reno and Apsaalooka Survive Custer
Author: Ottie W. Reno
Publisher: Associated University Presses
Total Pages: 348
Release: 1997
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780845348628

This book deals with the life of Major Marcus A. Reno, who was dismissed from the U.S. Army in 1880, and the subsequent effort by his relatives and other Civil War buffs to reopen his case and restore him to his rank.

Chasing the Sun

Chasing the Sun
Author: Edward Joseph Beverly
Publisher: Sunstone Press
Total Pages: 502
Release: 2008
Genre: Western stories
ISBN: 0865346038

"Chasing the Sun" is a guide to Western fiction with more than 1,350 entries, including 59 reviews of the author's personal favorites, organized around theme.

An Accidental Novelist

An Accidental Novelist
Author: Richard S. Wheeler
Publisher: Sunstone Press
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2012-01-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1611390621

In his early forties, Richard Wheeler had never given a thought to writing fiction. By his early seventies, he had written sixty novels. And these were being published while he was climbing the masts of a sinking ship. This late-in-life novelist didn’t tackle high literature, but the sweaty world of genre fiction, where the publishers’ advances barely paid the rent. He wrote western fiction, and when that genre began to ship water, he leapt over to historical novels, and finally biographical novels, where he found himself in an odd literary corner, without competition. This is a memoir of literary struggle, of agents and editors, of jackets and publicity and book tours. This is also a story about the astonishing help he received along the way from friends, best-selling novelists, agents, editors, and publishers. Writing may be a lonely profession, but Wheeler discovered that the world of genre fiction writers is populated with caring and wise colleagues. Here, Wheeler evokes his early struggles, which somehow prepared him for a life as a successful novelist. He discusses shattered dreams and sudden joys. And running through his narrative is his passion to write about the West in new ways. RICHARD S. WHEELER is the author of sixty novels of the West, the winner of five Spur Awards, and the recipient of the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement in the literature of the American West. Many of his novels are now in trade paperback editions from Sunstone Press.

Stone Song

Stone Song
Author: Win Blevins
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2006-04-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780765314970

Of all the great warriors of Native America, Crazy Horse remains the most enigmatic. Scorned from his childhood for his light hair, he was a man who spurned the love of finery and honors so characteristic of Lakota Sioux warriors. Despite these differences, Crazy Horse led his people to their greatest victory at the Battle of the Little Big Horn where General Custer fell. Crazy Horse's entire life was a triumph of the spirit. In youth, Crazy Horse was set aside by his powerful vision of Rider, the spiritual expression of his future greatness, and by the passion and grief of his overwhelming love for a woman. It was only in battle that his heart could find rest. As his world crumbled, Crazy Horse managed to find his way in harmony with the age-old wisdom of the Lakota—and to beat the US Army on its own terms. He lived, and died, his own man.

The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer

The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer
Author: Thom Hatch
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2015-02-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 146685197X

In this thrilling narrative history of George Armstrong Custer's death at the Little Bighorn, award-winning historian Thom Hatch puts to rest the questions and conspiracies that have made Custer's last stand one of the most misunderstood events in American history. While numerous historians have investigated the battle, what happened on those plains hundreds of miles from even a whisper of civilization has been obscured by intrigue and deception starting with the very first shots fired. Custer's death and the defeat of the 7th Calvary by the Sioux was a shock to a nation that had come to believe that its westward expansion was a matter of destiny. While the first reports defended Custer, many have come to judge him by this single event, leveling claims of racism, disobedience, and incompetence. These false claims unjustly color Custer's otherwise extraordinarily life and fall far short of encompassing his service to his country. By reexamining the facts and putting Custer within the context of his time and his career as a soldier, Hatch's The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer reveals the untold and controversial truth of what really happened in the valley of the Little Bighorn, making it the definitive history of Custer's last stand. This history of charging cavalry, desperate defenses, and malicious intrigue finally sets the record straight for one of history's most dynamic and misunderstood figures.

An Obituary for Major Reno

An Obituary for Major Reno
Author: Richard S. Wheeler
Publisher: Forge Books
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2005-11-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780765346353

Marcus Reno is a pariah, a controversial figure accused of being responsible for the worst disaster ever to befall the army of the United States. Thirteen years past, he was one of George Armstrong Custer’s senior officers when Custer and over 200 men in his command were annihilated by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors above the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory.Now, in the spring of 1889, Major Reno is dying and wants to tell the real story of the Custer battle and wants his honor–the most precious word in his vocabulary--restored. Richard S. Wheeler, a master of the biographical novel, provides a brilliant reconstruction of the Custer battle and Marcus Reno’s subsequent courts martial for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman," and brings to life a tortured man searching for peace and respect.

Going Home and Downriver

Going Home and Downriver
Author: Richard S. Wheeler
Publisher: Forge Books
Total Pages: 673
Release: 2017-06-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0765391651

Going home: Barnaby Skye is a "free trapper" in the Rockies. With his devoted Crow wife, Victoria, an eccentric botanist named Alistair Nutmeg, and a stray dog, Skye makes his way west to begin the long journey home to England. Fighting Mexican bandits and Pacific coast Indians along the way, battling thirst and hunger, Skye learns where home really is and what honor really means. / Downriver: At the trapper's rendezvous in Wyoming, in 1838, Barnaby Skye, seaman-deserter from the Royal Navy, is offered an opportunity to become a post trader in his Crow Indian wife's homeland. He begins the journey to St. Louis to present himself as a candidate for the job and undergoes a lesson in survival on a Missouri River steamboat.

Dark Passage

Dark Passage
Author: Richard S. Wheeler
Publisher: Forge Books
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2007-07-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1466828684

It is 1831 and Barnaby Skye, a deserter from the British Royal Navy and now a seasoned trapper in the Rocky Mountains, accompanies his Crow wife, Mary Quill Woman--whom he calls "Victoria"--to her village on the Yellowstone River. Victoria--unhappy with her husband's drinking and his unwillingness to join her people's fight against their sworn enemies, the Blackfeeet--succumbs to the entreaties of Jim Beckwourth, the much-honored and wealthy mulatto war chief of the Crow People. But when Victoria is abducted by the Bloods, the deadliest band of Blackfeet, Skye trails her across the border into Canada, where he is still wanted for deserting his ship at Fort Vancouver four years ago. But the Bloods are a deadly force, and Skye must face his fiercest battle ever to win her freedom and her heart. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.