The Rustlers of West Fork: A Hopalong Cassidy Novel, by Louis L'Amour

An exciting, suspenseful Western drama, a psychological thriller as Hopalong Cassidy (the good guy) and his handful of cowboys strive to outwit a band of sly and stealthy outlaws who have taken over Cassidy's friends' ranch, home, and lives. The plot includes a harrowing trek across the forbidding peaks of the Mogollon Mountains in unexpected early freezing weather and snowfall, fleeing the crooks and battling Apaches as Hopalong tries to lead a crippled old man and his daughter to safety.

I was only familiar with the character of Hopalong Cassidy from the television shows of the 1950s. As it turns out, the TV shows and movies stemmed from a series of books written by Clarence E. Mulford in the early 20th century. The first of these movies was produced in 1935, featuring William L. Boyd in the leading role, which he continued through the run of movies and TV shows. (Many of us of a certain age have the image of Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy firmly etched in our minds.) In the 1950s, Doubleday Publishing revived the H. C. books to be based on the character as presented by Mr. Boyd, which was considerably different from the rough-talking, hard-drinking cowpoke of Mulford's early novels. Mulford declined to come out of retirement, and handpicked the rising young writer of magazine short stories, Louis L'Amour, to carry the torch. The following four H. C. novels were Mr. L'Amour's first published novels, although they were published under a pseudomyn, Tex Burns. They were The Rustlers of West Fork, Trail to Seven Pines, Riders of High Rock, and Trouble Shooter. Mr. L'Amour went on to write more than 100 novels under his own name, and passed away in 1988.