James, Will - Jane Badger Books

About the author

Will James (1892–1942) wrote and illustrated 24 horse stories in the first half of the 20th century. He was born Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault in Quebec, Canada in 1892, and was an average student who constantly drew horses and cowboys. He left home to become a cowboy, reinventing himself with several new names until he settled on Will James.

After a short time in jail after a shooting, he moved to America, with a new invented background as an American. He was imprisoned for rustling cattle, and after he was released, worked as a stunt man in films and served in the US Army. In 1919, he enrolled in the California School of Fine Arts, but found the teaching style did not suit him. His wife encouraged him to write and draw, and the magazine Sunset bought a series of his drawings, publishing them in 1920. Scribner’s Magazine started publishing his stories in 1923, and James’ literary career was launched.

He produced a series of very popular books, and wrote his “autobiography” Lone Cowboy – My Story, in 1930. Some of it was fiction: his real background in Canada was completely ignored. The strain of keeping his real origins secret, when so much of his fame, as he saw it, depended on his “real” cowboy background, was enormous. His life continued in drama: he had problems with drink, his wife left him, and he died from alcoholic complications in 1942.

Ironically, his fame now rests on his depictions of the cowboy life he really did experience, and not on his supposed history. His books were written in cowboy vernacular – he wrote as he presumably spoke. As a first-time James reader, I found the vernacular difficult, but once I’d got my ear in I found the book well worth the effort.

Perhaps his best known story in the UK is Smoky, which was a Newbery Medal winner. It was published as a Penguin paperback in their first run of children’s stories. Smoky was one of K M Peyton’s favourite stories, and she chose to include an excerpt from it in the selection of short stories and excerpts she edited for Puffin: The Puffin Book of Horse and Pony Stories (1993).

Will James wrote for all ages, and thanks to the wondrous Terri Wear, I have been able to attach a suggested age range to quite a few of his books. His books were reprinted many times, and I have included the first editions and current printings only in the bibliographies, unless I’ve come across other editions myself.

Finding the books
If you want first editions, most titles as far as I can see were published in the UK and America at the same time – these will generally be very expensive if in very good condition, always providing you can find them. His most famous book, Smoky, was reprinted many times, and most of the reprints are easy to find. Mountain Press have re-issued all his titles (many in hardback), so they can all be bought new.

Links and sources
Allen Jensen on Will James as a Canadian at Canadian Country Magazine
Will James in the Nevada Writers’ Hall of Fame
The Will James collection of images at Yellowstone Museum
C M Russell Museum on Will James
A little of Will James’ artwork at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage
There is a society devoted to Will James: the Will James Society
Buy Will James’ books here at Mountain Press Publishing Company
Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibliography, Scarecrow Press, 1987

Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau for all her help and to Lisa Catz and Alison for the photographs of the earlier editions. There are many more printings than I’ve mentioned; I’ve just listed the first edition and the one that’s in print. Many thanks to the Mountain Press Publishing Company, who have republished all of James’ works, for allowing me to use their photographs to illustrate this feature.

Series

Uncle Bill series
Uncle Bill, a Tale of Two Kids and a Cowboy
Look-See With Uncle BillI
In the Saddle with Uncle Bill

Rear of *Smoky,* Grosset and Dunlap edition

Bibliography (horse books only)

Sun Up – Tales of the Cow Camps

Grosset & Dunlap, 1923, illus the author
Mountain Press, pb, 1997
Recommended for adults.

A collection of short stories

The Drifting Cowboy

Scribner’s, New York & London,1925, illus the author
Mountain Press, pb, 1997

I assume this is recommended for adults.

A collection of seven stories about Bill the cowboy, who travels from Montana to Arizona.

Smoky the Cowhorse

Scribners, New York & London, 1926,
illus the author
Grosset & Dunlap
Puffin, 1945
Mountain Press, 2000

Recommended for juniors.

Smoky is a mouse-coloured horse who attracts the interest of a bronc twister called Clint. Clint trains him and turns him into a brilliant ranch horse. It all goes wrong when Smokey is stolen, abused, and used in the rodeo.

Cow Country

Scribners, New York, 1927, illus the author
Grosset & Dunlap, New York,
The Mountain Press, pb, 1996

I assume this is recommended for adults.

A collection of eight short stories.

Sand

Grosset & Dunlap, 1929, illus the author
Mountain Press, 1996

Recommended for adults.

Tilden has overdone it rather while living in the city. After a particularly wild night, he stumbles into a cow camp. He decides to stay and get clean the cowboy way, while catching and training a wild black stallion.

Big-Enough

Scribner, 1931, illus the author
Mountain Press, 1997

Technically a book for adults, but recommended for younger readers too.

Billy and Big-Enough are the same age. They learn together (Billy through reading saddle catalogues) until Billy and Big-Enough set out to see the world.

Uncle Bill, a Tale of Two Kids and a Cowboy

Scribner, New York, 1932, illus the author
Mountain Press, pb, 1998
Recommended for juniors.

Uncle Bill teaches Scootie and Kip how to work cattle and ride while they’re visiting their uncle’s ranch.

The Three Mustangeers

Scribner, New York, 1933, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb and pb, 1999

Andy, Stub and Hugh aren’t amongst the most honest of cowboys, but try to start an honest ranch.

In the Saddle with Uncle Bill

Scribner, New York, 1935, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb and pb, 2001

Recommended for juniors.

Uncle Bill, Kip and Scootie are chasing some range horses, but they get separated. It all gets worse when they manage to lose their own horses, but they manage to survive.

Home Ranch

Scribner, New York, 1935, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb and pb, 1999

John B Mitchell started out in life with nothing but a saddle and a long rope. So, he roped someone else’s cattle and took them off to start his own ranch.

Young Cowboy

(a combination of Big Enough and Sun Up)
Scribner, New York, 1935, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb, 2000

Recommended for juniors.

Scorpion – a Good Bad Horse

Scribner, New York, 1936, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb and pb, 2001
Recommended for adults.

Some train bandits have stolen money from a train. They are stolen from in their turn when Tim holds them up. He gets away on a chestnut horse called Scorpion. The horse is one of those who is good, and then bad, but that all turns round when he meets the Bernard family.

Cowboy in the Making

Scribner, New York, 1937, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb, 2001

This is a coming-of-age story, taking Billy from the age of 4, and through his life in north Canada with Bopy, an old trapper.

Look See With Uncle Bill

Scribner, New York, 1938, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb and pb, 2002

Aimed at children.

Another Kip and Scootie story. They’ve been studying during the winter in their city home, and they’re ready for another western summer. Of course there is drama: on their first night a mighty thunderstorm spooks the herd, and Kip and six of the bulls are lost.

Flint Spears – Cowboy Rodeo Contestant

Scribner, New York, 1938, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb and pb, 2002

Flint Spears is working at being the best all-around cowboy on the rodeo circuit.

Will James Cowboy Book

Scribner, New York, 1938, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb, 2003

This is a collection of short stories, originally published as a supplemental reader in Texas.

Dark Horse

Grosset & Dunlap, 1939
Mountain Press, pb, 2003

Technically a book for adults, but recommended for younger readers too.

Two horses escape into the wild. One is a Thoroughbred and the other is a wild horse.

Horses I’ve Known

Scribner, 1940, illus the author
Mountain Press, pb, 2004

A collection of short stories. Technically a book for adults, but recommended for younger readers too.

My First Horse

Scribner, 1940, illus the author
Mountain Press, hb, 2003

The first horses in this book are all model horses or toys, as a boy reminisces about the first horses in his life, which he cared for as if they were real.