About the author
George Rutherford Montgomery was born on April 12, 1894, North Dakota, and died on July 3, 1985. He is best known in the UK for his Golden Stallion series, which was printed by Hodder & Stoughton. Our local library had copies of the books when I was a child, and I can remember exactly which shelf they were on; tucked in at the bottom on a separate little set of shelves. I read them and re-read them, and loved this exotic world of the American West, in which Charlie Carter owns the palomino stallion, Golden Boy, who runs with a herd of mares on the Bar L ranch. As well as the wonderful Golden Boy, there was also Trey Spot, Charlie’s black saddle mare.
Montgomery learned about animals while growing up at the family farm. He studied for three years at the Western State College of Colorado, and was in the United States Air Corps during World War I, from 1917–18. He worked as a judge from 1932–37, becoming a freelance writer in 1938. Although he is probably best known now for his Golden Stallion series, his most critically acclaimed book was not a horse title. Kildee House was a Newbery Award Honor Book in 1950.
Montgomery had a waspish way with the questions authors are asked time and time again. According to the Gaia Community, when asked “What do you do when you reach a block in your writing?” he tersely replied: “Start another paragraph.”’
Finding the books
Relatively easy to find in both their UK and USA printings.
Links and sources
Some of his papers are kept in the De Grummond Collection
Terri Wear: Horse Stories – An Annotated Bibliography
Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau, Lisa Catz, Fiona Williams and Alison MacCallum for all their help with the pictures.
Series
The Golden Stallion Series
The Capture of the Golden Stallion
The Golden Stallion’s Revenge
The Golden Stallion to the Rescue
The Golden Stallion’s Victory
The Golden Stallion and the Wolf Dog
The Golden Stallion’s Adventure at Redstone
The Golden Stallion and the Mysterious Feud
Bibliography (horse books only)
Midnight, Wild Stallion of the West
H Holt & Co, New York, 1940, illus
Jacob Bates Abbott
Grosset & Dunlap, 1940
Hutchinson, London, 1944
Scholastic, numerous pb editions
The old squatter Sam is accused of stealing
Lady Ebony, but it is years before the truth is
revealed: the horse was stolen by a chestnut
stallion.
Rough Riders Ho!
David McKay, Philaelphia, 1946, illus E Franklin Wittmack
The Capture of the Golden Stallion
Little Brown, Boston, 1951, illus George Giguere
As The Golden Stallion:
Grosset & Dunlap Famous Horse Stories. 1951
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1954, illus George Giguere
First of the series, in which our hero captures the golden stallion.
The Golden Stallion’s Revenge
Little Brown, Boston, 1953, illus George Giguere
Grosset & Dunlap Famous Horse Stories, 1953
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1955, illus George Giguere
White Lion, 1976, hb
Ellen visits the Bar L ranch for the summer. An artist is very keen on Ellen. Charlie, meanwhile, has to search for Golden Boy and
his herd.
The Golden Stallion to the Rescue
Little Brown, Boston, 1954, illus George Giguere
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1956, illus George Giguere
White Lion, 1973, hb
The future of the Bar L Ranch is threatened, and Charlie plays his part in a blinding snowstorm, in a duel with a mountain lion
and in the fight against family troubles.
The Golden Stallion’s Victory
Little Brown, Boston, 1956, illus George Giguere
Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1961
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1957, illus George Giguere
White Lion, London, 1974, 207 pp.
Golden Boy starts stealing mares from a new neighbour’s ranch.
The Golden Stallion and the Wolf Dog
Little Brown, Boston, 1958, illus Percy Leason
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1958, illus Percy Leason
White Lion, 1973, hb, 210 pp.
A wild stallion has been troubling Golden Boy. When Charlie tries to track the
stallion down, he meets a Mexican boy and his wolf dog.
A Horse for Claudia and Dennis
By Natlee Kenoyer and George Rutherford Montgomery, illus Carol Wetmore
Duell, Sloan & Pearce, New York, 1958
The sequel to this story, Claudia’s Five Dollar Horse, Kenoyer wrote alone.
The Golden Stallion’s Adventure at Redstone
Little Brown, Boston, 1959, illus George Giguere
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1960, illus George Giguere
White Lion, 1974, hb
Charlie goes to Redstone to help his Uncle who has been injured. It turns out the
injury was no accident, but an attempt to steal Uncle Martin’s mares.
Snowman
Hawthorn Books, 1962
Duell, Sloan & Pearce, New York, 1962
Harry de Leyer buys a big grey horse who should be capable of carrying the heftier girls who ride at his Knox School. However, the horse he has rescued from slaughter turns out to have rather more to him than Harry expected. This is a true story.
El Blanco: The Legend of the White Stallion
Golden Press, New York, 1961, illus Gloria Stevens
Purnell, London, 1962
The ancient Aztecs worshipped a white stallion they called El Blanco, and believed he brought rain. An old man sees a white colt, and wonders if El Blanco has returned, and will help bring relief to his parched fields. He sends the horse away from the valley, to keep him safe from the horse-hunters.
The Capture of West Wind
Duell, 1962
Young Sioux Gray Eagle has a plan. He wants to capture a pinto stallion to use it as a buffalo horse. The rest of his tribe, however, think of horses just as meat.
Crazy Kill Range
World Publishing Company, 1963, Cleveland, 192 pp, illus Lorence Bjorklund
A black mare escapes from her corral so she can have her foal in seclusion, but she is
captured by a band of wild horses led by Big Baldy, and she and her colt Ebony have to
face the dangers of the wild.
The Stubborn One
Duell, 1965
Brett’s uncle wants to sell his horse Big Red, and the cattle, to turn the ranch into a resort. Brett and his friends try their best to keep the ranch running.
The Golden Stallion and the Mysterious Feud
Little Brown, Boston, 1967, illus Albert Michini
Brockhampton Press, Leicester, 1970, illus Albert Michini
White Lion, 1974, hb
In this, the last Golden Stallion adventure, a new family move into an abandoned
farm next to the Bar L Ranch. The farmer’s son, Matt, likes to make trouble, and
a feud soon erupts. Charlie and Pedro think the evidence all points one way, and
that Matt is guilty, but in the end they find looks can be deceiving.
Big Red, a Wild Stallion
Caldwell, Idaho, 1971, illus Pers Crowell
Eddy and his father are trying to catch the poachers who are after the stallion Big Red. The poachers decide that the only way to get what they want is to rid themselves of their pursuers.
