The Rider of the Ruby Hills: Stories

by Louis L'Amour

A WORD FROM LOUIS L’AMOUR
 
“Almost four decades ago, when my fiction was being published exclusively in ‘pulp’ western magazines, I wrote a number of novel-length stories, known back then as ‘magazine novels.’ In creating them, I lived with my characters so closely that their lives were still as much a part of me as I was of them long after the issues in which they appeared went out of print. Proud as I was of how I presented the characters and their adventures in the pages of the magazines, I wanted to tell the reader more about my people and why they did what they did. So, over the years, I revised and expanded these magazine works into novels that I published as full-length paperbacks under different titles.
 
“These particular early magazine versions of my books have long been a source of considerable speculation and curiosity among many of my readers, so much so of late, that now I’ve decided to bring four of my ‘magazine novels’ back into print in this latest volume of my short fiction.
 
“I hope you enjoy them.”
 
FEATURING
• Showdown Trail
• A Man Called Trent
• The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon
• The Rider of the Ruby Hills

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Classics, Audiobook

416 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1986

About the author

Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".

Reviews

[Willow Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louis L'Amour has a way of making the setting come to life. I can see the hills and valleys and plains, and his books are not so much about the individuals as about the lifestyle in this time and place. You can tell through his writing that he loves the land, and he makes me love it too.

I also have to say that I really loved the author's notes, as I always do. They're always so interesting to read about, and I really love learning about the lives of people in this time period. In fact, I think I'll insert them below, so that I can look back on them in the future.

This book is made up of 4 short stories, but I actually didn't realize until after the 2nd story that these were all short stories that had later been turned into full length books. I could have realized this from the start by simply reading the back, since it says there that these are the stories he originally published in magazines, then later added onto to turn them into full length books. I enjoyed them all, and here's what I thought of each of them (the bold is the title of the short story and the italicised is the title of the book it was turned into).

The Rider of the Ruby Hills - Where the Long Grass Blows
Author's Note: Often the most beautiful parts of western states are only to be found far from highways; a casual traveler can pass through, say, Arizona or Nevada, without being able to see much of what the areas have to offer. For example, in Arizona the great pine forests of the White Mountain area, their running, rushing streams and wild game, lie hidden away from major highways, although the roads through them are usually excellent.

Monument Valley, the San Francisco Mountains, and other places, also lie off the highways.

In Nevada, the beautiful Ruby Mountains lie somewhat to the south of Elko and its highway. The Rubies soar up to 11,000 feet, with several beautiful lakes and the waterfalls of Lamoille Canyon. It is lovely, inspiring country, and every pass and every canyon has its story of Indians, mining, and cattle, of lost mines, buried treasure, and gun battles.

This story was good, and I'd definitely read the full book version of it! It starts off with an accidental horse race between Ross Haney and Sherry Vernon, the former of whom has just come into a town about to burst with tension. He wants to start a cattle ranch, which, as would be expected, doesn't go over well, since the big bosses who've been running cattle on the land don't actually own it. This is probably my 2nd favorite out of all the short stories in this book.

Showdown Trail - The Tall Stranger
Author's Note: Stories are rarely conceived in one piece. Often, just one situation appears, with perhaps a character in that situation. If not, one tries to find a character or characters whose presence would contribute to the drama. Fictionalized events may be chosen in the same way. For example, the trip across the mountain during the terrible thunderstorm like the one in this book happened to me. Not in just that way or at that same place, but I lived through the experience, so when I had to put it on paper I knew what I was writing about

Men and women in the West were nearly always from somewhere else. The West in its beginning at least was not old enigh to have bred grown men. Yet wherever they came from, they brought with them their previous experience, whatever it happened to be, and a man or woman reacted to an event, the reaction would have developed from previous training experience, and temperament.

These people who came west were largely from small towns or farms. Only a few came from cities. Many of the men had already ventured into a wilderness somewhere or had taken part in wars and were accustomed to hardship. They adapted very quickly to new styles of living and to the customs of the people among whom they were to live.

What I have sought from the very beginning was to understand the thinking of the people of the West, to know how they worked and lived. I wished to understand the background against which dramas would be played. One cannot judge the actions of a man on the frontier in Texas by the same measure as one would a man living in New Jersey or Virginia. The thinking of the man on the frontier would be altered by the demands made upon him, as well as by the freedom from society's restrictions. Yet was there was the desire on the part of most westerens for the ameties of the more civilized life they had formerly led.

Unfortunately, perhaps, stories deal with drama, and great drama is always found at the cutting edge, and one is inclined to forget the churches, schools, square dances, sewing circles, box suppers, and other aspects of social living on the frontier. For instance, Dodge City had gunfighters and gunfights, but it also had band concerts and baseball team.

This one was good! I really like oregon trail type stories, so this was right up my alley. It was about a guy named Rock Bannon, and he was accompanying a group of travellers who were heading to California. They had come upon some trouble, and Bannon had helped them out of it multiple times, but they still didn't trust him even though he was just trying to help. Then more trouble comes when Morton Harper smooth talks the travellers into staying where they were, right on some other guy's claim. It was the longest one, and pretty good, although pretty predictable, but I liked it.

A Man Called Trent - The Mountain Valley War
Author's Note: Society has never been comfortable with killers. In times of warfare and troubles they have been tolerated, but have always been discomforting to have around. A marshal or sheriff with such a reputation might be tolerated as long as he was necessary, but as soon as the need passed, most citizens wanted to be rid of him.

Contrary to western motion pictures, nobody went around cultivating a reputation as a gunfighter unless he was a psychopath. A gunfighter was simply a man who was good with a gun. His coordination, his coolness in a tight situation, and his steadiness of nerve and hand also might have been better than others. At a time when gunfighting was the accepted way of settling disputes, a man with a steady hand and eye came up a winner. By the time he had won two or three times, he had a reputation. Some admired him for his ability, but far more were uneasy in his presence.

A man such as Lance Kilkenny would not want such a reputation, and, as in this story, might flee from it. But a reputation is hard to escape in a country of a small but constantly shifting population. Moreover, the motivations and skills that won him the reputation in the first place would always be with him.

There are always those who will ride roughshod over the rights of others if they can make a dollar by doing so, and each one believes he is manifest destiny. But there are always those who will resist. And there are always those who believe that because they have wealth or power, they are different from those without it.

Such people as Jared Tetlow in this story were all too familiar. In Wyoming a number of large ranchers or their superintendents, aided by men who were politically powerful, actually recruited fifty-odd gunfighters to come secretly into Wyoming and kill more than eighty men. The men to be killed were called "rustlers," but as a matter of fact most of them were simply nesters, people who had moved to government land, built cabins, and laid claim to land and waterholes the big cattlemen wanted. So these gunmen were imported for the purpose of committing murder, nothing more nor less.

Sheepmen were often killed by cattlemen because of the mistaken impression that cattle would not feed where sheep were. That this was utter nonsense made no difference. The killings were carried out by self-righteous cattlemen accustomed to the use of power.

These wars were not "made up" by writers. They actually happened and were not infrequent. From the standpoint of ecology, the big cattlemen were closer to being right than the nesters, but that had nothing to do with justice or common decency.

I actually didn't read this one, because I realized that I've already read the book it was turned into, so I didn't feel the need to read the shortened version of that story. I do think I might need to read the book again though, because I don't remember much of it at all. It's part of the Kilkenny series, which I really like, and need to get around to reading the last few books of.

The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon - Son of a Wanted Man
Author's Note: Peach trees have been found growing in several of the canyons branching off from the Grand Canyon; they were probably planted by somebody at some time in the past. I ventured into a box canyon in Arizona at one time, a place enclosed by high cliffs with some sixty acres of fairly level ground in the bottom, a good stand of grass, and about three dozen peach and apricot trees, all old and in bad need of pruning. There was also a half dugout built of logs against the side of a low mound, and a stream about two feet wide running diagonally across the bottom of the canyon.

Somebody had enjoyed a small corner of paradise here, probably for many years. There was an old corral, and my suspicion was that he had kept burros rather than horses.

Not far from Mooney Falls in the Grand Canyon, there are iron ladders spiked to the walls to enable one to climb further down.

This was my favorite story out of all of these, and it was really, really good! It was different too, because it was told from the perspective of those who were considered outlaws, even though they were good people at heart. It was about a man named Mike Bastian who had been adopted and raised at a young age by Ben Curry, the leader of the most notorious and far reaching outlaw gang (it actually reminded me of the mafia, but western version). Since he was a boy he'd been brought up and taught so that he'd be able take over Curry's position as leader of the outlaws, and the book takes place when it's time for him to do just that. This is the definition of morally gray, and I loved it. I definitely want to read the full story version of this one, and I will as soon as I can get my hands on a copy of it.

Here's part of the forward that I liked and want to remember:
The title story of this volume, "The Rider of Ruby Hills," was my first telling of the novel Where the Long Grass Blows. It was also once filmed as The Treasure of Ruby Hills, a movie with Zachary Scott, Carole Matthews, and Raymond Hatton among the players. "Showdown Trail," the original version of The Tall Stranger, was the basis for a movie with the latter title, starring Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo.

"A Man Called Trent" became The Mountain Valley War and is the second in a trilogy of stories about Lance Kilkenny.

"The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon" was the original version of Son of a Wanted Man. In it, I was able to follow in more detail what happened to the various groups of outlaws operating out of their canyon hideout and bring them into contact with two law officers of the time and area, Tyrel Sackett and Borden Chantry, neither of whom is aware that they are distantly related. (Nor did I tell the reader, for that is Another Story!)

I do not think of the protagonists of these or any of my stories as heroes. They are simply people living their lives within the circumstances of their time. Most stories cover only a few hours, days, or weeks in the life of a character. The characters in my stories are people. They are born, they live, and they die. Much happens in the lives of the people you'll meet in the following pages that I haven't told you. Perhaps I'll do that in future books.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Rider of The Ruby Hills" was a short story by Louis L'Amour that he went back and fleshed out to make it into a short novella. I've always wanted to read L'Amour as he is THE writer of Westerns. I wasn't impressed with this at all but I'm not going to give up. The book had a strange journey from it's original version to this and probably wasn't meant to hold the weight of a whole book.

I guess my main complaint is that everything moves too fast and it's unclear why a lot of people do what they do. The motivations of many characters are bizarre and rather suspect. If L'Amour had taken another 300-400 pages to flesh things out, I'll bet I would have liked it more.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read a western for my class. Figured I couldn't go wrong with good 'ole Louis. It was a fun adventure full of exciting gunfights, rugged country, swoon-worthy cowboys, and cows. A nice little treat that I was not expecting.

[Robert Donohue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic

Among my favorite authors, Louis L'amour's never disappoints. As always taught with tension from beginning to end. Pure classic western prose.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is entirely formulaic, but Mr. L'Amour has the formula down. He executes it flawlessly and delivers a good page turning read despite the stock characters and the standard plot that I have read a hundred times before. In the past few years I have read a lot of Western stories because I felt that they are such a key part of American mythology that I needed to understand them better. I have enjoyed some of the iconic ones, in particular The Virginian and Shane, but I have also read others that I hated, including anything by Zane Gray (though this book has some clear similarities to Gray's Riders of the Purple Sage in ways that go beyond the titles). Louis L'Amour ranks somewhere in the upper middle of the scale. I enjoyed Hondo, and this one was decent too. It's not great writing, but it's a fun ride on a fast horse.

[Yibbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rider of the Ruby Hills by Louis L’Amour,
Now, this is what I’ve come to expect from Louis L’Amour. A satisfying story of the struggle of one man against overwhelming odds to secure his land and lady. There is quite a bit of mystery to this one. Everyone is fighting everyone else, but we don't get to know who the mastermind is till the very end.
The ending is has a different twist. It’s not often that...I guess I’ll not spoil it by telling you, but I think you will really like it.
There were a one or two crude or foul words.

[Matt Carmichael · Rating 3 out of 5]

my first louis l'amour was a great ride! perfectly read by jim gough, (who has more of the east texas drawl, than a west texas twang). every thing you want in a western...gunfights, horse chases, beautiful decriptions of wide vistas & big sky country, men with moral codes. giddyup!!

[Bob Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the collection of short stories, Louis lAmour writes the best western stories.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a small collection of L'Amour's short stories that would ultimately
become full-blown novels. They are essentially pulp western stories-lots of
action, really one-dimensional characters who became more complex in the
enlarged editions of these, and of course, girls to impress and land to
settle.

I've sworn off almost all western writers these days; it's been forever
since I read a Zane Grey book, for example. But for some reason, L'Amour
stands a head or two taller than his western author counterparts. Part of
it is the vivid descriptions of the country he wrote about. In this
collection of stories, you see his unabashed conservatism come to light in a
big way. In fact, one of the chapters in one of these stories is called
"The Right to Bear Arms." He expresses the premise here that good
government is the responsibility of all Americans, and that if we are not
all involved in god governance, others will fill that vacuum and will likely
govern with less interest in freedom.

Perhaps the best of the stories here are "The Rider of the Ruby Hills"
because of its description of Nevada, and "A Man Called Trent," the story of
a gunman who simply wants to make a fresh start with a different name than
the one he is most known by.

[John Reis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is short, almost a novella. It also has a very similar plot to Riders of the Dawn.

Ross Haney has decided to settle in the Ruby Hills, near the town of Soledad. As he nears town, he meets Sherry Vernon. They decide to race to town. He wins, by cutting across a field.

He is offered ranching jobs by two different outfits-the Reynolds and Pogue Firms- and turns them down. He has other plans: turning out the other major outfits as they are crooks, having previously strong-armed the original settlers and taken their cattle. He also plans to marry Sherry who is betrothed to Star Leavitt, one of the bad guys.

During the cattle drive, the various factions learn of Haney’s “Gallows” brand and accuse him of rustling from their herds. Leavitt provokes a gun fight. Several hands on both sides die. Leavitt calls in the law. There is a trial. Haney defends himself as he can. There is another gunfight.

This has the same problem as the Riders of the Dawn-too many characters. There are also not enough interactions between Ross and Sherry to make their budding relationship believable. The ending is kind of flat, but the hero does take a bullet.

Audiobook. The other stories were missing.

[Nick Dupree · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story—the audiobook has just the one novella "The Rider of the Ruby Hills," about Ross Haney—is L'Amour at his pulpy best, producing one of his better tales. Ross Haney, our protagonist, isn't that interesting, another one of L'Amour's typical cookie-cutter heroes, cartoonishly hyper-masculine to the point of self-parody at times. The story's value is in its descriptions of the Old Southwest, presumably the foothills of the Ruby Mountains in northeast Nevada Territory, and its atmosphere. Descriptions of stunning landscapes, beautiful horses, saloons, the grizzled old barkeep that doesn't want shotgun shells wrecking his place, that's what keeps you interested. And Sherry Vernon, the strongest female lead I've seen so far in L'Amour's stories. She shines, a bold, humorous, and athletic horsewoman. Ross Haney is much more interesting when he has to deal with her wit and comebacks. There are some annoying moments of Sherry yielding to the villain's nefarious plot, but she's never forced exactly into the unbearable "damsel in distress" role. Overall, it's a fun joyride, one of L'Amour's better pulp fiction efforts.

[Liz Mandeville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Formula Western set in Arizona. The drifter comes to town, meets the most exciting woman around and falls for her. Lots of conflict over water rights, land and the aforementioned woman. In the end it all works out and everyone's happy.

I listened to this book on Audible and I know it was made more likeable by narrator Jim Gough who is the perfect, old western voice to bring life to each character and illustrate the prose beautifully.

Interestingly, I'd just finished a Zane Gray novel, also narrated by Jim Gough. I could see the Western formula at work in both cases but L'Amour's character was much more cerebral than Gray's protagonist. Lots more thinking and character developement, less action.

[Delonna Oskouee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost as good as a Sackett saga!

Typically wonderful plot and characters. Mr. L'Amour is pretty good at setting up villains that seem better than they are, then slowly revealing the truth about them. Lots of twists and turns, Scott surprised me when he took Haney as his prisoner. But it was all part of his strategy to help Haney and keep him safe, no appearing to agree with the bad guys. And even though it doesn't talk about the wedding, we can surmise that Ross and Sherry got married. Because it's a reliable tactic of Mr. L'Amour's for the leading man to win the hand of the leading lady!

[Will Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not L'Amours best work, but not bad for what it is. These aren't great novels, but fun Saturday morning cowboy stories. A nice light read or listen to pass the time. Beautiful scenery, a few fights, men being men and women being women. Not shying away from life's need to scratch and claw your way through it.

Like most books like this, the characters are mostly thin, and not well fleshed out, with heroes and heroines that are smarter, luckier, and tougher than believable, but that's what you expect. Good guys in white hats and bad guys in black ones. Not a lot of gray.

[Oleta Blaylock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another collection of short stories. It includes the original short story that became Mountain Valley War. The title of the short story is A Man Called Trent. The other short stories are The Rider of the Ruby Hills; Showdown Trail and The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon. All the stories are very good and well written.

They were originally written for magazines and Mr. L'Amour cleaned them up and published them in this book. They are worth a read.

[Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read nearly all of the Louis L'Amour books. My taste in stories have changed and found on re-reading this I did not enjoy it as much. The stories are formulaic, and granted the stories have common theme as most of his books. I still think he is a good read, and during Covid shut in worth escaping into.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Lanier with love, fighting, doing what’s right, and friendship. Fun story about a stranger who knows too much, goes for what he wants, and takes down the bad guys on the way. Fun cowboy reading!

[Kaelee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first foray into Louis L'Amour and I listened to it and I loved it. My dad has all the books on his shelf and I've always meant to pick one up. Lucky for me this was one of the only audiobooks on Libby that was available. These seem like perfect in-betweeners.

[Connlou Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

(c)1986 I love western books and I also love Louis L'Amour. Packed full of action. A ruthless man and his hired guns attempt to take over land, people and a town. One man fights back. You have to read this to see how this unfolds and ends.

[Juliet Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting Tale

L amour always excels at describing a place, the sounds, smells, vegetation. Plus surrounding terrain. Makes you imagine clearly the area. Good versus evil is the storyline again. Good wins@ gets the lady too

[William Hubbartt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four short novellas in one action-packed excellent read. For me, Louis L'Amour provides the classics in a well-written style with vivid imagery and description that reveals the character, the locale, his struggles and his efforts to overcome life's challenges.

[Jmrathbone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read half a dozen of L'Amour's books and while this was entertaining, I don't think it was his best work.

[Steve Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and entertaining story - my first L'Amour book!

[Samantha Gould · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not usually a Western fan, but I'm glad I read this. L'Amour is a great story teller.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the sense that these westerns always have an underdog who are motivated by a sense of right, this was a great book. The ending was less abrupt than the typical Louis L'Amour.

[Cameron Reid Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun read. Not his best work, just fun.

[Stuart Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably not one of his best.

[Robert Lariviere · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of good western stories.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book. Ross Haney has it all...what a man.

[Rich Hasler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just entertaining