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A Tin Star for a Tenth Anniversary
Celebrating a Decade’s Worth of Saddlebag Dispatches
Welcome to the Summer issue of Saddlebag Dispatches magazine. This issue is themed around Leadville, Colorado, and You’ll see some familiar faces among our feature writers.
Before we get too far into exploring the history and characters of the Boomtown Above the Clouds, though, we’d like to pause to celebrate a birthday—ours, to be precise. That’s right. The very first issue of Saddlebag Dispatches came out ten years ago next month. The brainchild of Dusty Richards, a legendary author who lived and breathed the West, and Casey W. Cowan, an (at the time) admitted Western neophyte whose expertise was in graphic design, started as a small-time e-magazine that few people knew about and even fewer actually read. That being said, it was the start of something new and unique, a magazine combining factual articles on historical Western topics with short-form Western fction from writers across the genre. Nothing quite like it had ever been published before. In the decade since, it has become one of the premier Western magazines in the country, winning multiple awards and attracting readers of all ages from around the globe.
As part of this celebration, we’re pleased to announce that, starting next year, we’ll be adding a third issue of Saddlebag Dispatches to our schedule. Yep, you heard that right—another entire issue chocked full of your favorite Western content from your favorite Western authors. This new schedule will go into effect next year, with new issues coming in April, August, and December.
Wait, wait, wait... did someone mention awards? Boy, howdy, do we have some of those to talk about, as well.
Congratulations are in order for two authors from our Winter 2023 Cochise County issue who have been named finalists for the Will Rogers Medallion Awards in October—W. Michael Farmer for “Finding Fortune” and Michael Norman for “A Death of Crows.”
Moreover, “A Death of Crows” was our winner for the inaugural Longhorn Award for Western Short Fiction. Mr. Norman now sports a custom-engraved silver trophy buckle from Montana Silversmiths in addition to taking home the prize money.
Our Saddlebag Dispatches Marketing Director, Chris Enss, landed a finalist position at the Will Rogers Medallions for her book An Open Secret: The Story of Deadwood’s Most Notorious Bordellos (published by Two Dot), and Western Food Columnist Sherry Monahan is a finalist for Signature Dishes of America: Recipes and Culinary Treasures from Historic Hotels and Restaurants (released by Globe-Pequot). Hats off to both of these talented ladies. It should be mentioned that Chris Enss is also a finalist for Women Writing the West’s 2024 Downing Journalism for her excellent article, “The Attorney Teacher: Sarah Herring Sorin.”
Our very own Saddlebag Dispatches Research Director, Barbara Clouse, is up for a Medallion of her own in the Children’s Illustrated Fiction category for The Healing Lodge, the heartwarming story of a young Native American family who seeks help in saving their dying daughter at a special place where people from diferent tribes came together to help their loved ones feel better.
Last but certainly not least, we’re proud enough to bust our buttons over two of our regular contributors whose books are also up for medallions—Paul Colt for his Lunger: The Doc Holliday Story, and W. Michael Farmer for Desperate Warrior: Days of War, Days of Peace. These two gentlemen are two of the very finest Western writers in the feld today, and deserve every such accolades and more.
While we’re on the subject of contests, we’re looking forward to digging into the entries for our Second Annual Longhorn Prize for Western Short Fiction. The winner will win a custom-engraved trophy belt buckle from Montana Silversmiths. Oh, and did I mention that the winning story will be published in our next issue in mid-December?
Now, on to this issue, which is jam-packed with the kind of stories and histories of the West you love, from some of the very best Western writers around.
First and foremost, we are extremely pleased with the responses and submissions to our annual Western flash fiction competition, The Mustang Award. The winner and runner-up share their winning stories in this issue. Additionally, congratulations are in order for last year’s winner, P.A. O’Neil. Her Mustang winning short story, “The Great Burro Revolt,” featured in last summer’s issue, has been named a fnalist for the 2024 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award for Short Fiction.
What else is in store for you in this issue? Well, let’s see.... We have stories of fortunate miners and not-so-fortunate strikebreakers, rich folks and poor, immigrants, Oscar Wilde, sneaky lawyers, Pinkertons, good men and bad, and some in between,, and a search for a missing man that leads to much more.
Still not enough? Well, don’t go away! We’ve got even more in store for you.
Our features writers take a look at the famous and infamous of Leadville including John “Doc” Holliday, Horace, Augusta, and Baby Doe Tabor, and Marshal Mart Duggan, among others. Also included are the fascinating stories of Laura Bell McDaniel and Chief Ouray of the Ute tribe. Last but certainly not least, we have an exclusive excerpt from Paul Colt’s bestselling novel Lunger: The Doc Holliday Story, recounting Doc Holliday’s time in Leadville—and if you know anything about Doc and his history, you can be sure that time was anything but uneventful.
Apart from Leadville, we also have “Anniversary: Part I,” the first installment in a thrilling new crossover serial novella from New York Times bestselling author Reavis Z. Wortham, and Features Editor George “Clay” Mitchell’s exclusive interviews with both the man behind the Longmire phenomenon, the one and only Craig Johnson, and Rob Word, host of the highly-rated web-show on everything Western, A Word on Westerns.
We have all these and more, so, as usual, pull up a log, have a seat, pour yourself a cup from the camp pot, then settle in for the best in western reading.
