Harry Sinclair Drago

Harry Sinclair Drago (March 20, 1887 – October 25, 1979) was an American novelist, screenwriter, and historian, known for his prolific output of Western fiction and his histories of the American Old West. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he published over 100 books, averaging roughly three per year, many under pseudonyms including Stewart Cross, Kirk Deming, Will Ermine, Bliss Lomax, J. Wesley Putnam, and Grant Sinclair. His Western novels were popular enough that President Dwight D. Eisenhower reportedly named Bliss Lomax and Will Ermine—both Drago pen names—as two of his favorite authors.

Early life and journalism career Drago was born on March 20, 1887, in Toledo, Ohio. His first novel, Suzanna: A Romance of Early California, was published in 1922 by The Macaulay Company of New York.

Partial filmography

Out of the Silent North (1922) Playthings of Desire (1924) Whispering Sage (1927) Silver Valley (1927) A Horseman of the Plains (1928) Hello Cheyenne (1928) Painted Post (1928) The Cowboy Kid (1928) The Overland Telegraph (1929) Where East Is East (1929) The Desert Rider (1929) The King of the Kongo (1929) Lotus Lady (1930) Murder in the Library (1933) (from Playthings of Desire) Secret of the Wastelands (1941) Buckskin Frontier (1943) The Leather Burners (1943) Colt Comrades (1943)

Selected bibliography

Novels Suzanna: A Romance of Early California (1922) Out of the Silent North Whispering Sage Trigger Gospel Following the Grass Laramie Rides Alone Montana Road Pay-Off at Black Hawk Guardians of the Sage Where the Loon Calls River of Gold Showdown at Sunset This Way to Hell (1933; as Stewart Cross) The Loner (1956; as Bliss Lomax)

Non-fiction Wild, Woolly & Wicked: The History of the Kansas Cow Towns and the Texas Cattle Trade (1960) Outlaws on Horseback (1964) The Steamboaters: From the Early Side-Wheelers to the Big Packets (1967) The Great Range Wars: Violence on the Grasslands (1970) Canal Days in America: The History and Romance of Old Towpaths and Waterways (1972) Road Agents and Train Robbers: Half a Century of Western Banditry (1973) Great American Cattle Trails: The Story of the Old Cow Paths of the East and the Longhorn Highways of the Plains Lost Bonanzas: Tales of the Legendary Lost Mines of the Old West Notorious Ladies of the Frontier The Legend Makers: Tales of the Old-Time Peace Officers and Desperadoes of the Frontier

Screenplay novelizations Published by A. L. Burt, circa 1929–1932: The Champ Madam Satan Rio Rita The Singer of Seville The Trespasser

Legacy Drago's papers are held at Syracuse University