Richard S. Wheeler

Richard Shaw Wheeler (1935 – February 24, 2019) was an American writer and former newspaper editor. He is best known for his novels set in the American West, including the "Barnaby Skye" series. Wheeler was the 2001 recipient of the Owen Wister Award for lifetime contributions to Western literature, and is a six-time Western Writers of America Spur Award winner.

Early life Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Richard Wheeler was raised in the suburb of Wauwatosa in a family descended from New England Puritans. Wheeler moved to California in the mid-1950s for three years. At first intending to be a playwright, he studied at the Pasadena Playhouse, later taking acting lessons and trying his hand at being a screenwriter. While in California he supported himself by working in a Hollywood record store and as a freelance photographer.

Published novels

Skye's West series

Sun River (1989) Bannack (1989) The Far Tribes (1990) Yellowstone (1990) Bitterroot (1991) Sundance (1992) Wind River (1993) Santa Fe (1994) Rendezvous (1997) Dark Passage (1998) Going Home (2000) Downriver (2001) The Deliverance (2003) The Fire Arrow (2006) The Canyon of Bones (2007) Virgin River (2008) North Star (2009) The Owl Hunt (2010) The First Dance (2011)

Santiago Toole series

The Final Tally (1990) Deuces and Ladies Wild (1991) The Fate (1992) Incident at Fort Keogh (1996)

Rocky Mountain Company series

The Rocky Mountain Company (1991) Cheyenne Winter (2002) Fort Dance (2003)

Sam Flint series

Flint's Gift (1997) Flint's Truth (1990) Flint's Honor (1999)

Cletus Parr series

Big Apple (2004) Bad Apple (2009)

Standalone novels

Pagans in the Pulpit (1979) Bushwack (1978) Beneath the Blue Mountain (1979) Winter Grass (1983) Sam Hook (1986) Dodging Red Cloud (1987) Richard Lamb (1987) Stop (1988) Fools' Coach (1989) Where the River Runs (1990) Montana Hitch (1990) Badlands (1992) Cashbox (1994) Goldfield (1995) Sierra (1996) Second Lives (1997) The Buffalo Commons (1998) Aftershocks (1999) Sun Mountain (1999) Masterson (1999) The Witness (2000) Restitution (2001) The Fields of Eden (2001) Drums Ring (2001) Eclipse (2002) Cutthroat Gulch (2003) The Exile (2003) The Bounty Trail (2004) Vengeance Valley (2004) An Obituary for Major Reno (2004) Trouble in Tombstone (2004) Seven Miles to Sundown (2005) Fire in the Hole (2005) From Hell to Midnight (2006) The Honorable Cody (2006) Snowbound (2010) Yancey's Jackpot (2010) The Richest Hill on Earth (2011) Easy Street (2012) Anything Goes (2015) Easy Pickings (2016) Brass in the Desert (2016)

Awards Spur Award for Best Western Novel – 1989 Spur Award for Best Novel of the West – 1996 Spur Award for Best Western Novel – 2000 Owen Wister Award – 2001 Spur Award for Best Original Mass Market Paperback Novel – 2005 Spur Award for Best Western Short Novel – 2011