What Western Author Wrote These Classics Quiz

Answer: Charles Portis

"True Grit" was first published as a "Saturday Evening Post" serial in 1968. It was made into a 1969 movie starring John Wayne, for which he won the Best Actor Academy Award. The story revolves around Deputy Marshal Rooster Cogburn, a rough and tough older man who is recruited to bring a killer, Tom Chaney, to justice.

Answer: Glendon Swarthout

"The Shootist" was published in 1975, winning the Spur award for best novel. And a movie followed in 1976, about an aging gunfighter dying of cancer while arranging a last big shootout. This was John Wayne's final movie and is considered by many his finest performance. Swarthout wrote numerous novels, including "Where the Boys Are".

He was inducted into the Western Writers Hall of Fame in 2008.

Answer: Jack Schaefer

Originally called "Rider from Nowhere", "Shane" was published with its final title in 1946. The book takes place in 1880s Wyoming and Shane is a gunfighter helping homesteaders from a rancher trying to force them off their land. It was made into a very popular movie in 1953, starring Alan Ladd as Shane. Schaefer, who also wrote the popular novel "Monte Walsh", was honored with a Newbery Honor Roll in 1961 for the children's book "Old Ramon".

Answer: Walter Van Tilburg Clark

Written in 1940, this was Van Tilburg Clark's first book and it quickly put him high on the list of great western writers. The novel tells the story of the hanging of two men by a mob and how they cope with their guilt when it is found the men were innocent.

In 1943, it was made into an Academy Award nominated movie starring Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan. Clark was the first writer inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1988.

Answer: Owen Wister

"The Virginian" was published in 1902 and is considered the first true western fictional novel ever written. It is loosely based in Wister's experience in Wyoming in the 1880s. Wister was a prolific writer. Besides western related novels, he also wrote many short stories, essays, poetry and even operas and plays.

He was a favorite of Mark Twain and Frederic Remington. "The Virginian" was popular in Hollywood, with movies made in 1914, 1923, 1929, 1946 and 2000, as well as a long running TV series from 1962-1971.

Answer: Zane Grey

"Riders of the Purple Sage" was published in 1912 and was a very complex early western book that reflected the conflicted times in Mormon Utah. It is considered by many as the signature book of Zane Grey. Grey is one of the most recognized western authors.

He wrote more than 90 books and had book sales over 40 million. In addition, 112 films were made from his works. Six different versions of this book were made into films in 1918, 1925, 1931, 1941, and 1996.

Answer: Louis L'Amour

"Hondo" was originally published as the short story titled "The Gift of the Cochise" in Collier's Magazine in 1952 and expanded by L'Amour in 1953 to a novel. Hondo was a gunman who became the protector of a woman raising a young son on a remote Arizona ranch after her husband had been killed by Apaches.

This was L'Amour's first full length novel. L'Amour wrote more than 120 books which have sold more than 270 million copies. Many of his books have been adapted into movies and television series.

Answer: Fran Striker

While George Tendle is sometimes credited with creating the Lone Ranger, it was Striker who wrote all of the scripts and books. In 1933, Tendle gave Striker proper credit. Striker's first novel of the "Lone Ranger" appeared in 1936, and in all he wrote 18 volumes. Once it became a TV series, he wrote 156 scripts a year. He also created the "Green Hornet" and "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon".

Answer: Larry McMurty

"Lonesome Dove" was published in 1985 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction that year. It follows the adventures of some retired Texas Rangers involved in driving a huge herd of cattle from Texas to Montana. The book was the basis for the television miniseries starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, which still rates as one of the most successful miniseries in history. McMurty wrote one sequel and two prequels to "Lonesome Dove", all of which had their own miniseries.

He also wrote "The Last Picture Show" and "Terms of Endearment".

Answer: Will James

Any collection of great western books would be incomplete without one from Will James. "Smoky the Cow Horse" was published in 1926 and won the Newbery Medal in 1927. It is a great tale that follows the life of Smoky from birth until his later days and the man who love his horse. James wrote 25 books during his lifetime and also was an accomplished artist, whose paintings are highly sought after by collectors.

He was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1991.