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Western Short Stories
Rich Ritter
Western Short Stories Bio. of Rich Ritter
RICH RITTER discovered a passion for writing during his tumultuous high school years. This zeal was consumed by technical writing during his lifelong profession as an architect until the age of 49, when he began work on his first novel.
Ritter was born in Iowa, raised in the social cauldron of Southern California, completed his Bachelor of Architecture degree (Cal Poly SLO) in Denmark, and has lived in Alaska more than 40 years.
He has travelled the world in search of adventure including East Berlin, Russia, the British Isles, Western Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, Southern Africa, Mexico, Central America, Canada, and the United States, particularly the west. His fascination of Silver City, Idaho inspired him to write Nor Things to Come: A Trilogy of the American West, an endeavor that consumed five years of historical research and writing. Ritter is the author of five books including Toil Under the Sun: A Novel, and Heart of Abigail: A Lyric Novella of Juneau, Douglas and Treadwell_.
Western Short Stories of Rich Ritter
Ten Miles in a Single Day
Rich Ritter
Burly Sam Logan. Born in Texas of impoverished Irish immigrants. Raised as a young boy in Los Angeles before California statehood. Displaced to Sacramento at fourteen to find work. Fluent in Irish, English, and Spanish (but not Chinese). Red hair flaming beneath a well-worn derby. Green-and-black-plaid flannel shirt fluttering across sinewy back muscles. Freshly promoted to crew foreman because of his relentless devotion to the Central Pacific Railroad. Read the full story HERE>>
The Wedding of Priscilla Kimball
by Rich Ritter
Priscilla Kimball—brown pigtails bouncing in the Saturday morning sun, white cotton dress swirling wrinkled across graceful legs, slender arms swinging in exuberant tempo—skipped urgently along the dusty edge of East Temple Street. Now three months beyond the milestone of her fourteenth birthday and full of youthful vigor, she weaved skillfully between muscled working men unloading wood-staved-iron-ringed barrels from an ox-drawn wagon and danced by the eleven neatly-dressed children of a strolling family. Read the full story HERE>>
Joshua and the buffalo Hunter
by Rich Ritter
Riding the feisty appaloosa west on the Oregon Trail, Joshua Hotah fidgeted in the wind-scoured saddle he had purchased in Lincoln, Nebraska, and considered his four years of wandering since leaving Fort Wallace. Sensing a subtle tension on the reins, the appaloosa slowed, and then feeling a slight tug to the right, she swung around to the east. Distracted by an unsettling remembrance, the better part of a minute passed before Joshua noticed that the late afternoon sun now warmed his back instead of his face. Read the full story HERE>>
Last Stand at Beaver Creek
by Rich Ritter
Joshua Hotah patted the neck of his faithful appaloosa, then scratched the strong-willed animal along the base of her coarse mane. The horse tried to step away, but he pulled firmly on the leather reins and coaxed the animal back. The horse pondered Joshua’s youthful face. He stroked the animal’s white-and-brown-spotted nose with a delicate motion. The appaloosa exhaled a defiant snort, but she did not step away this time. Read the full story HERE>>
