author
Arthur Chapman
1873–1935
Best remembered for the much-loved poem "Out Where the West Begins," this American writer helped turn the spirit of the frontier into verse. He was also a journalist and editor whose work brought the language and imagery of the West to a wide audience.
2 Audiobooks
Rustlers beware!
by Arthur Chapman
Mystery Ranch
by Arthur Chapman
About the author
Born in Rockford, Illinois, in 1873, Arthur Chapman built his career as both a newspaperman and a poet. After working in journalism in the Midwest, he moved to Colorado, where his writing became closely tied to the landscapes, humor, and mythology of the American West.
Chapman is most often associated with cowboy poetry, a style that blends plainspoken language with ranch life, open-country imagery, and a strong sense of place. His best-known poem, Out Where the West Begins, became especially popular and helped fix his name in the tradition of Western verse.
Alongside poetry, he worked as a newspaper columnist, editor, and author, publishing fiction and nonfiction as well as verse. He died in 1935, but his work still offers a lively glimpse of how the early twentieth century imagined the West and the people who lived there.