B. M. Bower

Born Bertha Muzzy in Minnesota in 1871, she became widely known under the pen name B. M. Bower. As a child she moved with her family to Montana, and that firsthand knowledge of ranch life gave her fiction a lived-in, convincing quality that set it apart from more fanciful western tales.

She wrote novels, short stories, and screenplays centered on the American West, and became especially associated with the Flying U Ranch books, including Chip of the Flying U. Her stories often focused on working cowboys, practical ranch routines, and the humor and relationships of everyday western life.

Bower built a remarkably successful writing career at a time when few women were identified with western fiction, and her work remains an important part of the genre's early history. She died in Los Angeles in 1940.