Ernest Haycox

Born in Portland, Oregon, in 1899, Ernest Haycox became one of the most important Western writers of the first half of the twentieth century. Reliable reference sources describe him as a prolific author of Western novels and short stories, and note that he remained closely tied to Oregon throughout his life.

Haycox wrote with an eye for pace, history, and believable characters, which helped broaden the appeal of Western fiction beyond the magazines where much of it first appeared. The Oregon Encyclopedia credits him with an important role in the development of the popular Western, while standard reference sources also note the scale of his output: dozens of stories and many novels over a relatively short career.

He died in 1950, but his reputation lasted well beyond his lifetime. Readers still return to his work for its mix of frontier action and human detail, and his influence can be seen in the way later Western fiction aimed for both excitement and literary craft.