Raymond S. (Raymond Smiley) Spears

Born in Bellevue, Ohio, in 1876, Raymond Smiley Spears wrote western and adventure fiction and also produced nonfiction about outdoor life, travel, and conservation. He was the son of naval historian John R. Spears, and sources note that time spent in the Adirondacks during his youth helped spark his lasting love of the outdoors.

Spears became a prolific magazine writer, publishing in popular adventure and pulp magazines and writing under several names, including Jim Smiley. His work often drew on frontier settings, river travel, wilderness experience, and practical outdoor knowledge, which gave his stories an easy sense of movement and place.

His writing has had a long afterlife in reprints and digital archives, with many of his stories and books now available through Project Gutenberg. Archival collections at the University of Oregon also preserve his papers, including correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, and published work, offering a fuller picture of a busy early 20th-century adventure writer.