Robert J. Horton

Born in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, on October 6, 1885, Robert J. Horton began his career as an advertising copywriter before moving west. He worked as a journalist in Montana, including as sports editor of the Great Falls Tribune under the byline “Sporticus,” and drew on his travels and varied jobs across the American West for his writing.

Horton sold his first story to Argosy All-Story in 1917 and went on to write extensively for pulp magazines, especially Western Story Magazine. His novels include The Prairie Shrine, Rider O' the Stars, Man of the Desert, and The Two-Gun Kid. He encouraged and advised Walt Coburn, helping launch Coburn’s career in western fiction. Horton died on January 26, 1934, and several of his stories appeared posthumously.