author
William Bigelow Neal
A North Dakota rancher-turned-writer, he built his stories out of prairie weather, wildlife, and the hard realities of frontier life. His fiction and magazine work carry the feel of someone who knew the land firsthand.
1 Audiobook
The field of amber gold
by William Bigelow Neal
About the author
Born in Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1891, William Bigelow Neal was the son of Eugene Snow Neal and Nellie Bigelow Neal. He attended North Dakota Agricultural College for three years and later owned a ranch near Garrison, experiences that shaped the plainspoken, outdoors-centered writing he became known for.
Neal wrote fiction rooted in the northern plains and was especially associated with wildlife and frontier stories. His work appeared in popular magazines, and he is credited with books including The Field of Amber Gold, Valley of the Dammed, and Last of the Thundering Herd.
He died in 1962 in Ward County, North Dakota. Archival material connected to his life and work is preserved in the Bigelow Neal Collection at North Dakota State University, a reminder of his place in the literary history of the region.