Eugene Manlove Rhodes

Born 1869 Tecumseh, NE (USA)

Died 1934-06-27
Pacific Beach, CA (USA)

Buried
Tularosa, NM

Rhodes moved to New Mexico in 1881 with his parents, and spent much of his life in that state. His work was published in newspapers and magazines, including Land of Sunshine, Out West, and McClure's. His longer works were serialized in The Saturday Evening Post and some were later published in book form. Though he was a completely self-taught writer, his western fiction was much admired. A New York Times reviewer considered him a peer of Owen Wister, and historians (Bernard DeVoto, for one) and critics praised his realism and literary skill. Despite his literary success, he was never paid much for his writing and died broke. He was buried, at his own request, at the summit of the San Andres Mountains on the land of his old ranch home.

BYU has a Rhodes manuscript collection and the Alamagordo, NM Public Library has a special collection of his published work.

Rhodes belonged to the special generation of writers of westerns who experienced something of the Old West in its last years, see also George W. Barrington and George Shedd. Other prolific Nebraska writers of the western include Wayne C. Lee and Edwin Booth.

Places Lived

Near Tecumseh, NE (1869-1877)
Kansas
New Mexico
California
New York

Author Of

Fiction

Keywords

Westerns; Short Stories; Serialized Novels

Education

Undergraduate Studies, College of the Pacific, San Jose, CA

Occupation

Miner
Jerk Line Freighter
Road Builder
Ditch and Well Digger
Wrangler
Cowboy
Teacher
Writer

Associations

Collection published by University of Nebraska Press

Bibliography

Good Men and True. 1910.
Bransford in Arcadia. 1914.
West Is West. 1917.
The Desire of the Moth. 1920.
Stepsons of Light. 1921.
Say Now Shibboleth. 1921. (booklet)
Copper Streak Trail. 1922.
Once in the Saddle. 1927. (contains Paso por Aqui)
The Trusty Knaves. 1933.
Beyond the Desert. 1934.
Penalosa. 1934. (booklet)
The Proud Sheriff. 1935.
The Little World Waddies. 1946.
Best Novels and Stories. 1949.

Many stories were published in periodicals and included in collections of stories of the cattle country. Some are also included in:
W. H. Hutchinson's A Bar Cross Man: The Life and Personal Writings of Eugene Manlove Rhodes. 1956.
The Best Novels and Short Stories of Eugene Manlove Rhodes. 1987. (edited by Frank V. Dearing, introduction by J. Frank Dobie, foreword by W.H. Hutchinson., UN Press paperback)

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