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James
Willard Schultz was born in Boonville, New York, and even as a
young lad always wanted to go West. He did so as an 18 year
old in 1877, stepping off a steamboat at the levee in Fort Benton
on the upper Missouri River. Befriended by the noted trader
and scout, Joe Kipp, Schultz lived the the Blackfoot during the
final years of the buffalo days, going on buffalo hunts,
skirmishing with the Crows and the Assiniboines, going on
horse-taking raids, and even marrying a Blackfoot woman.
In later years, Schultz became a noted storyteller
and writer, publishing 37 books between 1907 and 1940. He
also wrote many stories for magazines which were written in
installments over a number of issues. One not published
during his lifetime in book forms was "The Wolfers -
Woodhawking upon the Upper Missouri," an adventure story
appearing in American Boy in 1922-1923. It reveals Schultz
in all of his strength as a writer who loved the life he depicts
and captures the spirit of the times in a way that excites the
reader and breathes of authenticity.
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