Spur Award for Best Western Novel

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This is a list of the works of fiction which have won the Spur Award for Best Western Novel:

  • 1953 - Novel: "Lawman" by Wayne D. Overholser using the pseudonym Lee Leighton
  • 1954 - Novel: "The Violent Land" by Wayne D. Overholser (2)
  • 1955 - Novel: "Somewhere They Die" by L.P. Holmes
  • 1956 - Novel: "High Gun" by Leslie Ernenwein
  • 1957 - Novel: "Buffalo Wagons" by Elmer Kelton
  • 1958 - Novel: "Short Cut to Red River" by Noel Loomis
  • 1959 - Novel: "Long Run" by Nelson C. Nye
  • 1960 - Novel: "The Nameless Breed by Will C. Brown
  • 1961 - Novel: "The Honyocker by Giles A. Lutz
  • 1962 - Novel: "Comanche Captives" by Fred Grove
  • 1963 - Novel: "Follow the Free Wind" by Leigh Brackett
  • 1964 - Novel: "The Trail to Ogallala" by Benjamin Capps
  • 1965 - Novel: "Sam Chance" by Benjamin Capps (2)
  • 1966 - Novel: "My Brother John" by Herbert R. Purdum
  • 1967 - Novel: "The Valdez Horses" by Lee Hoffman
  • 1968 - Novel: "Down the Long Hills" by Louis L'Amour
  • 1969 - Novel: "Tragg's Choice" by Clifton Adams
  • 1970 - Novel: "The Last Days of Wolf Garnett" by Clifton Adams (2)
  • 1971 - Novel: "The Day the Cowboys Quit" by Elmer Kelton (2)
  • 1972 - Novel: "A Killing in Kiowa" by Lewis B. Patten
  • 1973 - Novel: "The Time It Never Rained" by Elmer Kelton (3)
  • 1974 - Novel: "A Hanging in Sweetwater" by Stephen Overholser (son of Wayne D. Overholser)
  • 1975 - Novel: "The Shootist" by Glendon Swarthout
  • 1976 - Novel (tie): "The Spirit Horses" by Lou Cameron and "The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer" by Douglas C. Jones
  • 1977 - Novel: "The Great Horse Race" by Fred Grove (2)
  • 1978 - Novel: "Riders To Cibola" by Norman Zollinger
  • 1979 - Novel: "The Holdouts" by William Decker
  • 1980 - Novel: "The Valiant Women" by Jeanne Williams
  • 1981 - Novel (tie): "Eye of The Hawk" by Elmer Kelton (4) and "Horizon" by Lee Head
  • 1982 - Novel: "Match Race" by Fred Grove (3)
  • 1983 - Novel: "Leaving Kansas" by Frank Roderus
  • 1984 - Novel: no award
  • 1985 - Western Novel: "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry
  • 1986 - Western Novel: "The Blind Corral" by Ralph Robert Beer
  • 1987 - Western Novel: "Skinwalkers" by Tony Hillerman
  • 1988 - Western Novel: "Mattie" by Judy Alter
  • 1989 - Western Novel: "Fool's Coach" by Richard S. Wheeler
  • 1990 - Western Novel: "Sanctuary" by Gary Svee
  • 1991 - Western Novel: "Journal of the Gun Years" by Richard Matheson
  • 1992 - Western Novel: "Nickajack" by Robert J. Conley
  • 1993 - Western Novel: "Friends" by Charles Hackenberry
  • 1994 - Western Novel: "St. Agnes' Stand" by Tom Eidson
  • 1995 - Western Novel: "The Dark Island" by Robert J. Conley (2)
  • 1996 - Western Novel: "Blood of Texas" by Preston Lewis (writing as Will Camp)
  • 1997: W.W.A. changed the time-frame from 'year published' to 'year award presented'
  • 1998 - Western Novel: "The Kiowa Verdict" by Cynthia Haseloff
  • 1999 - Western Novel: "Journey of the Dead" by Loren D. Estleman
  • 2000 - Western Novel: "Masterson" by Richard S. Wheeler (2)
  • 2000 - Western Novel: "Summer of Pearls" by Mike Blakely
  • 2001 - Western Novel: "The Gates of the Alamo" by Stephen Harrigan
  • 2002 - Western Novel: "The Way of The Coyote" by Elmer Kelton (5)
  • 2003 - Western Novel: "The Chili Queen" by Sandra Dallas
  • 2004 - Western Novel: "I Should Be Extremely Happy In Your Company" By Brian Hall
  • 2005 - Western Novel: "Buy The Chief A Cadillac" by Rick Steber
  • 2006 - Western Novel (tie): "Camp Ford: A Western Story" by Johnny D. Boggs and "The Undertaker's Wife" by Loren D. Estleman (2)
  • 2007 - Best Western Short Novel: "The Shape Shifter" by Tony Hillerman (2)
  • 2008 - Best Western Short Novel: "Tallgrass" By Sandra Dallas (2)
  • 2009 - Best Western Short Novel: "Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson
  • 2010 - Best Western Short Novel: "Far Bright Star" by Robert Olmstead
  • 2011 - Best Western Short Novel: "Snowbound" by Richard S. Wheeler (3)
  • 2012 - Best Western Short Novel: "Legacy of a Lawman" by Johnny D. Boggs
  • 2013 - Best Western Short Novel: "Tucker's Reckoning" by Matthew Mayo
  • 2019 - Best Western Contemporary Novel: "The Flicker of Old Dreams" by Susan Henderson


  • 10 authors have won the award on more than one occasion: Elmer Kelton (5): 1957, 1971, 1973, 1981, 2002; (3) each for: Fred Grove 1962, 1977, 1982; Richard S. Wheeler 1989, 2000, 2011; (2) each for: Clifton Adams 1969, 1970; Benjamin Capps 1964, 1965; Robert J. Conley 1992, 1995; Sandra Dallas 2003, 2008; Loren D. Estleman 1999, 2006; Tony Hillerman 1987, 2007; Wayne D. Overholser 1953, 1954;