New Western Magazine, March 1953

Big Western Magazine, March 1953 This issue of *Big Western Magazine* (Vol. 25, No. 4) contains five complete western novelettes and short stories with no serials. The lead novelette, "The Rider from Wind River" by H. A. DeRosso, follows C. A. man Red Cortland as he confronts a carrot-topped range detective amid a series of backshot murders. Van Cort's "Blind Canyon Manhunt" traps protagonist Hepburn between an untrustworthy stranger's promise and a woman's lie. William R. Cox's "Beans and Bullets Free!" depicts seven tough men fighting to own the dilapidated Ratchet spread. Short story contributors include Noel Loomis ("Wheel City Heads West"), Francis Ames ("Boothill Vacation"), A. C. Abbott (noose-themed piece), and Harlan Graves ("The Desert Fighters," reprinted from 1938). An incomplete fragment titled "Boothill Vacation" appears at issue's end, discussing frontier hangings and introducing gravedigger Yank Yost.