INTRODUCTIONI first discovered the westerns of Wilbur C. Tuttle (1883 – 1969)—who wrote prolifically for the pulp magazines of the early 20th century as W.C. Tuttle—in the pages of Adventure magazine, where he seemed to have a never-ending stream of excellent stories, all set in the old west. In fact, I later discovered he had published almost a thousand novels and stories, nearly all of which were westerns. This makes him one of the most prolific western writers of all time. He was also a prolific screenwriter beginning in the silent era. He wrote the screenplays for 52 films between 1915 and 1945.
Many of his stories featured a hero named Hashknife Hartley, a wandering cowpoke who always seemed to find trouble wherever he went. His best friend and constant companion was “Sleepy” Stevens
