WE’RE celebrating the works of Canada’s very own Harold F. Cruickshank this month. Mr. Cruickshank launched his career writing stories based loosely on his war experiences. As tastes turned from straight out battle field stories to air war stories, Cruickshank shifted his setting from the trenches to the cockpit. After the Second World War, taste again shifted toward westerns, Cruickshank was right there cranking them out for magazines like 10 Story Western Magazine, Western Short Stories, Texas Rangers, Dime Western, Popular Western, Thrilling Western, New Western Magazine, Wild West Weekly, North-West Romances, Thrilling Ranch Stories, Big Book Western, Rodeo Romances, .44 Western, West, Exciting Western, and Range Riders Western!

Cruickshank wrote 35 stories chronicling the trials and tribulations of Dal and Mary Baldwin carving out their piece of the Wild West in Sun-Bear Valley, Wyoming. Cruickshank was born in Wales and emigrated to Alberta with his father and brother in 1905, establishing a homestead when they settled near Barrhead. Ill health would drive him off the farm when he returned and into Edmonton where he worked for the education department and wrote in his spare time. Cruickshank drew on those years on the farm for his Pioneer Folk stories for Range Riders Western.

Here are the first two in the series:

First we have “Wild King Savagery” from the Spring of 1945 issue in which Dal and his wife find the ideal place to start their life in the wilds of Sun Bear Valley. A perfect spot with everything they could want including the most magnificent wild stallion Dal had ever seen—and a half-breed horse thief who wants to catch it.

Dal Baldwin and His Young Wife Face Bitter Hardships as They Strive to Carve a Home for Themselves Out of the Wilderness!

• Download “Wild King Savagery” (Spring 1945, Range Riders Western)

Cruickshank followed this up with “Challenge of the Wilds” from the Summer issue. Dal and Mary try to get everything in order at their homestead before winter comes when tragedy strikes!

Dal and Mary Baldwin Face Disaster When Their Horse Dies and Their Traps Are Robbed—but Their Courage Lives on!

• Download “Challenge of the Wilds” (Summer 1945, Range Riders Western)

A listing of Harold F Cruickshank’s PIONEER FOLK stories.

title	magazine	date	vol	no
1945
Wild King Savagery	Range Riders Western	Spr	13	1
Challenge of the Wilds	Range Riders Western	Sum	13	2
Spring Borning	Range Riders Western	Fal	13	3
Red Harvest	Range Riders Western	Dec	14	1
1946
Terror Neighbors	Range Riders Western	Feb	14	2
Wilderness Justice	Range Riders Western	Apr	14	3
Squatter’s Law	Range Riders Western	Jun	15	1
Wild Hoof Warfare	Range Riders Western	Aug	15	2
The Valley Beyond	Range Riders Western	Nov	15	3
1947
Stampede Conquest	Range Riders Western	Jan	16	1
Frontier Courage	Range Riders Western	Mar	16	2
Wild King Savagery	Range Riders Western	May	16	3
Death Loops a Widelooper	Range Riders Western	Jul	17	1
Satan Tugs the Jerkline	Range Riders Western	Sep	17	2
Hell and High Water	Range Riders Western	Nov	17	3
1948
Good Neighbor Gunfire	Range Riders Western	Jan	18	1
Frontier Timber Wolves	Range Riders Western	Mar	18	2
The Devil’s Eye	Range Riders Western	May	18	3
Courage in the Craglands	Range Riders Western	Jul	19	1
Death Rides the Freight Trail	Range Riders Western	Sep	19	2
Satan Dabs a Wide Loop	Range Riders Western	Nov	19	3
1949
Drum Thunder	Range Riders Western	Jan	20	1
Showdown	Range Riders Western	Mar	20	2
Satan’s a Bad Neighbor	Range Riders Western	May	20	3
Wild Hoof Battle Loot	Range Riders Western	Jul	21	1
Satan’s Shroud of Death	Range Riders Western	Sep	21	2
Tough Test	Range Riders Western	Nov	21	3
1950
According to Colt	Range Riders Western	Mar	22	2
Rescue	Range Riders Western	May	22	3
The Scars of Victory	Range Riders Western	Aug	23	1
Backfire	Range Riders Western	Oct	23	2
Cupid Packs a Gun	Range Riders Western	Dec	23	3
1951
Buckaroo Bridge Gang	Range Riders Western	Feb	24	1
Dauntless the Pioneer	Range Riders Western	Apr	24	2
1952
Phantom Hoofbeats	Range Riders Western	Jan	25	3