George Rutherford Montgomery
The Golden Stallion Series
The Capture of the Golden Stallion
The Golden Stallion’s Revenge
The Golden Stallion to the Rescue
The Golden Stallion’s Victory
The Golden Stallion and the Wolf Dog
The Golden Stallion’s Adventure at Redstone
The Golden Stallion and the Mysterious Feud
Midnight, Wild Stallion of the West
H Holt & Co, New York, 1940, illus Jacob Bates Abbott
Grosset & Dunlap Famous Horse
Stories picture cover edition 1940
Hutchinson, London, 1944
The old squatter Sam is accused of stealing Lady Ebony, but it is years before the
truth is revealed: the
horse was stolen by a chestnut stallion.
Rough Riders Ho!
David McKay, Philaelphia, 1946, illus E Franklin Wittmack
The Capture of the Golden Stallion
Little Brown, Boston, 1951, illus George Giguere
As The Golden Stallion: Grosset
& Dunlap Famous Horse Stories picture cover edition 1951
Hodder & Stoughton, London,
1954, illus George Giguere
George Rutherford Montgomery was born on April 12, 1894, North Dakota, and died on
July 3, 1985. He is best known in the UK for his Golden Stallion series, which was
printed by Hodder & Stoughton. Our local library had copies of the books when I
was a child, and I can remember exactly which shelf they were on; tucked in at the
bottom on a little separate set of shelves. I read them and re-
Rutherford’s most critically acclaimed book was not a horse title: Kildee House was a Newbery Award Honor Book in 1950. According to the Gaia Community, ‘when asked “What do you do when you reach a block in your writing?” he tersely replied: “Start another paragraph.”’
Montgomery learned about animals while growing up at the family farm. He studied
for three years at the Western State College of Colorado, and was in the United States
Air Corps during the First World War, from 1917-
Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau, Lisa Catz, Fiona Williams and Alison MacCallum for
all their help with the pictures.
Sources: Some of his papers are kept in the De
Grummond Collection, University of Southern Mississippi.
Terri Wear: Horse Stories -
Right -
Bibliography -
The Golden Stallion’s Revenge
Little Brown, Boston, 1953, illus George Giguere
Grosset & Dunlap Famous Horse Stories
picture cover edition 1953
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1955, illus George Giguere
White Lion, 1976, hb
Ellen visits the Bar L ranch for the summer. An artist is very keen on
Ellen. Charlie,
meanwhile, has to search for Golden Boy and his herd.
The Golden Stallion to the Rescue
Little Brown, Boston, 1954, illus George Giguere
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1956, illus George Giguere
White Lion, 1973, hb
Many thanks to Cherie Goninon and Lisa Catz for pictures.
The future of the Bar L Ranch is threatened, and Charlie plays his
part in a blinding
snowstorm, in a duel with a mountain lion and in the
fight against family troubles.
The Golden Stallion’s Victory
Little Brown, Boston, 1956, illus George Giguere
Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1961
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1957, illus George Giguere
White Lion, 1974
Golden Boy starts stealing mares from a new neighbour’s ranch.
The Golden Stallion and the Wolf Dog
Little Brown, Boston, 1958, illus Percy Leason
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1958, illus Percy Leason
White Lion, 1973, hb
A wild stallion has been troubling Golden Boy. When Charlie tries to track the stallion
down,
he meets a Mexican boy and his wolf dog.
A Horse for Claudia and Dennis
By Kenoyer, Natlee, and Montgomery, George Rutherford, illus Carol Wetmore
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce, New York, 1958
The sequel to this story, Claudia's Five Dollar Horse, Kenoyer wrote alone. It has
much better artwork,
by Everett Raymond Kinstler.
Many thanks to Susan Bourgeau for the picture.
The Golden Stallion’s Adventure at Redstone
Little Brown, Boston, 1959, illus George Giguere
Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1960, illus George Giguere
White Lion, 1974, hb
Charlie goes to Redstone to help his Uncle who has been injured. It turns out the
injury was no accident, but
an attempt to steal Uncle Martin’s mares.
Snowman
Hawthorn Books, 1962 (also another listed in the National Library of Congress:
Duell,
Sloan & Pearce, New York, 1962)
Harry de Leyer buys a big grey horse who should be capable of carrying the heftier
girls who ride at his
Knox School. However, the horse he has rescued from slaughter
turns out to have rather more to him
than Harry expected.
El Blanco: The Legend of the White Stallion
Golden Press, New York, 1961, illus Gloria
Stevens
Purnell, London, 1962
“The ancient Aztecs had worshipped a white stallion that they called El Blanco, and
believed he brought the rain.
Now an old man stands amid the stones of an ancient
Aztec temple, and watches as a silvery-
the first time. The
old man thinks of his parched fields, and wonders if El Blanco has returned again.
He sends the
horse away from the valley, to keep him safe from the horse-
stallion, and the leader of his own
herd, one day he returns to the valley where he meets Lopez, the horse-
in
a test of cunning and strength.”
The Golden Stallion and the Mysterious Feud
Little Brown, Boston, 1967, illus Albert
Michini
Brockhampton Press, Leicester, 1970, illus Albert Michini
White Lion, 1974, hb
Big Red, a Wild Stallion
Caldwell, Idaho, 1971, illus Pers Crowell
Eddy and his father are trying to catch the poachers who are after the stallion Big
Red. The poachers
decide that they only way to get what they want is to rid themselves
of their pursuers.
In this, the last Golden Stallion adventure, a new family move into an abandoned farm next to the Bar L Ranch. The farmer’s son, Matt, likes to make trouble, and a feud soon erupts. Charlie and Pedro think the evidence all points one way: Matt is guilty, but in the end they find looks can be deceiving.
Crazy Kill Range
World Publishing Company, 1963, Cleveland, 192 pp, illus Lorence
Bjorklund
A black mare escapes from her corral so she can have her foal in seclusion, but she is captured by a band of wild horses led by Big Baldy, and she and her colt Ebony have to face the dangers of the wild.
The Stubborn One
Duell, 1965
“Brett struggles to keep his ranch running with the help of some friends so that
his uncle won’t sell his horse
Big Red and the cattle in an attempt to turn Brett’s
ranch into a resort.”
The Capture of West Wind
Duell, 1962
“Young Sioux Indian Gray Eagle plans to capture the pinto stallion West Wind to tame
and use as a buffalo
horse, but the rest of his tribe still thinks of the horse as
just another source of meat.”