{{short description|American writer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = W. C. Tuttle | image = File:WC Tuttle 1942.jpg | image_size = 160px | caption = Tuttle, circa 1942 | birth_date = {{birth date|1883|11|11}} | birth_place = Montana Territory<ref name="mm">W. C. Tuttle, ''Montana Man'', (Avalon 1966)</ref> USA | death_date = {{death date and age|1969|6|6|1883|11|11}} | death_place = Los Angeles County, California USA | yearsactive = 1915–1945 }} '''W. C. Tuttle''' (November 11, 1883 – June 6, 1969) was an American writer who sold more than 1000 magazine stories and dozens of novels, almost all of which were westerns.
==Biography== Tuttle wrote mainly for pulp magazines; his main market was ''Adventure'' magazine. In a 1930 poll of its readers, Tuttle was voted the most popular writer in the magazine.<ref>The top five writers in the ''Adventure'' poll were (in order) Tuttle, Arthur O. Friel, Harold Lamb, Talbot Mundy, and H. Bedford-Jones. "''Adventure's'' Most Popular Writers", in ''Blood N' Thunder Magazine'' Summer 2010, {{ISBN|0-9795955-7-6}} (p.57).</ref> Tuttle also wrote for other publications such as ''Argosy'', ''Short Stories'', Street & Smith’s ''Western Story Magazine'', ''Field & Stream'', ''West'', ''New Western Magazine'' and ''Exciting Western''.<ref>"Tuttle, W. C." in Lee Server, ''Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers''. {{ISBN|0-8160-4577-1}}, (p. 259).</ref> His best known character was Hashknife Hartley, who along with his friend Sleepy Stevens, served as unofficial detectives solving crimes on the ranches where they worked as cowboys. The Hashknife stories combined the western story with the detective story.<ref>Robert Sampson, "Pulps", in William L. DeAndrea, ''Encyclopedia Mysteriosa: a comprehensive guide to the art of detection in print, film, radio, and television.'' New York : Prentice Hall General Reference, 1994. {{ISBN|0-02-861678-2}} (p. 288)</ref> Fellow western author and editor Jeff Sadler stated Tuttle's writing is "at its best" in the Hashknife stories.<ref name="js">Jeff Sadler, "Tuttle, W(ilbur) C(oleman)" in ''Twentieth Century Western Writers'', edited by Geoff Sadler. Chicago and London, St. James Press, 1991, {{ISBN|0-912289-98-8}}, (pp. 689-694)</ref> Sadler also claims Tuttle's novel ''Vanishing Brands'' is his finest novel:"...terse and dramatic, flecked with dry touches of wit, the novel is an excellent example of the Western form and a credit to its author".<ref name="js" /> Other characters Tuttle created included Cultus Collins, Sad Sontag, and Henry Harrison Conroy, a former vaudeville actor turned sheriff.<ref>Charles Leland Sonnichsen, ''From Hopalong to Hud : Thoughts on Western Fiction''. College Station, Tex. : Texas A & M University Press, 1978. {{ISBN|0-58-523503-1}} (p.110)</ref>
In 1950-1951, Tuttle was narrator of the old-time radio series ''Hashknife Hartley'', which featured adaptations of his stories.<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22Hashknife+Hartley,+western%22+%22Wilbur+C.+Tuttle%22&pg=PA310 |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=310 |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-10-23}}</ref>
He was also a screenwriter hailing back to the silent era. He wrote the screenplays for 52 films between 1915 and 1945.
A semi-pro baseball player in his youth, Tuttle served as President of the Pacific Coast Baseball League 1935-1943.<ref name="mm" /> Tuttle recommended to the Los Angeles Angels that the team should ask Gene Lillard to join them.<ref>Dennis Snelling, ''Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League 1903-1957''. Jefferson, N.C. McFarland & Co. 2019 {{ISBN|9781476678276}} (p. 148)</ref>
He was born in Montana, and died in Los Angeles County, California.<ref name="js" />
==Bibliography== {{Div col|colwidth=22em}} '''"Hashknife" Novels''' * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68832 In Self-defense]'' (1917) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66976 Upside Down or Backwards]'' (1918) * ''Hashknife of the Double Bar 8'' (1920) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66981 Law Rustlers]'' (1921) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73545 The Ranch of the Tombstones]'' (1922) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66821 The Dead-Line]'' (1924) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70059 Hidden Blood]'' (1925) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67431 The Buckaroo of Blue Wells]'' (1926) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65759 The Devil's Dooryard]'' (1927) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71386 Shotgun Gold]'' (1927) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72528 Thicker Than Water]'' (1927) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73207 The Morgan Trail]'' (1928) * ''Hidden Blood'' (1929) * ''The Valley of Twisted Trails'' (1931) * ''The Silver Bar Mystery'' (1933) * ''Rifled Gold'' (1934) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70457 Tumbling River Range]'' (1935) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70449 Bluffer's Luck]'' (1937) * ''The Medicine-man'' (1939) * ''The Valley of Vanishing Herds'' (1942) * ''The Tin God of Twisted River'' (1945) * ''Wolf Creek Valley'' (1946) * ''The Trouble Trailer'' (1946) * ''Shotgun Gold'' (1950) * ''The Shadow Shooter'' (1955) * ''Passengers for Painted Rock'' (1962) * ''Double-crossers of Ghost Tree'' (1965) * ''The Payroll of Fate'' (1966) * ''Medicine Maker'' (1967) * ''Vanishing Brands'' (1977) * ''Red Trail of a Forty-one'' (1978)
'''Other Novels'''
* ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65949 Psychology and Copper]'' (1916) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65933 All Wool]'' (1916) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66588 A Man-Sized Pet]'' (1916) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65961 When Oscar Went Wild]'' (1916) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66024 Bearly Reasonable]'' (1917) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66857 A Prevaricated Parade]'' (1918) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67060 Making Good for Muley]'' (1918) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66832 Tied Up for Tombstone]'' (1918) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66898 Dough or Dynamite]'' (1918) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66722 Loco or Love]'' (1918) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67118 Playing Safe in Piperock]'' (1919) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65947 The Color of His Boots]'' (1919) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67139 Shepherds for Science]'' (1920) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66823 Wise Men and a Mule]'' (1922) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66045 Creepin' Tintypes]'' (1921) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73065 Too Much Progress for Piperock]'' (1922) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65982 Flames of the Storm]'' (1922) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68820 Ajax, for Example]'' (1922) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66441 Reputation]'' (1923) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64284 Spawn of the Desert]'' (1924) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66044 Cinders]'' (1924) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68426 Two Fares East]'' (1926) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73091 The Taking of Cloudy McGee]'' (1926) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70832 The Valley of Lost Herds]'' (1927) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70849 Rodeo]'' (1927) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73555 By Order of Buck Brady]'' (1928) * ''Sontag of Sundown'' (1929) * ''The Keeper of Red Horse Pass'' (1930) * ''Mystery At the JHC Ranch'' (1932) * ''Singing River'' (1934) * ''The Flood of Fate'' (1935) * ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70488 The Keeper of Red Horse Pass]'' (1936) * ''Wild Horse Valley'' (1938) * ''Salt for the Tiger'' (1952) * ''Renegade Sheriff'' (1953) * ''Mission River Justice'' (1955) * ''Thunderbird Range'' (1955) * ''The Shame of Arizona'' (1957) * ''The King of Dancing Valley'' (1958) * ''Danger Trail'' (1958) * ''The Trail to Kingdom Come'' (1960) * ''Gold at K-BAR-T'' (1961) * ''Galloping Gold'' (1961) * ''Double Trouble'' (1964) * ''Arizona Drifters'' (1964) * ''Road to the Moon'' (1965) * ''Stockade'' (1965) * ''Buckshot Range'' (1966) * ''The Lone Wolf'' (1967) * ''West of Aztec Pass'' (1972) * ''Greenhorn Trail'' (1976) * ''King of Blue Grass Valley'' (1977) * ''The Trail of Deceit'' (1985) {{Div col end}}
==Selected filmography== {{Div col|colwidth=22em}} * ''Cinders'' (1920) * ''The Stranger'' (1920) * ''Fight It Out'' (1920) * ''The Man with the Punch'' (1920) * ''Fools of Fortune'' (1922) * ''The Law Rustlers'' (1923) * ''The Prairie Pirate'' (1925) * ''Western Pluck'' (1926) * ''Rustlers' Ranch'' (1926) * ''The Wild Horse Stampede'' (1926) * ''Driftin' Sands'' (1928) * ''The Red Rider'' (1934) {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{wikisource|works=or|Wilbur Coleman Tuttle}} * {{Gutenberg author |id=52836 |name=W. C. Tuttle}} * {{FadedPage|id=Tuttle, Wilbur C.|name=Wilbur C. Tuttle|author=yes}} * {{IMDb name|id=0878367|name=W. C. Tuttle}} * {{Librivox author |id=16711}} * [http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/s/s7972.htm#A206353] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126151808/http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/s/s7972.htm#A206353 |date=January 26, 2021 }} Partial Bibliography of Tuttle's Work at FictionMags Index. * [https://books.google.com/books?id=PGRDAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Hashknife+Hartley%22&pg=PA169 ''Law Rustlers'', a Hashknife Hartley novelette in ''Adventure'' magazine.]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuttle, W.C.}} Category:1883 births Category:1969 deaths Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:American male novelists Category:American male screenwriters Category:American male short story writers Category:American mystery writers Category:American Western (genre) novelists Category:Pulp fiction writers Category:Western (genre) writers