The Lure of the Dim Trails

"The Lure of the Dim Trails" by B. M. Bower is a novel likely written during the early 20th century. The book explores the intriguing journey of Philip Thurston, a young man seeking to reconnect with his Western roots and find inspiration for his writing career amid the wild landscapes and adventures of the American frontier. The opening of the story introduces Thurston's internal conflict about his identity and aspirations as he converses with his friend Reeve-Howard. Feeling the pressure of writing to fit public demand, Thurston decides to travel West to gather local color and experience life on the plains. He embarks on a journey filled with a nostalgic longing for a past he barely remembers, driven by a desire to reconnect with the adventurous heritage of his father. As the narrative unfolds, we witness his initial encounter with the harsh realities of Western life, including a dramatic train robbery, which serves as a pivotal moment in his transformation from a city dweller to someone deeply entwined with the rugged, vibrant world he aimed to depict in his writing. This beginning sets the stage for Thurston's evolving relationship with the land, its people, and the challenges they face. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Bertha Muzzy Sinclair or Sinclair-Cowan, née Muzzy, best known by her pseudonym B. M. Bower, was an American author who wrote novels, fictional short stories, and screenplays about the American Old West. Her works, featuring cowboys and cows of the Flying U Ranch in Montana, reflected "an interest in ranch life, the use of working cowboys as main characters, the occasional appearance of eastern types for the sake of contrast, a sense of western geography as simultaneously harsh and grand, and a good deal of factual attention to such matters as cattle branding and bronc busting." She was married three times: to Clayton Bower in 1890, to Bertrand William Sinclair in 1905, and to Robert Elsworth Cowan in 1921. However, she chose to publish under the name Bower.