In volume and quality Louis L’Amour positioned himself as a premier writer of the American West and the early American frontier and as a student of world history. The problem, I suspect, is that his novels have great public appeal and thus are not seen as “literature.” I would like to submit this prolific and creative writer as the dean of the historical novel. If nothing else, L’Amour has helped to educate the general public about the lives of our ancestors.