[crutledge]

Clifton Adams was born December 1, 1919 in Comanche, OK, and he passed away due to a heart attack on October 7, 1971 in San Francisco, CA. The author of nearly 50 books and over 125 short stories, it is truly a shame that he died so young at age 52. He was still in his prime as a writer, having just won two consecutive Spur Awards for Best Western Novel from the Western Writers of America, first in 1969 for Tragg's Choice and in 1970 for The Last Days of Wolf Garnett. He had also recently been named "Oklahoma Writer of the Year" in 1965 by the University of Oklahoma, his alma mater. In addition to his own name, he also published under the pseudonyms Clay Randall (the excellent Amos Flagg series of Westerns), Jonathan Gant, and Matt Kinkaid (sometimes spelled Kincaid).

Excerpt
I AWOKE SUDDENLY and lay there in the darkness, listening to the rapid, faraway thud of hoofbeats. The horse was traveling fast, and occasionally the rhythmic gait would falter and become uneven, then catch and come on again in the direction of the ranch house. It was a tired horse. It had been pushed hard and for too long. I could tell by the way it was running.