Guthrie, << GUHTH ree, >> A. B., Jr. (1901-1991), was an American author known for his novels about the Oregon Trail and frontier life in the Rocky Mountains. Guthrie’s books are noted for their historical accuracy, lyrical descriptions of nature, and vivid character portrayals. His novel The Way West (1949) won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The book tells about a wagon train traveling from Missouri to Oregon in 1846.
Guthrie’s first major novel, The Big Sky (1947), describes the lives of trappers and American Indians during the 1830’s and 1840’s. His other novels include These Thousand Hills (1956), Arfive (1970), The Last Valley (1975), and Fair Land, Fair Land (1983). He also wrote three detective stories, Wild Pitch (1973), The Genuine Article (1977), and No Second Wind (1980), set in the modern West. Guthrie’s short stories were published in the collection The Big It (1960). Guthrie wrote the script for the Western motion picture Shane (1953). His autobiography is The Blue Hen’s Chick (1965).
Alfred Bertram Guthrie, Jr., was born in Bedford, Indiana, on Jan. 13, 1901. He grew up in Montana. He worked as a journalist in Kentucky from 1926 to 1947. Guthrie died on April 26, 1991.
