George Metcalf Johnson (February 13, 1885 – December 14, 1965) was an American writer of

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

and western stories. Many of his westerns were published under the name George Metcalf. He was born in

Yankton, South Dakota Yankton is a city in and the county seat of Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,411 at the 2020 census, and it is the principal city of the Yankton Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entirety of Y ...

and was educated at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He taught school in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. In 1910, two of his stories ''Surelock Homes' Waterloo'', a

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

parody, and ''The Crimson Call'' were published in '' Top-Notch Magazine''. In 1911, his stories ''At Rattlesnake Pool'' and ''Jumbo - Catching Fish with Brains'' appeared in ''

The American Boy ''The American Boy'' was a monthly magazine published by The Sprague Publishing Co. of Detroit, Michigan from November 1899 to August 1941. At the time it was the largest magazine for boys, with a circulation of 300,000, and it featured action sto ...

''. Other stories were published in various

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

s such as '' Popular Detective'', ''Soldier of Fortune'', ''Rangeland Love Stories'', ''Romance Round-Up'', ''Riders of the Range'', ''

People's Magazine ''People's Magazine'', also known as ''People's'' or ''People's Story Magazine'', was an American literary magazine that was published from 1906 to 1924. ''People's Magazine'' was first published in July 1906 by Street & Smith in New York City. ...

'', ''

Munsey's Magazine ''Munsey's Weekly'', later known as ''Munsey's Magazine'', was a 36-page quarto United States, American magazine founded by Frank Munsey, Frank A. Munsey in 1889 and edited by John Kendrick Bangs. Frank Munsey aimed to publish "a magazine of the pe ...

''. '' Dime Sports Magazine'', '' Ace-High Magazine'' and ''Thrilling Ranch Stories''. He married Marjorie Thatcher in 1917. Johnson published his first book ''The Gunslinger'' in 1927. This was followed by ''Jerry Rides the Range'' and ''Riders of the Trail'' in 1927. ''Open Range'' in 1935 and ''The Saddle Bum'' in 1936. He also continued to produce short stories. His story ''Shadow Ranch'' was the basis for a 1930 film of the same name directed by Louis King.

References

1885 births 1965 deaths American short story writers American fiction writers {{US-writer-stub