Rutherford George Montgomery by Morton Harvey, c

Rutherford George Montgomery (April 12, 1894 – July 3, 1985) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

. In addition to his given name, he used the pseudonyms A.A. Avery, Al Avery, Art Elder, E.P. Marshall, and Everitt Proctor.

Life

Montgomery was born in Straubville,

Sargent County, North Dakota Sargent County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Its county seat is Forman, and its most populous city is Gwinner. The county is named in honor of Homer E. Sargent, a 19th-century general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad C ...

, "a true ghost town" as of 2005. to George Y. and Matilda Proctor Montgomery. He studied at Colorado Agricultural College,

Western State College of Colorado Western Colorado University (Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergraduate areas ...

, and University of Nebraska; taught elementary school in

Hot Springs, Wyoming Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot District ...

; and from 1917 to 1919 served in the United States Air Corps. During the 1920s, he worked as a teacher and principal at junior and senior high schools in

Montrose County, Colorado Montrose County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,679. The county seat is Montrose, for which the county is named. Montrose County comprises the Montrose, CO Micropolitan Statisti ...

. Montgomery married Eunice Opal Kirks in 1930; they had three children. He served

Gunnison County Gunnison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,918. The county seat is Gunnison. The county was named for John W. Gunnison, a United States Army officer and captain in the Army ...

, Colorado, as a judge from 1931 to 1936 and as county commissioner from 1932 to 1938, then became a freelance writer. While still at school, Montgomery began writing stories about the wild animals that lived around his family's farm. He went on to write books about aviation and the people, landscapes and animals of the American West, particularly horses. In all, he wrote more than 100 books. From 1941 to 1946, Montgomery was a writer for Dick Tracy. He worked as a creative writing teacher 1955–57 and as a

scriptwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

for Walt Disney Studios 1958–1962.

Literary awards

Kildee House ''Kildee House'' is a children's novel by Rutherford George Montgomery. It tells the story of a house in a redwood forest which becomes a refuge for wildlife. The novel was first published in 1949 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1950. It is i ...

: Newbery Award Honor Book, 1950. *''Wapiti the Elk'':

Commonwealth Club of California The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to everyone. Act ...

Juvenile Silver Medal, 1952 *''Beaver Water'':

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

Children's Spring Book Festival Award, 1956; Boy's Clubs of America Junior Book Award, 1957 *''The Stubborn One'':

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...

Golden Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

, 1965

Works

;As by Everitt Proctor * ''The last cruise of the ''Jeannette (1944) * ''Men against the ice'' (1946) ;As by Rutherford Montgomery * ''Warhawk Patrol" (1944) ;As by Al Avery, ''A Yankee Flier'' Pulse-quickening stories of the fearless young airman, Stan Wilson. According to the Library of Congress catalog, all nine books were 204 to 216-page, published by

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

from 1941 to 1946. The first six were illustrated by Paul Laune, the last three by

Clayton Knight Clayton Knight OBE (March 30, 1891 – July 17, 1969) was an American aviator during World War I. He was also an aviation artist and illustrator, and is known for being one of the founders of the Clayton Knight Committee and the illustrator of t ...

. *''A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F.'' (1941) *''A Yankee Flier in the Far East'' (1942) *''A Yankee Flier in the South Pacific'' (1943) *''A Yankee Flier in North Africa'' (1943) *''A Yankee Flier in Italy'' (1944) *''A Yankee Flier Over Berlin'' (1944) *''A Yankee Flier in Normandy'' (1945) *''A Yankee Flier on a Rescue Mission'' (1945) *''A Yankee Flier Under Secret Orders'' (1946) ;''The Golden Stallion'' *''The Golden Stallion'' (1951); also published as ''The Capture of the Golden Stallion'' *''The Golden Stallion'' (abridged) *''The Golden Stallion's Revenge'' (1953) *''The Golden Stallion to the Rescue'' (1954) *''The Golden Stallion's Victory'' (1956) *''The Golden Stallion and the Wolf Dog'' (1958) *''The Golden Stallion's Adventure at Redstone'' (1959) *''The Golden Stallion and the Mysterious Feud'' (1967) ;Other *''A Kinkajou on the Town'' *''Amikuk'' *''Beaver Water'' *''Big Brownie'' *''Big Red: A Wild Stallion'' (1971) *''Black Powder Empire'' *''Broken Fang'' *''Carcajou'' *''Claim jumpers of Marble Canyon'' *''Corey's Sea Monster'' *''Crazy Kill Range'' (1963) *''Dolphins As They Are'' (1966) *''El Blanco: The Legend of the White Stallion'' (1961) *''Ghost Town Adventure'' *''Gray Wolf'' *''High Country'' *''Hill Ranch'' *''Husky'' *''Iceblink'' (1941), as by George R. Montgomery *''In Happy Hollow'' *''Jet Navigator, Strategic Air Command'' *''Kent Barstow Aboard the Dyna Soar'' *''Kent Barstow and the Commando Flight'' *''Kent Barstow on a B-70 Mission'' *''Kent Barstow: Space Man'' *''

'' *''King of the Castle: The Story of a Kangaroo Rat'' *''McGonnigle's lake'' *''McNulty's Holiday'' *''Midnight: Wild Stallion of the West'' (1940) *''Mister Jim'' (1953) *''Pekan the Shadow'' *''Rufus'' *''Snowman'' (1962) *''The Capture of West Wind'' (1962) *''The Living Wilderness'' *''The Silver Hills'' *''The Stubborn One'' (1965) *''Timberline Tales'' *''Troopers Three'' *''Walt Disney's Cougar: A Fact-Fiction Nature Story'' *'' Walt Disney's The Odyssey of an Otter'' *''Wapiti the Elk'' *''War Wings'' *''Weecha The Racoon'' *''Whitetail: The Story of a Prairie Dog'' *''Yellow Eyes''

References

*Natlee Kenoyer, "Rutherford Montgomery: A Remembrance", ''The Roundup'', Nov–Dec 1985, p. 28

External links

* * *
Straubville, North Dakota: A true ghost town
at Ghosts of North Dakota
Rutherford George Montgomery
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Authorities — with 103 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Rutherford George American children's writers Disney people Newbery Honor winners People from North Dakota 1894 births 1985 deaths Place of death missing

Life

Literary awards

Works

See also

References

External links