Don Coldsmith (1926–2009)

Author of Trail of the Spanish Bit

49+ Works 1,837 Members 9 Reviews 2 Favorited

About the Author

Don Coldsmith is an award-winning author of twenty-nine books in the Spanish Bit Series, including "Medicine Hat" & "The Lost Band: A Novel", also published by the University of Oklahoma Press. 050 Don Coldsmith was an American author of Western fiction. He wrote a series entitled the Spanish Bit show more Saga wherein he told stories from the Native Indian's point of view. Coldsmith also wrote hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. Born on February 28, 1926, he was also a medical doctor and a cattle rancher in Kansas. He was a past president of Western Writers of America. In fact, after attending one of these conferences, he suffered a stroke on June 20, 2009 and died on the 25th at The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Image credit: photo copyright KTWU/Topeka, KS. ktwu.washburn.edu

Series

Works by Don Coldsmith

Popular Recent

Trail of the Spanish Bit (1980) 116 copies, 2 reviews

The Elk-Dog Heritage (1982) 97 copies

Follow the Wind (Spanish Bit Saga Book, No 3) (1983) 85 copies

Runestone (1995) 82 copies

Buffalo Medicine (1981) 69 copies

Daughter of the Eagle (The Spanish Bit Saga Book 6) (1984) 65 copies, 2 reviews

Man Of The Shadows (1983) 64 copies

Walks in the Sun (1992) 56 copies, 1 review

The Flower In The Mountains (1988) 53 copies

Return To The River (1987) 52 copies

Fort De Chastaigne (1990) 51 copies

The Sacred Hills (1985) 50 copies

The Traveler (1991) 49 copies, 1 review

Trail From Taos (1989) 48 copies

The Changing Wind (1990) 47 copies

Return Of The Spanish (1991) 46 copies

River Of Swans (1986) 46 copies

The Medicine Knife (1988) 45 copies

Quest For The White Bull (1990) 45 copies, 1 review

Song of the Rock (1989) 45 copies

Moon of Thunder (The Spanish Bit Saga #7) (1985) 45 copies

Child of the Dead (1995) 45 copies

World Of Silence (1992) 44 copies

Tallgrass (1997) 43 copies, 1 review

Pale Star (1986) 42 copies

Bride Of The Morning Star (1991) 42 copies

South Wind (1998) 38 copies, 1 review

The Lost Band (2000) 38 copies

Thunderstick (1993) 37 copies

Track of the Bear (1994) 36 copies

Bearer of the Pipe (1995) 36 copies

The Smoky Hill (1989) 36 copies

Medicine Hat (1997) 36 copies

Raven Mocker (2001) 21 copies

The Long Journey Home (2001) 16 copies

Don Coldsmith: Three Complete Novels: The Changing Wind/The Traveler/World of Silence (1995) 14 copies

The Pipestone Quest (2004) 13 copies

Spanish Bit Saga, Volume Five: A Classic Western Series (2022) 9 copies

Spanish Bit Saga, Volume Two: A Classic Western Series (2022) 8 copies

Spanish Bit Saga, Volume One: A Classic Historical Western Series (2021) 8 copies

Spanish Bit Saga, Volume Four: A Classic Western Series (2022) 6 copies

Spanish Bit Saga, Volume Three: A Classic Western Series (2022) 4 copies

Die Rückkehr des Grossen Mondes. Das Land der Indianer. (1995) 2 copies

Horsin' Around Again (1981) 2 copies

Still Horsin' Around (2002) 1 copy

Moon of Madness (Spanish Bit Saga) (2013) 1 copy

Spanish Bit Super Edition Trilogy:The Changing Wind(1990);The Traveler(1991);& World of Silence(1992). (1995) 1 copy

Don Coldsmith Omnibus (Spanish Bit Saga) (1997) 1 copy

Rune Stone 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Lost Trails (2007) — Contributor — 30 copies

Law of the Gun (2010) — Contributor — 24 copies

Tagged

Main Associated

AF-WEST (9) American Indian culture (13) Bantam (35) Coldsmith (51) Don Coldsmith (13) fiction (217) Fiction - American Indians (9) historical (10) historical fiction (139) home-library (16) Indian (23) KS author (15) literature (12) location-tubcoldsmith (24) mmpb (50) Native American (14) Native Americans (26) null (16) paperback (8) series (37) Spanish Bit (17) Spanish Bit Saga (60) spanish-bit-saga (28) to-read (45) West (62) western (232) Western Paperback (21) Western row 9 (10) Western Series (82) Westerns (12)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Coldsmith, Don
Birthdate: 1926-02-28
Date of death: 2009-06-25
Gender: male
Education: Baker University
University of Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas
Occupations: physician
cattle rancher
combat medic
youth director
historian
professor
Organizations: Western Writers of America
YMCA
Emporia State University
Awards and honors: Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award
Distinguished Kansasn
Owen Wister Award (2003)
Edgar Wolfe Award (lifetime contributions, 1995)
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Iola, Kansas, USA
Places of residence: Emporia, Kansas, USA
Baldwin City, Kansas, USA
Topeka, Kansas, USA
Place of death: Kansas City, Kansas, USA
Associated Place (for map): Kansas, USA

Members

Reviews

Featured Recent Thumbs

All Ratings
3
3
2
No Rating

9 reviews

debs4jc 981 reviews

Trail of the Spanish Bit: Spanish Bit Saga, Number 1 (The Spanish Bit Saga) by Don Coldsmith

A Spanish soldier who is one of the first to explore the North American continent gets stranded while he is alone on a scouting mission. A group of curious Native Americans watch him cautiously as he comes to after hitting his head, and when he removes his helmet dub him "Head's Off". Heads Off is gradually befriended by the Natives and the book is about how he becomes a part of their tribe and is instrumental is teaching them how to use horses for warfare. Coldsmith's writing is vivid and show more his characters relatable, I quickly became absorbed in the story and I would gladly read more in the series. show less

Aug 1, 20121 other review

juniperSun 1,609 reviews

Quest for the white bull by Don Coldsmith

A fantasy for those who like to pretend they understand Native Americans. A lot of formulaic dialog & descriptions. If you like the books of Auel & the Gears you'll probably like this.
Two very young men are 'powerful' holy men in their separate tribes, following their different visions to discover why the buffalo have not come on their annual migration to feed the people.
Heard as audiobook.

Jul 13, 2021

Goldminer 5 reviews

The Traveler: A Classic Western Novel by Don Coldsmith