B. M. Bower

B. M. Bower (November 15, 1871-July 23, 1940) was born Bertha Muzzy in Otter Tail County, MN. She later adopted a gender-ambiguous pen name to appease her publishers and sell more books in the male-dominated sphere of western novels. Bower’s family moved to Montana when she was in her teens, where she got much of her inspiration for her books. Bower’s second husband, Bertrand Sinclair, also wrote westerns, and they critiqued each other’s work. By the time she died in 1940, Bower’s novels had sold over two million copies.

Bower was the first woman to support herself by writing popular novels in the western genre and is known best for one of her first books, Chip of the Flying U, published in 1906. In addition to westerns, Bower also wrote short stories and screenplays for silent films. She wrote fifty-seven westerns in her lifetime. People enjoyed reading Bower’s books because her westerns are authentic and humorous. She gleaned much of her research firsthand, growing up and living in ranch country.