Elmer Kelton

Elmer Kelton (born 29th April 1926 – 22nd August 2009) was a bestselling American writer and journalist famously known for his western novels. He was born at a place known as Horse Camp located on the Five Wells Ranch in Andrews County to Robert William Kelton and Neta Beatrice Kelton. When Kelton was about three years old, his family relocated to the McElroy Ranch located in the counties of Upton and Crane, Texas next to the city of Crane and southwest of Midland.

The best place to start is the Tales of Texas series, the earliest of Elmer Kelton's multi-book series: it opens with Captain's Rangers (1968) and runs to 3 books across 1968–1976, ending with Long Way to Texas (1976). Elmer Kelton's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Elmer Kelton has 88 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1956 and 2024. 30 of them belong to 6 named series — the largest being the Texas Rangers series with 9 books — and 58 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Elmer Kelton's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Buckalew Family (1965–1967, 2 books), Tales of Texas (1968–1976, 3 books) and Texas Tradition (1971–1991, 8 books), plus 3 more.

This guide splits Elmer Kelton's 88 books into 6 named series and 58 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Texas Rangers (9 books, 1999–2010); Texas Tradition (8 books, 1971–1991); Hewey Calloway (5 books, 1982–2024); Tales of Texas (3 books, 1968–1976); Sons of Texas (3 books, 1989), plus 1 further series.