James Warner Bellah was an American Western author from the 1930s to the 1950s. His pulp-fiction writings on cavalry and Indians were published in paperbacks or serialized in the Saturday Evening Post. Bellah was the author of 19 novels, including The Valiant Virginian, and Blood River. Some of his short stories were turned into films by John Ford, including Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Rio Grande. With Willis Goldbeck he wrote the screenplay for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
War years
In World War I, Bellah enlisted in the Canadian Army, and served as a pilot in the 117th Squadron of Great Britain'sRoyal Flying Corps. These experiences formed the basis of his 1928 novel Gods of Yesterday. In the 1930s he worked as a journalist for the New York Post. During World War II, Bellah served in the United States Army, starting as a lieutenant in the 16th Infantry, was detailed to the General Staff Corps before Pearl Harbor, and was later assigned to Headquarters 1st Infantry Division, later with the 80th Infantry Division. Later he served on the staff of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten in Southeast Asia. He was attached to General Wingate's Chindits in combat in Burma, and to General Stillwell and to Colonel Cochran's 1st Air Commando Group. He left the service with the rank of Colonel. He was a member of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of California beginning in 1952. His short story "Spanish Man's Grave" is considered by some to be one of the finest American Western stories ever written. His last script was A Thunder of Drums. Bellah's depiction of the Apache is protested by some and lauded as realistic by others. In the early stages of his career, Elmore Leonard modelled his style closely after Bellah's writing. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles during a visit to his friend James Francis, Cardinal McIntyre, Archbishop of Los Angeles.
Novels
These Frantic Years, New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1927
The Sons of Cain, New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1928
The Gods of Yesterday, New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1928
Ordeal at Blood River, New York: Ballantine Books, 1959.
Novelizations
Sergeant Rutledge, New York, Bantam Books, 1960, based on a screenplay by Bellah and Willis Goldbeck.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, New York, Pocket Books, 1962 based on a screenplay by Bellah and Willis Goldbeck and the original story by Dorothy M. Johnson�.
Thunder of Drums, New York, Bantam Books, 1961, based on a screenplay by Bellah.
Fort Starke, Civil War and Other Military Stories
Fort Starke Stories Collected in Reveille published by Fawcett Gold Medal in 1962 and Massacre published by Lion 1950:
Stage for Elkhorn, The Saturday Evening Post Nov 20 1948
Collected only in Massacre:
War Party, The Saturday Evening Post June 19, 1948
Flint Cohill also appears in Ordeal on Blood River, Bellah’s final serial for The Saturday Evening Post published Oct 17, Oct 24, Oct 31, Nov 7, & Nov 14, 1959 and published in paperback by Ballantine in 1959. Civil War Stories:
Tales of the Valorous Virginians—First Blood at Harper’s Ferry, The Saturday Evening Post May 9, 1953
Tales of the Valorous Virginians: Stuart’s Charge at Bull Run, The Saturday Evening Post May 16, 1953
Tales of the Valorous Virginians: Slaughter at Ball's Bluff, The Saturday Evening Post May 23, 1953
Tales of the Valorous Virginians: Jackson Got Licked at Kernstown, The Saturday Evening Post May 30, 1953
Tales of the Valorous Virginians— How Stonewall Came Back, The Saturday Evening Post June 6, 1953; Tales of the Valorous Virginians.
Tales of the Valorous Virginians: The Secret of the Seven Days, The Saturday Evening Post June 13, 1953
Collected in The Valiant Virginians published by Ballantine in 1953. Other Military Stories collected in Fighting Man. USA
Spanish Man's Grave - The Saturday Evening Post, May 3, 1947
Day of Terror - The Saturday Evening Post, Nov 17, 1956
