B M Bower

Chip, of the Flying U illustrated B M Bower

Her first, Chip of the Flying U, lays out a ranch in Montana and introduces the Happy Family, the bunkhouse gang that reappears in her later books. Chip is the typical woman-shy cowboy, but he is also a gifted artist (reputedly, Bower based the character on Charles M. Russell, who illustrated Chip). Della, a doctor, is the young woman who disrupts his solitary life. The result as a quality ranch romance.