Elmer Kelton, compared to some of the the other authors mentioned here, sounds to me like the only guy who actually spent much time in a saddle. Sounds to me like one of the few to shake frost off a bedroll in the dawn light. Sounds like one of the few to try to make a fire with piss poor damp sagebrush. Writing books of the western theme, requires more experience than driving through the subject country with the window down occasionally.
