Claim Number One

George Washington OgdenProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 483K words
Chapters: 49

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Claim Number One by George W. OgdenAuthor: Ogden, George W. (George Washington), 1871-1966,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 29, 2009

Editor's review

This work is by the American author George W. Ogden, falls under the category of American and Canadian literature, and is published as a free ebook by Project Gutenberg. Ogden was active in the early twentieth century, and his novels mostly drew on Western pioneering and frontier life; this book continues that tradition, with a narrative built around land, claims, and the fate of its characters, bearing the clear imprint of early American popular fiction. As a public-domain ebook, its value lies not only in the story itself but in the original text it offers for studying the tastes of early twentieth-century American popular literature, Western narrative patterns, and the social attitudes of the time. As you read, note the period features of pacing and characterization and observe how writers of that era handled conflict and moral themes. It is suited to reading in the context of literary history or American cultural studies rather than being approached as a modern genre novel with fast pacing and twists. The e-edition is easy to search and cite and works well as supplementary material for classroom discussion.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary specialists studying American Western literature and the popular fiction tradition
Cultural researchers interested in early twentieth-century American social attitudes and frontier narratives
Teachers and students who need free public-domain English texts for classroom use
English readers who enjoy slower classic narratives and are willing to absorb the period's idiom

Not a good fit for

Genre-fiction readers expecting fast modern plotting and strong twists
Beginners whose English is not yet proficient and who need notes and introductions
Readers who only want contemporary bestsellers and have little interest in old public-domain works

Reading tips

Read the preface first or look up the author's background to understand Ogden's era and the Western tradition.
Keep a simple character chart and note entries as you read to avoid confusion over character threads in the old-style narrative.
Skip unfamiliar regional expressions at first and return to them after finishing the chapter to keep your reading flowing.
Read alongside other Western novels of the same period to compare themes and values.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What kind of work is this book?

According to Project Gutenberg's classification, it belongs to American and Canadian literature. Ogden was known for Western writing, and this book can be seen as a product of early twentieth-century American popular fiction, with frontier narrative and moral conflict.

Why recommend reading this old novel?

Its value lies in the period quality of the text: readers can see how early American popular literature organized plot, shaped characters, and expressed social attitudes, which helps in understanding the evolution of genre fiction rather than merely getting a story.

How difficult is the English? Is it suitable for beginners?

The book was written in the early twentieth century, and its sentence patterns and vocabulary carry period features and include regional expressions, posing a certain barrier for non-native beginners. It is best read with some English foundation or alongside notes and reference works.

Any practical advice for reading the e-edition?

Public-domain e-texts are easy to search and annotate. Read a chapter first to get used to the idiom, then use the search function to look back at characters and place names; for research, note the source and classification information for citation.

Comments

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About the author

George Washington Ogden Author · American · 1871–1966

George Washington Ogden (1871–1966) was an American writer of Western fiction. He was born in Johnson County, Kansas, and began his career in journalism, working as an editor for the Kansas City Star, the Chicago Tribune, and the Munsey publishing house before turning to full-time writing. He is known for Western adventure novels such as The Duke of Chimney Butte, The Bondboy, and Trail's End; the collection here includes six of his works, among them The Rustler of Wind River, The Flockmaster of Poison Creek, and Claim Number One. His fiction drew heavily on his own experiences in the Western states, with plots centered on frontier adventure and ranch and small-town life, written in an accessible style for a popular readership. Public information on his life and work is limited, and further details remain to be verified. He died in Los Angeles, California, in 1966.