Press Releases

Winfield, Kan., July 16, 2002 - Troy Boucher, author of the newly-published "Prince of the Plains," will read from his historical novel and sign copies of the book Thursday, July 25, at 7 p.m. in Southwestern College's downtown professional studies center. The center is located at 123 E. 9th in Winfield.

Refreshments will be served, and Southwestern College's Book Cave will be selling copies of the book for signing.

Available in both hardcover and paperback editions, "Prince of the Plains" has been favorably reviewed on Amazon.com and in the Kansas Library Association newsletter.

"A beautiful and often touching narrative from a talented Kansas writer. Boucher's compelling story is written with a strong love and honest respect for the historical characters that once traversed the Old West," said one Amazon reviewer.

Professor of English at Southwestern since 1968, Boucher was named the Fassnacht Outstanding Faculty member during the 2001-2002 academic year. He teaches writing and American literature at the college.

"Prince of the Plains" is set in the mid-1800s, and is based on the life of Henry Newton Brown, who rode with Billy the Kid and later became marshal of Caldwell, Kan. Boucher's interest in the era was piqued when he heard a lecture on Kansas cowtowns by fellow SC professor Larry Wilgers.

Wherever possible, Boucher writes, he has based the narrative on real incidents as recorded in newspapers, other works written about Brown, the events surrounding his life and the times in which he lived. Because the work is fiction, Boucher adds, he has created what might have happened to fill in the voids in Brown's life.

Henry Newton Brown was marshal of Caldwell from 1882 to 1884.

"Of all the men who rode with Billy the Kid," book publicity says, "one of the least well-known is Henry Newton Brown. Brown broke with Billy the Kid and for a time served as an assistant marshal of Tascaso, Texas. Restless and looking for a better life, Brown ended up in Caldwell, Kansas, where he became an assistant marshal and eventually, after Bat Carr was fired, he became the marshal, of the cowtown known as the Border Queen."

Troy Boucher grew up in a small, western Oklahoma town on what was once a large Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation. As a child he spent his time watching western movies on Saturday afternoons, reading Zane Grey novels, and wanting to grow up to be a cowboy.