William Colt MacDonald

Allan William Colt MacDonald (December 2, 1891 – March 27, 1968), who used the name William Colt MacDonald for his writing, was an American writer of westerns born in Detroit, Michigan whose work appeared both in books and on film.

His many film writing credits, all for character writing, include Santa Fe Stampede (1938), Cowboys from Texas (1939), The Kansas Terrors (1939), New Frontier (1939), Wyoming Outlaw (1939), Three Texas Steers (1939), The Night Riders (1939), and Red River Range (1938). His many novels included Gun Country (1929), Rustler's Paradise (1932), The Crimson Quirt (1949), Action at Arcanum (1958), and California Gunman (1957).

His most famous characters are The Three Mesquiteers, who first appeared together in Law of the Forty-Fives (also known as Law of the .45s and the alternative title Sunrise Guns), although two of the three Mesquiteers actually appeared in an earlier novel, Restless Guns.