All poetry, stories, memoirs and letters copyrighted by the individual authors. Permission to reprint poetry in The Horsethief's Journal was granted by the individual authors. All other written material copyrighted by Cayuse Press. All artwork is from free, public domain sources.

© 1998 by Cayuse Press, All Rights Reserved

A Word From the Editor

The true test of any publication is its ability to continue after its inaugural issue. We exceeded our expectations with the quality and quantity of the submissions to this issue. Writers from all over western North America sent their work. We're very proud to present these authors, as well as several writers from Issue #1, who provided additional manuscripts. We are delighted also to present the work of Guest Author, Robert James Berry, who resides in Malaysia. To all our authors, we extend a hearty Horsethief's "Welcome!"

In this issue, you'll find an expanded Letters from All Over column, and new developments in The Horsethief's Bookbag, our on-line book and music store in association with Amazon.com. Take advantage of Amazon's superior service and discounts directly from The Horsethief's Bookbag. Send us your book and music reviews and recommendations, too. (See the guidelines for more information.)

New in this issue, we introduce a feature called Voices of the Pioneers. We're presenting raw, in their own words (and usually politically incorrect) accounts of the earliest inhabitants of the West. To launch this segment, we offer the accounts of the pioneers of Central Washington. We're also looking for original material -- letters, diaries, oral histories, and stories -- of First Nation people, and of the early Asian and African settlers, (including slaves, runaways, ex-slaves, and forced laborers), to supplement the more readily available information about the white pioneers.

The Young Authors' Page is for children and teens to age 18. If you are the parent of a youngster who writes, send us a sampling of their work. (Please see the guidelines for complete information. If you have questions about the process please contact us by e-mail.)

Many Thank Yous are in order to people who probably didn't know just how much their e-mails, notes, and calls inspired us when things were looking bleak during the creation of this issue. (And there were enough bleak times to fill a page of complaints, e.g. inoperable and inaccessible e-mail accounts, telephone service disruption, dealing with a temperamental and inconsistent Internet, incompatible diskettes, hard drive failures, etc.) So to our merry crew of supporters in Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland, (Mike, Laura, Penny, Grant, Judy, Jeannie, Francesca and Cindy) our Most Fervent Thanks!

And once again, Special Thanks are in order to DJB, Our Dearest Advocate, for his steadfast optimism and unflagging good cheer.

Thank you, Dear Reader, too, for your continued support of this journal. We look forward to your comments in our new Guestbook or by e-mail. Now -- explore and enjoy Issue #2 of The Horsethief's Journal!

Issue #3 Deadlines

Postmark and e-mail deadline for all submissions is October 30. Issue #3 will be ready to read by December 7th. Please Note: All late material will be held for consideration for Issue #4.

Be sure to read our submission guidelines for more information.

***Thank you for your interest in The Horsethief's Journal.***