Will James was a Canadian-born cowboy, artist, and author whose vivid storytelling and illustrations captured the spirit of the American West. Born Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault in Quebec, he left home as a teenager and drifted into the western United States, where he worked as a ranch hand and learned the skills of roping, riding, and breaking horses. Adopting the name Will James, he built a new identity around the cowboy life that he came to embody both in practice and in art. His experiences on ranches and trails gave authenticity to the rough-edged voice and imagery that would later define his work.

In the 1920s, James began to channel his cowboy experiences into writing and illustrating stories, blending fiction with autobiography. His first book, Cowboys North and South (1924), drew on his years of ranch life, while his most famous work, Smoky the Cowhorse (1926), won the Newbery Medal and became a classic of children’s literature. James’s art—characterized by dynamic sketches of horses, cattle, and riders—accompanied many of his books, adding a raw, first-hand dimension that distinguished his work from more romanticized depictions of the West. His unique combination of narrative and illustration made him one of the few cowboy artists to achieve both literary and artistic recognition.

Despite his successes, James lived a turbulent life marked by hardship, heavy drinking, and personal struggles. Yet his legacy endures in over two dozen books and countless sketches that preserve the cowboy world of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work remains a vital record of ranching culture and western traditions, valued not only for its storytelling but also for the way it captured the grit, humor, and spirit of the American frontier. Will James’s contributions as both artist and author helped shape the mythology of the West and continue to inspire readers and historians today.