Beau, I see what you are saying. And, I would never assume to know your father’s mind better than you. Nor, would I argue any of the points you make about the business end of being a writer. I can only discuss what I see as a reader.

I can remember reading an author’s note in several of his novels where you dad claimed that the places he wrote about were actual places. If he wrote about a town or a water hole or stream or river or a trail, it was a real place. If he referred to a historical event, it was real. And, his stories seemed to respect the dates when those events took place and, he built his stories respecting those dates. As you know, he often gave a specific year and sometimes a date (Like the date that Lando escaped from his capture – November 19, 1875). And though I have not really researched it to any great degree, I suspect that the weapons his characters used were truly available at the time he was describing. And, the women’s fashions? How did he become such a fashionista? In other words, his stories had an integrity that other writers never achieve.
As for a chronology or timeline, he may not have had anything formal. He may not have had anything at all. Or, it may have been as simple as asking himself where a new story would fit without overlapping and conflicting with another story with the same characters in it. And then, dropping something into the story to indicate whether it should precede or follow another story. In other words, he may have tried to bring that same personal integrity to the order of the stories. Otherwise, it would strike me as an incredibly amazing coincidence that the stories do seem to follow such a neat logical order based on the dates he gave, the historical events he referenced, references made to things in other books, and comments/conversations by the characters in the stories with almost no conflicts. The only one I still cannot figure is “Lonely on the Mountain”. His reference to Louis Riel and Ft Garrity do not quite fit. Otherwise, as before, I’m just sayin’….

Justintime