Since the dawning of time man has been scribbling his stories on walls and crude parchments, which have been rolled and tucked into crevices for future minds to discover and read. It seems we humans have a compulsion to share our stories with other people. The author of First Told Tales, Dan C. Boutwell, lives in a small city in north Texas, with his wife of forty-seven years and a black Lab named Max. He spends his days refining short stories he has written over the years and creating new works as novels. What was once a pastime has become a passion which has taken him into retirement from his professional municipal planning vocation of forty years. This collection of tales is an assembly of the author's short stories. Most of them sport a military flavor, which reflects his strong patriotic belief. They all speak to the common theme of valor, honor and courage which each person has secured within their hearts. Whether they take place on a battlefield of the Civil War, the freezing cold of the Battle of the Bulge, or the vast waters of the South Pacific during WWII, these tales will thrill you, warm you, and sometimes cause a tear to form. In the spirit of the talented American short story writer O'Henry, they are a breath of Americana, each with a gentle twist at the end, which strives to leave you lifted up and in a good place.