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The Streel: A Deadwood Mystery
by Mary LogueFrom &“the reigning royalty of Minnesota murder mysteries&” (The Rake) comes a striking new heroine: a young Irish immigrant caught up in a deadly plot in nineteenth-century DeadwoodWhen I was fifteen and my brother Seamus sixteen, we attended our own wake. Our family was in mourning, forced to send us off to America.The year is 1880, and of all the places Brigid Reardon and her brother might have dreamed of when escaping Ireland&’s potato famine by moving to America, Deadwood, South Dakota, was not one of them. But Deadwood, in the grip of gold fever, is where Seamus lands and where Brigid joins him after eluding the unwanted attentions of the son of her rich employer in St. Paul—or so she hopes. But the morning after her arrival, a grisly tragedy occurs; Seamus, suspected of the crime, flees, and Brigid is left to clear his name and to manage his mining claim, which suddenly looks more valuable and complicated than he and his partners supposed.Mary Logue, author of the popular Claire Watkins mysteries, brings her signature brio and nerve to this story of a young Irish woman turned reluctant sleuth as she tries to make her way in a strange and often dangerous new world. From the famine-stricken city of Galway to the bustling New York harbor, to the mansions of Summit Avenue in St. Paul, and finally to the raucous hustle of boomtown Deadwood, Logue&’s new thriller conjures the romance and the perils, and the tricky everyday realities, of a young immigrant surviving by her wits and grace in nineteenth-century America.
Changing Woman: A Novel of the Camp Grant Massacre
by Venetia Hobson LewisArizona Territory, 1871. Valeria Obregón and her ambitious husband, Raúl, arrive in the raw frontier town of Tucson hoping to find prosperity. Changing Woman, an Apache spirit who represents the natural order of the world and its cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, welcomes Nest Feather, a twelve-year-old Apache girl, into womanhood in Aravaipa Canyon. Mexican and Anglo settlers have pushed the Apaches from their lands, and the Apaches carry out raids against them. In turn, the settlers, angered by the failure of the U.S. government and the military to protect them, respond with a murderous raid on an Apache encampment under the protection of the U.S. military at Camp Grant, kidnapping Nest Feather and other Apache children. In Tucson, while Valeria finds fulfillment in her work as a seamstress, Raúl struggles to hide from her his role in the bloody attack, and Nest Feather, adopted by a Mexican couple there, tries to hold on to her Apache heritage in a culture that rejects her very being. Against the backdrop of the massacre trial, Valeria and Nest Feather&’s lives intersect in the church, as Valeria seeks spiritual guidance for the decision she must make and Nest Feather prepares for a Christian baptism.
Hell on the Border: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book Two (The Bass Reeves Trilogy)
by Sidney ThompsonSet in 1884, Hell on the Border tells the story of Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves at the peak of his historic career. Famous for being a crack shot as well as for his nonviolent tendencies, Reeves uses his African American race to his strategic advantage. Along with a tramp or cowboy disguise, Reeves appears so nonthreatening that he often positions himself close enough to the outlaws he is pursuing to arrest them without bloodshed. After a series of heroic feats of capturing and killing infamous outlaws—most notably Jim Webb—and an introduction to Belle Starr, Reeves finds himself in the Fort Smith jail, charged with murder. This second book in the Bass Reeves Trilogy investigates what really happened when Reeves made the greatest mistake of his life on the heels of his greatest achievements.
The Kid and Me: A Novel
by Frederick TurnerIn The Kid and Me Frederick Turner deftly re-creates the Lincoln County War in what was then New Mexico Territory. The 1878 war pitted an established faction led by James Dolan against new arrivals in the county led by John Tunstall and Alexander McSween. When Tunstall and McSween opened a dry-goods store in 1876 in a direct challenge to Dolan’s monopoly on the dry-goods business, trouble was inevitable. <P><P>Both the Dolan and the Tunstall-McSween factions garnered supporters, including lawmen, criminal gangs, and ranch hands. The ambush and murder of Tunstall by a local sheriff’s posse loyal to Dolan sparked a wave of revenge killings and bloody reprisals in which Billy the Kid—one of Tunstall’s ranch hands—played a prominent role. <P><P>Narrated by George Coe, an aged veteran of New Mexico’s Lincoln County War but now a devout painter of village churches, The Kid and Me tells what it felt like to ride alongside Billy the Kid, whom Coe both admired and greatly feared. Gang loyalty, extreme violence, political corruption in the highest places, and profound moral ambiguity characterize this tale of what made the American West wild.
King of Spades, Second Edition
by Frederick Manfred Joel JohnsonUnder the veil of one of the oldest and most tragic myths known to humankind, a king is born. Magnus King, the son of a well-born English woman, continues his family’s aristocratic legacy on the frontier of the American West until the night a deadly shooting changes everything. Young Earl Ransom, a man found long ago on the Cheyenne prairie with no memory of his past or of how his destiny is linked to that of Magnus King, finds his way through a tale as old and tragic as the Greek myth of Oedipus.King of Spades is the final volume of Frederick Manfred’s acclaimed five-volume series, The Buckskin Man Tales. For this Bison Books Classic edition, Joel Johnson provides a new introduction.
Late Westerns: The Persistence of a Genre (Postwestern Horizons)
by Lee Clark MitchellFor more than a century the cinematic Western has been America’s most familiar genre, always teetering on the verge of exhaustion and yet regularly revived in new forms. Why does this outmoded vehicle—with the most narrowly based historical setting of any popular genre—maintain its appeal? In Late Westerns Lee Clark Mitchell takes a position against those critics looking to attach “post” to the all-too-familiar genre. For though the frontier disappeared long ago, though men on horseback have become commonplace, and though films of all sorts have always, necessarily, defied generic patterns, the Western continues to enthrall audiences. It does so by engaging narrative expectations stamped on our collective consciousness so firmly as to integrate materials that might not seem obviously “Western” at all. Through plot cues, narrative reminders, and even cinematic frameworks, recent films shape interpretive understanding by triggering a long-standing familiarity audiences have with the genre. Mitchell’s critical analysis reveals how these films engage a thematic and cinematic border-crossing in which their formal innovations and odd plots succeed deconstructively, encouraging by allusion, implication, and citation the evocation of generic meaning from ingredients that otherwise might be interpreted quite differently. Applying genre theory with close cinematic readings, Mitchell posits that the Western has essentially been “post” all along.
Lord Grizzly, Second Edition
by Frederick Manfred Freya Manfred John R. MiltonHunter, trapper, resourceful fighter, and scout, Hugh Glass was just a rugged man among other rugged American frontiersmen until he was mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead by his best friends. Hugh’s rage drove him to crawl two hundred miles across dangerous territory to seek revenge until he was no longer Hugh Glass but had become Lord Grizzly. Lord Grizzly is the second volume of Frederick Manfred’s acclaimed five-volume series, The Buckskin Man Tales. For this Bison Books edition, poet Freya Manfred provides a new introduction.
Oklahoma Odyssey: A Novel
by John MortIn late fall of 1892 outlaw Eddie Mole gallops down the main street of Jericho Springs, Kansas, where he robs and shoots dead the freighter Barney Kreider. Some urge Barney&’s son Ulysses (&“Euly&”) to take revenge, but Euly is a Mennonite and Mennonites don&’t seek revenge. Instead, Euly plots how to make his fortune with the aid of his half-Osage sister, Kate, and his friend Johnny, an Osage farmhand. The three make a plan to sell goods and livestock to the settlers converging on Caldwell, Kansas, for the land run going on in the Cherokee Outlet. When Johnny tracks Eddie into the Cherokee Outlet, he witnesses Buffalo Soldiers evicting Eddie from a ranch, leaving it public domain, and Johnny and Kate make the run for that beautiful land. Euly follows close behind, even as Eddie, riding from Arkansas City, tries to reclaim his old ranch. John Mort&’s narrative is an anti-revenge novel—always opting for nonviolence. But there&’s violence nevertheless, as Eddie&’s and Barney&’s survivors converge in a rousing finish. Though this novel uses some of the architecture and motifs of traditional westerns, it is carefully researched and set in the unfolding of a pivotal, neglected historical event.
Riders of Judgment, Second Edition
by Frederick Manfred Thomas PopeHere is a rich and serious novel of the violent West. Full of the authentic sounds and colors of Wyoming cattle country in the late nineteenth century, it tells the true story of a long-vanished time—the era of the cowhands and the bloody Johnson County range wars. Riders of Judgment centers on the three Hammett brothers and their cousin Rosemary, whom all three love. To the oldest brother, Cain, falls the lot of avenging the murder of his father, grandfather, and brother. Cain—who is in a sense a cowboy Hamlet—is torn by conflicts within himself. He desires peace yet is forced to wear a gun. He is a law-abiding man by instinct yet has to take the law into his own hands. He is loved by a woman but rejects her because he feels unworthy of her love.Then one spring morning the cattle barons invade his territory, and Cain’s hesitancy vanishes. One man’s inner struggle becomes a fight to turn the cattle kingdom into a free country for the small stockman. Riders of Judgment is the final book in Frederick Manfred’s five-volume series, The Buckskin Man Tales.
The Rustler: A Tale of Love and War in Wyoming
by Frances McElrath Victoria LamontPublished in the spring of 1902, the same year as The Virginian, Frances McElrath's novel The Rustler enjoyed only brief success before fading from public memory. While The Virginian has indisputably served as the model for the genre of the Western, The Rustler remains virtually unknown. Although both novels were inspired by the Johnson County massacre, The Rustler is an account sympathetic to the perspective of the small cattleman, while The Virginian takes the part of the large cattle operations. Both novels also address, with differing conclusions, the clash between the independent Western man and the genteel Eastern woman.In this story of the stoic, competent, and fiercely independent cowboy Jim and his ill-fated love for the beautiful Hazel Clifford, McElrath offers an alternative view of the West and the standard marriage plot. In contrast to The Virginian, The Rustler points to the vulnerability of the cowboy ethos and a different sort of redemption for the frivolous Eastern woman. The Rustler is also a significant example of the connection between popular and literary traditions whereby sentimentalism, the Western, and a feminist perspective converge in surprising and fascinating ways.
Scarlet Plume, Second Edition
by Frederick Manfred Arthur R. Huseboe John Calvin RezmerskiIn 1862 the largest Indian uprising in American history occurred in southern Minnesota. Enraged Sioux attempted to throw off the broken treaties that still bound them and to avenge the insults and depredations they had been forced to bear. Hundreds of whites were killed. Women were taken captive.Told from the point of view of Judith Raveling, a young woman widowed by the uprising, Scarlet Plume draws on the brutal history of the conflict from beginning to end. Taken captive by the Sioux, Judith is given to Scarlet Plume, one of the many warriors who know their cause is lost. Caught between the men who would wage war ruthlessly and his own judgment, which tells him how dearly the Sioux will pay for every white person killed, Scarlet Plume tries to save as many as he can. Defying the dangers of a pitiless war, he returns Judith to the safety of her people. Soon she must try to save him. Scarlet Plume is the third of Frederick Manfred’s five-volume series, The Buckskin Man Tales.
The Shinnery: A Novel
by Kate AngerSeventeen-year-old Jessa Campbell thrives on the Shinnery, her family&’s homestead in 1890s Texas, bordered by acres of shin oaks on the rolling plains. Without explanation her father sends her away to settle a family debt. A better judge of cattle than of men, Jessa becomes entangled with a bad one. Everything unravels after she puts her trust in Will Keyes. When Jessa returns home to the Shinnery, pregnant and alone, her father goes on a mission of frontier justice, with devastating consequences. In the aftermath Jessa fights for her claim to the family farm and for a life of independence for herself and her sisters. A story of coming-of-age, betrayal, and revenge, The Shinnery is inspired by the author&’s family history and a trial that shook the region.
Waltzing Montana: A Novel
by Mary Clearman BlewMidwife Mildred Harrington is riding back home one evening after checking on one of her pregnant neighbors when she stumbles upon an injured stranger. She soon realizes it&’s her old sweetheart, Pat, from country school—and he may not be telling the full truth about how he was injured. Set in rural Montana in 1925, Waltzing Montana follows Mildred as she grapples with feelings for Pat while also trying to overcome the horrific abuse she suffered as a young teenager. Ultimately Mildred must decide whether to continue her isolated life or accept the hand extended to her. Inspired by the life of midwife Edna McGuire (1885–1969), who operated a sheep ranch in central Montana, Blew has turned the classic Western on its head, focusing on rural women and the gender and diversity challenges they faced during the 1920s.
Arizona Sky
by Ginger SimpsonThe wagon carrying Odessa Clay and her father overturns, killing him. Alone and scared in the middle of the desert, she faces finding her way to Phoenix and her Aunt Susan. Food and water run out, and Odessa is near death when Zach Johnson finds her. Squinting up into his tanned and handsome face, Dessie believes she?s died and gone to heaven. Would-be-outlaw, Zach Johnson finds an unconscious woman alone in the middle of nowhere. Where did she come from? First glance: she appears young, but the curves beneath the dusty gingham say otherwise. He didn?t plan to become someone?s hero, but how can he leave her stranded? He?s on his way to join a gang of bank robbers and he has no time to spare. Will the promise of Odessa?s sweet lips lure Zach from the secret mission that has his gut twisted into a knot? His father?s ranch isn?t the only thing at stake?now it?s his heart.
Benediction
by Olivier DufaultBased on the true story of North America’s most unlikely cowboy, Benediction is a gritty, trenchantly observed tale of fraud and reinvention in the Old West.In 1907, the fifteen-year-old French-Canadian Ernest Dufault left his home in Quebec for Montana, where he was promptly arrested as a cattle thief and, as a prisoner of the state of Nevada, passed himself off as an American cowboy named Will James. Over the next few decades, Dufault, a.k.a. James, would flourish as a cowboy and horsebreaker and go on to become an artist, a soldier, a Hollywood stuntman, a bestselling author of award-winning westerns — and his own false memoir. Dufault was so successful a pretender that he was later inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners, and his estranged wife, Alice Conradt, would only learn his true identity when, at the age of fifty, Will James died an alcoholic and left his estate to a man she had never heard of: one Ernest Dufault.In Benediction, Olivier Dufault recreates the true story of his distant relative Ernest’s incarceration in a Nevada prison for rustling cattle and his subsequent reinvention of himself as “Will James.” Relying on authentic historical materials including letters, telegrams, and court documents as much as his own imagination, Olivier Dufault’s magnificent novel is a posthumous benediction of an exceptional American life in which truth and lies walk side by side.
Brede (Rodeo Romance #2)
by Connie VinesTrouble is something hard-edged rancher, Brede Kristensen, knows all about. A widower with a rambunctious young daughter, a ranch to run and an ornery cook who has just runoff, Brede doesn’t need another problem. Yet in the midst of a violent storm, he finds an injured woman. The beautiful woman can’t recall her name or her past, but Brede vows to protect her from harm. What he hadn’t bargained for was her laughter and gentleness finding a way into the lonely corners of his heart. Beaten and left for dead, Amberlynn Maddox has no memory of her past. Accepting Brede’s offer as temporary ranch cook, the woman, now called Kate, discovers the sexy rancher with his protective nature and sizzling kisses has claimed her heart. When a madman discovers Amberlynn’s hiding place, no one is safe from harm: not Brede, his young daughter—or Amberlynn herself!
Colton's Folly
by Renee SimonsAbby Colton knew she’d been asked to teach at the reservation school only because they couldn’t find a better candidate. According to Cat Tallman, a better candidate would have been native American instead of a white woman. Determined to fight her in every way he could, there were moments when a look, even a touch, threatened his resolve and tested Abby’s certainty that letting him get too close would be a very foolish pleasure. Whether right or wrong, these two face a bumpy ride.
Come Hell or High Water: A Longview Romance (A Longview Romance #2)
by Nancy M. BellMichelle Wilson has the world by the tail. Cale loves her and she loves him. Storm is happy and healthy. To top it off, Michelle has qualified for the Calgary Stampede. She can’t wait to barrel race for a chance at $100,000 on Showdown Sunday. All her dreams are coming true; nothing could possibly spoil her happiness. Could it?
Cow boy: A Novel
by Louis Hamelin Jean Paul MurraySet against a backdrop of grey spruce and muskeg, Cowboy tells the story of Gilles Desches, a twenty-something who moves from Montreal to Grande-Ourse, a northern Quebec town haunted by the grisly memory of a twelve-year-old murder. Located at the back of beyond, Grande-Ourse is a dismal place with a bleak future. Until, that is, a Quebec consortium buys up the town, wanting to turn it into a hunting and fishing paradise for wealthy Americans seeking city comforts in the middle of nature. Working as a clerk for the Outfitters’ general store, Gilles is confronted by a harsh reality in which Whites are pitted against Natives. He tries to understand, tries to fit in, but only manages to be caught in the middle of two colliding worlds, discovering a colourful cast of characters in the process.
Cullen and Cobb Mysteries 2-Book Bundle: Serpents Rising / Dead Air
by David A. PoulsenA private investigator and a journalist team up in Calgary to fight for justice. Read the first two books in the exciting western crime series Cullen and Cobb Mysteries. Serpents Rising Private investigator Mike Cobb and journalist Adam Cullen take on twin investigations that take them onto Calgary’s meanest streets on the trail of a runaway and a killer. Dead Air Someone is killing big name right-wing media personalities. When ex-cop Mike Cobb is hired as a bodyguard for a conservative radio superstar, he and his partner, crime journalist Adam Cullen, are thrust into the line of fire.
Cullen and Cobb Mysteries 4-Book Bundle: None So Deadly / Last Song Sung / Dead Air / Serpents Rising (A Cullen and Cobb Mystery)
by David A. PoulsenA private investigator and a journalist team up in Calgary to fight for justice. Read all four books in the exciting western crime series. Serpents Rising — book #1 Private investigator Mike Cobb and journalist Adam Cullen take on twin investigations that take them onto Calgary’s meanest streets on the trail of a runaway and a killer. Dead Air — book #2 Someone is killing big name right-wing media personalities. When ex-cop Mike Cobb is hired as a bodyguard for a conservative radio superstar, he and his partner, crime journalist Adam Cullen, are thrust into the line of fire. Last Song Sung — book #3 Cullen and Cobb are back to investigate the 1965 disappearance of a folk singer. Kidnapped from the alley behind a folk club, her bandmates shot and killed, Ellie Foster’s whereabouts have remained a mystery for fifty years. Hired by Ellie’s granddaughter, Cullen and Cobb travel into the past to unearth long-buried secrets. None So Deadly — book #4 The brutal killing of a police investigator obsessed with Faith Unruh’s murder has put the ex-cop–private eye and former crime writing journalist back on the killer’s trail — and directly in the line of fire.
Dancing Fawn
by Ginger SimpsonGrace Cummings’ family is killed and she’s taken captive by a war party of young Lakota’s hungry to fight the white men encroaching on their sacred black hill; land granted them in a treaty with the government. The brave responsible for leading the war party and Grace’s captor is shunned by the tribe for drawing attention to their band and leaves the village, giving Grace to Little Elk, the nephew of the chief. With the help and guidance of another white woman in camp, Green Eyes, wife of the chief, Grace learns important facts about the tribe and accepts her given Lakota name, Dancing Fawn… and the love of Little Elk. While the warriors are away joining with other tribes to fight the war brought upon them by the young warriors, white soldier attack the camp, killing only women, children, and old men. Dancing Fawn is discovered, identified as a white captive and forced to return with the soldiers to Fort Sully. Tied hands and constant guarding display she’s not going voluntarily. Back in civilization and under the watchful eye of the Colonel’s wife, Fawn must decide where her heart truly lies.
Destiny's Bride
by Ginger SimpsonIt's 1860 and Cecile Palmer looks forward with eagerness toward the yearly Spring Fling. The gathering of folks from all over the region provides the most excitement imaginable…until she experiences love at first sight…and with a stranger. After meeting handsome Walt Williams, Cecile's greatest obstacle is convincing her father, the local banker, that his only pampered child is ready to marry and a stranger is the right man for her. The ranch her fiance describes doesn't turn out exactly as she imagined, and when Walt fails to return from getting winter supplies, another difficult decision presents itself. Can Cecile live among Indians despite being a white woman? And will the brave she nurses back to health turn out to be her real hero?
Ellie's Legacy
by Ginger SimpsonTomboy, Ellie Fountain is determined to stop the conniving neighbors from their plot to take her father’s land. She’s an only child, Fountainhead is her legacy. The handsome ranch foreman, Tyler Bishop, is a burr under her saddle and a barrier to her future. Her pa treats him like the son he never had, and Ellie is jealous. She’s out to prove she’s as good as any man at ranching… but her biggest threat may not be the polecats that are killing the cattle and taking potshots at her….it might be her heart.
Gold Digger Among Us
by Eden MonroeRancher Dade Tanner and his old flame, Kerrah, have some serious unfinished business between them - a five-year love affair that came to an abrupt halt one terrible night. Now it’s ten years later and she’s back – but the rules have changed, dramatically. She is not welcome on the ranch, accused of an ulterior motive to return since the family patriarch, Buck Tanner’s bout with ill health. Nevertheless, she fights to stay in the one place that has ever felt like home. However, the Tanners have locked horns in a power play, and Dade’s older brother, Virgil, is a sinister force that threatens not only Kerrah, but the very future of the JW Tanner Ranch. Who will survive Virgil’s private game of greed and vengeance?