Badger Thurston is an ordinary kid in 1910. Badger starts out messing up a cattle drive. When the cattle are stolen, Badger and his best friend Percy ride down a steep canyon to retrieve the herd. What they find is danger, excitement, frustration, and hardship.

This book is about the life of cowboys on cattle drives and other experiences they endured. It is about hard times and good times and making lifelong friends including Black, White, Mexican, American Indian, and a woman trail boss. It is about facing hostile Indian attacks and rustlers and the battles that ensued, and about sheer bravery and fear when facing down another man in a gunfight. It is also about a quiet, shy young cowboy falling in love and marrying the girl of his dreams and working on a ranch. It includes flashbacks interrupting the chronological order of the main narrative to take the reader back in time to the past events in a character's life. It explores notable historical figures and time periods in these settings. Considering the cowboy code #4 "Do what has to be done," most of the men and women in this novel served their country in times of conflict and distress. It discusses the family's lineage, patriotism and war service including the Mexican War, Civil War, Indian wars of 1876, Spanish American War, WW1, WW2, the Korean Conflict, and Vietnam.

A beautifully rendered reference guide to the Great Plains portion of the famous expedition through the American West highlights the explorer's remarkable encounters with previously undocumented flora and fauna as they moved through the Plains region. Original. (Biology & Natural History)

This text explores the natural history of Texas and more than 2900 springs in 183 Texas counties. It also includes an in-depth discussion of the general characteristics of springs - their physical and prehistoric settings, their historical significance, and their associated flora and fauna.