Gangs of bloodthirsty and ruthless outlaws terrorized the American Southwest before and after Mexico ceded the land now called Texas. One such pack of thirty or forty cutthroats had what they thought was a perfectly impregnable hideout until a trio of U.S. Marshals was given the mission of bringing them to justice. These marshals were no barroom toughs, they'd been brought up church-going citizens, and all three had been schooled in the art of self-defense and survival. The leader of this outlaw gang made a fatal mistake when he ordered a rancher's beautiful virgin daughter kidnapped. His gunmen terrorized this beautiful maiden with a rattlesnake while threatening her with a life of abuse and humiliation at the hands of the outlaw boss. The boss of this lawless low-life gang of killers took great pride in using his blacksnake whip to maintain his unshakeable hold on his captives and even on the outlaws if they displeased him. He and his gang killed for the thrill of watching the innocent die. Members of this gang would lead the marshals on a chase throughout the Southwest and across the Rio Grande into Mexico, leaving a bloody trail of robbery and death.

Known for his tenacity in pursuing lawbreakers, U.S. Marshal Frank Marlin follows a dangerous mission to quell a brewing range war on the western frontier. Hes told that Cottonwood Valley, a rich fertile land in the State of Texas, is the target of the trouble. The valleys large-ranch owners blame each other for the cattle rustling, ambush killings, and other acts of lawlessness. They threaten to wipe each other out; fury on the range seems unavoidable. During his mission, Marlin learns that a wily outlaw boss, who strikes ranches and towns from his hideouts in the badlands, perpetrates the trouble in Cottonwood Valley. When the outlaw boss hears Marlin is on his way, he offers his henchmen a large cash bounty to anyone who kills the feared marshal. Marlin must always be on the lookout for those who want him dead. Encountering life-threatening situations and suffering serious wounds, Marlin never loses sight of his intense desire to stop the killing and cattle rustling.

Colt Horn was born on a pioneer trail to Scottish parents seeking new land they could call their own. But at the age of fifteen, he finds his parents murdered and is set adrift on the dangerous mission of vengeance. He grows to manhood surviving battles, hardships, and struggles, eventually becoming the owner of a large ranch. When he meets Liz Hanes, he wants to marry her and settle down. But none of his dreams can be realized until his parents' murderers are brought to justice. Colt learns that the man who killed his parents and is now leader of the Brazos River Marauders, wants him dead or alive and has posted a large bounty on his head. The attacks on neighboring ranches and on his life provoke him to leave his ranch and work full-time in an effort to eliminate the lawlessness in his valley. He will, at last, bring the leader of the Brazos River Marauders to justice-or die trying. Plenty of action brings the Old West to life in this tale filled with cowboys, love, revenge, and ultimately, redemption.

Sue decided it was time to make her presence known to both parties: the fellow running toward the gully certainly could not hide for long and, if the rider was indeed an officer, he needed to know that she was there to help. Sue fired the return signal. Although he could not see her, she saw the rider wave. She remained hidden in the gully. She saw the rider pull up just short of what she guessed would be accurate rifle range. The rider dismounted, hobbled his horse and melted into the tall grass. She thought, his actions confirm my guess that it is Guy Grimes. Sue reasoned that Guy Grimes would try to get between the man on foot and the far away woodlands to the east, thus placing him in a box between her and Guy. She slowly started working her way down the gully. At this point, Sue was convinced that Chad Brode had somehow fallen in an unplanned trap between her and a seasoned officer of the law. Her next thought, will good triumph over evil? She would soon learn the answer to her question.

This book is the tongue-in-cheek (and true) story about the building of a wooden catamaran by two brothers as they attempt to escape the clutches of Western Civilisation by sea. Part carpentry, part oddjob, part philosophy, hopefully part funny, and above all part sailing, the narrative takes you from the early terrors experienced whilst sailing dinghies as children to the high seas twenty years later.

Running more than 1,200 miles from headwaters in eastern New Mexico through the middle of Texas to the Gulf of Mexico, the Brazos River has frustrated developers for nearly two centuries. This environmental history of the Brazos traces the techniques that engineers and politicians have repeatedly used to try to manage its flow. The vast majority of projects proposed or constructed in this watershed were failures, undone by the geology of the river as much as the cost of improvement. When developers erected locks, the river changed course. When they built large-scale dams, floodwaters overflowed the concrete rims. When they constructed levees, the soils collapsed. Yet lawmakers and laypeople, boosters and engineers continued to work toward improving the river and harnessing it for various uses. Through the plight of the Brazos River Archer illuminates the broader commentary on the efforts to tame this nation’s rivers as well as its historical perspectives on development and technology. The struggle to overcome nature, Archer notes, reflects a quintessentially American faith in technology.