Returning from the Civil War to a destitute hometown, Dick Hodson organizes a cattle drive with a trail party of greenhorn children, but a cutthroat gang wants that drive to fail.

Former Texas Rangers Benton McCaleb, Will Elliot, and Brazos Gifford ride with Charles Goodnight as he rounds up thousands of ornery, unbranded cattle for the long drive to Colorado. From the Trinity River brakes to Denver, they'll battle endless miles of flooded rivers, parched desert, and whiskey-crazed Comanches. And come face-to-face with Judge Roy Bean and legendary gunslingers like Clay Allison. For McCaleb and his hard-riding crew, the drive is a fierce struggle against the perils of an untamed land. A fight to the finish where the brave reach glory—or die hard.

Johnstone Country. Where Legends Are Born. Before he became known as “The Last Mountain Man,” Smoke Jensen and his bride Sally were hardworking ranchers on the Colorado frontier. This is a story of the early years. When times were hard, tensions were high, and guns were the law. . . . WHEN THE SHOOTING STARTS For Smoke and Sally Jensen, the Sugarloaf Ranch is the American Dream come true. A glorious stretch of untamed land near the Colorado-Kansas border, it’s the perfect place to stake their claim, raise some cattle, and start a new family. But when a man claiming to be an army colonel arrives in Big Rock—with a well-armed militia—the Jensens’ dream becomes a living nightmare. This stranger calls himself Colonel Lamar Talbot. He’s come to warn them about a looming war with the Cheyenne Indians. And only he can save them from a bloody massacre—by launching a counterattack that’s even bloodier. . . . Smoke and Sally aren’t sure they trust him. They suspect the colonel and his men are nothing more than brutal vigilantes with a hidden agenda of their own. But the Cheyenne war parties are a very real threat. The tribe’s charismatic leader, Black Drum, is launching raids on local ranches, farms, and the railroads, too. Every day, the violence gets worse and the war moves closer—until it reaches the Sugarloaf Ranch. That’s when Smoke grabs his guns. That’s when the shooting starts—and the final battle begins. . . .

"During the Civil War, Texas Rangers Harp and Long John O'Malley patrol a vast, unguarded range, protecting the families of soldiers off fighting at the front. At war's end, the Rangers are disbanded, and the O'Malleys sign on with a cattle drive across the most treacherous and deadly stretch of the American frontier from Texas to Sedalia"--

In the thrilling saga from the Western Heritage and Spur Award–winning author, Chet Byrnes stands his ground—with his courage, guns, and blood. For Chet Byrnes, building a ranching empire means adding new land, hiring good men, finding water, and trying new breeds of cattle. But outlaws and Tucson’s idle rich want to take it all away—and Arizona just may be too lawless to stop it. So while the Byrnes family expands its reach, Chet must do his job hunting down outlaws on either side of the border. Chet’s cowboys prove to be tireless fighters, going up against former Mexican military men, a powerful family with bad in their blood. Then Chet takes on the most dangerous risk of all: a bloody, all-out shooting war—with everything to lose, and one last enemy to kill . . . “Dusty takes readers into the real west at full gallop.” —New York Times-bestselling author Jodi Thomas “Dusty Richards writes . . . with the flavor of the real West.” —Elmer Kelton

Bad luck has driven half-breed Yakima Henry and Sheriff Jack Kelly into the town of Dead River during a severe mountain winter-where Yakima must weather a killer who's hell-bent on making the town as dead as its name.