Charles Austin Fosdick (September 6, 1842 - August 22, 1915), better known by his nom de plume Harry Castlemon, was a prolific writer of juvenile stories and novels, intended mainly for boys. He was born in Randolph, New York, and received a high school diploma from Central High School in Buffalo, New York. He served in the Union Navy from 1862 to 1865, during the American Civil War, acting as the receiver and superintendent of coal for the Mississippi River Squadron. Fosdick had begun to write as a teenager, and drew on his experiences serving in the Navy in such early novels as Frank on a Gunboat (1864) and Frank on the Lower Mississippi (1867). He soon became the most-read author for boys in the post-Civil War era, the golden age of children's literature.

Excerpt from The Mystery of Lost River Canyon One hot, sultry August afternoon, a weary horse, whose heaving sides and foam-flecked breast bore evidence to the fact that he had been driven long and rapidly, was reined up in front of a little station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. His rider - a tall, broad-shouldered, full-bearded man - was dressed in clothing which seems to have been chosen by the ranchmen of the country of which we write, as a badge distinctive of their calling - a red shirt, wide-brimmed bat, corduroy trousers and heavy top boots. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Retired border agent Grady Matthews has gone missing in Southwest Texas, might be dead. His old friend and Border Patrol compatriot Ryan Shaw is determined to find out what happened to him in this vivid tale of crime, deception and mystery along the border between the United States and Mexico written by a retired federal agent. In his search, Shaw descends into a canyon once used by smugglers that leads to Mexico. And encounters a lovely and spicy young Mexican woman who could possibly lead him to the answer he is determined to get. Along the way he comes across a drug-running operation about to smuggle 15 tons of cocaine into the United States the old-fashioned way: via a workhorse pack train through the canyon. To try to learn Grady's fate, Ryan gets himself hired on as a wrangler with the pack train. As this adventure unfolds, he must operate outside the law and his authority, evade detection of his border agent status by the traffickers, avoid tipping off Mexican authorities as well his own agency and other lawmen north of the border, and try not to be tempted into trouble by the bonita senorita. "Border Canyon" is the first book in the Border Agent Mystery series written by Ray Summers, whose three-decades career as a Border Patrol, Customs and DEA lawman in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico imbue the tale with a winning realism. It's an engaging narrative that beckons readers along into the borderlands with compelling twists and turns, puzzling questions and surprises along the way to its dramatic conclusion.

Reproduction of the original.

Jake Garner grew up on an isolated ranch in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, with a drunk for a father and a bully for a big brother. He often ventured into the mountains to hunt game for the dinner table, the only protection his mother could offer. Jake's favorite place to go was a no-name canyon back in the Bitterroots that, a half-century ago, was relatively unknown. In all the times he went there, he never saw another soul. After serving three tours in Vietnam, and staying as far from the Bitterroots - and his brother and father - as possible, Jake is finally forced home by a serious stomach wound that refuses to heal. But his mother and brother are gone, killed in a car wreck while Jake is recuperating in a Hawaii hospital. His ailing father passes away soon thereafter. So when Jake finally gets home, the house is empty and the small ranch he grew up on is his. When tragedy strikes again, Jake, alone and filled with grief, returns to his canyon once more. And while there observing an eagle on the hunt, he also observes an attempted murder. As he becomes embroiled in trying to stop it, sort it out, and save the victim, he discovers he must also save himself.