This collection showcases Robert E. Howard's comic westerns. Howard's novel A Gent from Bear Creek is included (with its text restored), as well as two additional western stories featuring Breck Elkins and includes an introduction by Paul Herman.

Katrina "Sis" Fletcher along with her brother, Jonah, and friend Sooey, embark on a dangerous mission to deliver a warning by their uncle, Harlan Fletcher, to a cruel land-grabber and murderer in the unsettled Northern High Plains, the wild Dakota Territory in the mid-1870s. Sis is an eighteen-year-old wearing a Colt .45 on her hip and determined to complete her mission. Jonah is two years her junior and an expert with his deceased father's .44 Winchester, having been trained to speed and accuracy since early childhood. Sooey, a six-foot-six four hundred pounds of brute force provides the muscle needed to see them through the battles forced on them by cruel and brutal men. With grit and wit, the three narrowly escape death on the perilous journey and when finally reaching Bitter Root, the town and valley controlled by ruthless killers, they face the toughest fight of their lives. Added to their woes, they must rescue two half-breed sisters having inclinations and designs of their own where Jonah is concerned. They struggle to hang on until their uncle and his seven sons arrive from Kansas. And arrive they do In the fashion of the fighting Fletchers--Winchesters cocked and fingers set to trigger, stepping aside for no man or group and dishing out justice western style

Tascosa Cummings left behind the tedious life of cattle ranching years ago; now he lives the carefree, nomadic life of a true cowboy, trading in herds for horses and barbed wire fences for the open Oklahoma range. When Tas and his band of mounted men find themselves in the crossfire of a two-sided range war with nothing but their horses, their guns, and a wagon of supplies for defense, getting out alive with their guns in their holsters just doesn't seem to be an option. Doing business on the range at a time when the people who enforce the law are the very same who break it, it becomes practical for Tas and his Sawbuck gang to turn and ride away before shots are fired and the dust gets kicked up; if you don't see anything, you can't say anything. But when the good and the bad join forces in a veritable No Man's Land, it's up to each mounted man to defend what's rightfully his-his bronc, his brand, and his name-law or no law.

From barroom brawls to Main Street shootouts, Ride the Ranger Winds offers non-stop action of true to life Texas Rangers.

From Captain Beasley to Laughlin McFarland and all the other Ranger Recruits, their one common denominator was their own personal integrity and straight forward approach to the dangerous life on the frontier.

See how the author grasps the savagery of the times in the Ranger's raw dealings with murderers, rapists, cattle rustlers, outlaws and Indians. In an era with little, or no, political influence, the action is sometimes brutal and crude.

Intertwined with the perils of the untamed west, romance is incorporated into the daily lives of the characters. Like mythical sailors with a girl in every port, the Rangers had their romantic interludes while on the trail of desperados.

Follow Laughlin as he grapples with his life on the trail and his decision whether to marry Melissa and quit the Rangers, or continue his dangerous life on the Range.......Does he find an acceptable compromise?

Henry Logan rides with a mission when he arrives in the border town of Nogales, Arizona Territory: Skiptracing the location of wealthy rancher Richard I. Parrish. Trust checks in his name have been faithfully cashed each month, but Richard has stopped responding to letters from his attorney. Henry is sent to find Parrish dead or alive. A straightforward task; that is until Henry is mistaken for a famous gunslinger and falls under the feverish influence of the malaria he contracted in Cuba. Furthermore, his number one suspect is Parrish s wife, and the most alluring woman Henry has ever encountered. As his fever mounts, the lines blur between good and bad, friend and foe; and he must dig deep to prevail against the enemies that threaten his deep-seated ideals."

Mastincala, the Rabbit Boy, is born in a tumultuous and uncertain time for his people, the Lakota. He is but a boy when his father is killed during the clash between the Lakota and Colonel Harney s army at Rosebud, and he vows to avenge his father s death. Mastincala joins Crazy Horse and the Oglala on their rides against the Crow, fighting against the encroachment and overhunting of Big Horn country. He earns the name Tacante, Buffalo Heart, for his courage during one particularly fierce battle, and sheds his softer boyhood persona. When gold is discovered in the sacred Black Hills, a series of unstoppable events is set in motion culminating in the bloody massacre at Little Big Horn. In the midst of the turmoil, Mastincala must decide how to forge a future for his family while defending the honor and tradition of his ancestors. Lakota vividly details the struggle of the Lakota people against the white man for control of their hunting grounds, and offers a moving, bittersweet portrait of the period that marked the end of a way of life for the Plains Sioux."

For the life of me, I don't see how anybody in his right mind would want a berth on a busted down wreck like the Jessie Bill. But then there ain't many people on the Jessie Bill in their right minds [...]My name is Peter Paul Sherman and I'm mud clerk on the Jessie Bill. Flunky might be a better word for it. I'm 17 and if I can live through one more season on this leaky old tub, I'll put in for a job on some respectable boat... And so begins the wonderful adventures of Mr. Peter Paul Sherman. It's the kind of story that the incomparable Mr. Samuel Clemens would have recognized in a flash. Peter Sherman's lively and hilarious account of this travels up and down the mighty Mississippi will delight every family that appreciates the wonderful history and unique characters that make up our rich American heritage. Where else could you find battles with river pirates, riots caused by floating Shakespearean acting troupes, picnics that turn into brawls...and it's all true. More or less.

Eight years ago, forty-year-old Caulfield Blake was run out of the West Texas town of Simpson by a lynch mob. As sheriff, he'd been called on to carry out justice. But the War was ending and upholding the law was a tough kind of business. And when it meant hanging 'Colonel' Henry Simpson's son for killing an unpopular federal judge, the community-including Blake's own wife and children-wanted no part of him. Now Colonel Simpson wants to expand his spread and force out his neighbors, so he blocks up Carpenter Creek and dries up the already barren soil. There's only one man who will stand up to the powerful Colonel Simpson and he's been making a good living for himself rounding up mustangs by the Brazos River. But when Caulfield Blake gets an urgent letter from his remarried ex-wife, he listens to his heart, and not to his sense, and heads back home.

Johnson is accused of assaulting a white woman, a deadly charge for a black man in 1875. Knowing he'll be lynched if he stays in St. Andrews, Indiana, Johnson flees to the grassy plains of Kansas looking for the freedom unavailable to him back East. What Johnson doesn't know is that the woman's father is a powerful businessman determined to track him down. For a man on the run, the West seems like the perfect place for someone withdrawn like Johnson to become a new person, until a top Pinkerton agent named Cole Charles comes into town hunting outlaws. Johnson finds himself in Flatridge, Kansas where he is hired as a stable hand. It's here he meets an aspiring writer named Margret Herston who makes advances toward him. Johnson is wary of involvement with another white woman, yet he falls for Margret anyway. When Cole Charles comes to town and discovers he is a wanted man, Johnson has no choice but to flee. Johnson escapes to Fort Worth, Texas, and meets a rowdy woman named Eddie who is quick with a joke and even quicker with her pistol. Despite his lack of experience, Eddie hires Johnson to be a wrangler on a cattle drive made up of other black cowboys headed to Wyoming. With Cole Charles on his trail, the cattle drive will take Johnson further than he ever imagined and force him to confront his greatest fear when he comes face to face with Cole Charles himself. WILD SALVATION is a western novel that explores diverse perspectives on race and the role of women in the Old West through an epic action-packed adventure. Readers will see a side of the West that has often been left out in fiction as Johnson tangles with bandits, hired gunmen, and racism.

The Arkansas Regulators is a rousing tale of frontier adventure, first published in German in 1846, but virtually lost to English readers for well over a century. Written in the tradition of James Fenimore Cooper, but offering a much darker and more violent image of the American frontier, this was the first novel produced by Friedrich Gerstacker, who would go on to become one of Germany's most famous and prolific authors. A crucial piece of a nineteenth-century transatlantic literary tradition, this long-awaited translation and scholarly edition of the novel offers a startling revision of the frontier myth from a European perspective.

Dutch Clarke - The Early Years (2nd Edition). We all come into this world alone and go out the same way. Between the coming and going is life. This is a story about life and how a year long adventure defines the future of a reluctant young man named Dutch Clarke. Manipulated by the terms of his dead grandfather's will, Dutch undertakes his ordeal in the rugged wilderness of British Columbia in 1941. This is a classic story of one man's personal struggle to come of age against all odds. Dutch begins his trek accompanied by his horse Blaze, two mules and a half wild dog, Gus. As they pack into the remote Nascall Valley, he digs deep, learning courage, self-reliance and how to survive. On this unforgiving trail, Dutch faces many obstacles, some life-threatening, some inspiring, all a challenge to his character and spirit. This poignant story is written in a powerful narrative style that draws the reader ever deeper, propelling them from one adventure to the next. It's a story of redemption, love, birth and death, a heart-felt story that relates the events that shape its characters' lives in an edge-of-your-seat survival saga.

USA Today Bestseller! One of Refinery29's Best Reads of September In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before-Caroline Ingalls, "Ma" in Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved Little House books. In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril. The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline's new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles' hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses. For more than eighty years, generations of readers have been enchanted by the adventures of the American frontier's most famous child, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in the Little House books. Now, that familiar story is retold in this captivating tale of family, fidelity, hardship, love, and survival that vividly reimagines our past.

On a fateful day in 1891, native Texan cowboys Jeremiah Coxin and Earl Ray Remmick meet in a bustling Georgia town. It marks the beginning of a life-long partnership between two friends always eager for the next adventure.

When they hear that cowboys who apply themselves can make a fortune herding scrub cattle, they make their way into central Florida to begin a new life. But they aren't expecting to battle the Florida elements which include hurricanes, insects, alligators, scrub fires, and the constant heat. The money is good, though, so they stick with it despite a few close calls with death.

Through the years, Jeremiah and Earl Ray have more than their share of adventures. Whether it's fending off a group of bloodthirsty panthers, interacting with the Seminole Indians, or dodging bullets, the two cowboys always look forward to whatever appears on the horizon. Even during their darkest nights and brightest days, the two cling to their old-fashioned values to see them through.

Drawing on a little known part of Florida's history, Crackers in the Scrub brings to life the spirit and personality of the scrub cowboys, and reveals their tremendous courage and strength.

When Sheriff Cornelius Doyle is killed, his estranged son Kane sets out to find the culprit, hoping to reconcile with a family that doesn't want to know him - but he soon discovers that his father's apparently honourable life was a lie. The sheriff had become a legend when he killed the notorious outlaw Jesse Sawyer, but Kane discovers that the facts are at odds with the legend, as Jesse is still alive. With the sheriff's murder apparently being connected to the events of ten years ago, Kane hopes that Jesse can lead him to the killer. Instead he uncovers a dark secret that will not only put his life in peril, but could make it impossible for his family to ever accept him.

Libbie is the life story of Elizabeth Bacon Custer, wife of George Armstrong Custer. Libbie traveled the west with her famous husband, writing many books about their adventures. Her great achievement came in the years after Little Big Horn, when she burnished the reputation of her husband and his men through extensive public relations efforts. Judy Alter's storytelling and impeccable historical research bring the era of the old west to life while highlighting the life of Elizabeth Bacon Custer.