From tales of early baseball in the old west to the young men who fought for Texas Independence, these short stories by experts in their fields bring together a different view of the American West-the tales of the young men and women who were part of the story. Authors included in the anthology: Larry Bjornson; Johnny D. Boggs; Joseph Bruchac; S.J. Dahlstrom; Chris Enss; Rocky Gibbons; William Groneman; Frank Keating; Jean A. Lukesh; Bill Markley; Matthew Mayo; Rod Miller; Micki Milom; Sherry Monahan; Candy Moulton; Nancy Oswald; Nancy Plain; Vicky Rose; Quackgrass Sally; Candace Simar; Ginger Wadsworth

Based on actual events, this is the epic story of Abilene, Kansas, at a time when the cowboy was king, might made right, and the future seemed as unsettled as the endless prairie.
Abilene, 1871. Will Merritt is fiercely protective of the cattle trade that made his father's fortune. Idolizing the cowboys who flood the streets each summer, Will and his friends are drawn to Abilene's exotic Texastown district--a powderkeg of saloons and brothels so notorious that the mayor has hired the West's most famous gunman, Wild Bill Hickok, to police its streets. Yet even with Hickok as marshal, Abilene boils with deep divisions.
The townsfolk resent the migrant settlers whose new farms are slicing up the rangeland. And no one is more intolerant than Will's best friend, Jasper, who delights in tormenting any farmer he encounters. But Will finds himself torn when he meets the beautiful and beguiling Anna, whose dignity and determination test his deepest beliefs.
Then Will's father reveals a stunning secret that challenges Abilene's future, one that makes the Merritts outcasts. And when Wild Bill's tenure as marshal comes to a violent head, Will realizes that everything--his family, his friends, and the only home he's ever known--could be gone in an instant, leaving only an empty wilderness once again.