The Chisholm Trail

by Ralph Compton

Published 15 April 1993
From the Texas brakes to the Canadian River they blazed a trail with courage, blood and tears. The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history of blazing trail drives. Armed with only a Colt rifle, a Bowie knife and courage as big as the West, Ten Chisholm, the bold, half-breed son of Indian scout Jesse Chisholm, leaves New Orleans with a price on his head. His only crime - loving the beautiful daughter of a powerful New Orleans gambler who has promised her to a wealthy man she hates. With a team of battle-toughened cowboys and ex-soldiers and a vow to return to Priscilla and make her his wife. Ten rides into the harsh Texas brakes and the heart of Comanche country. Now, he must round up wild longhorns and set off across the Red River, through a thousand miles of swollen rivers, angry Comanches and treacherous outlaw attacks - on a brazen quest to open a new trail to Kansas on the savage frontier.

The Goodnight Trail

by Ralph Compton

Published 15 August 1992
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.

The Bandera Trail

by Ralph Compton

Published 15 September 1993
There were a thousand ways to die on a trail drive through Mexico. The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-blazing trail drives. Set on rescuing their old friend, Clay Duval, who is trapped inside war - torn Mexico, Gil and Van Austin, nephews of Texas founder Stephen Austin, cross the border after him and soon discover half of Mexico's army want them dead. Taken prisoner by Santa Anna's soldiers, the brothers make a daring escape and head into Durango country, where they stumble on a valley full of longhorns - and a chance to build a future north of the border. All they have to do now is break Duval out of prison and drive the cattle to safety. But faced with outlaws, soldiers and the cunning plans of a beautiful woman, the Austins are finding out that this isn't a trail drive; it's a war to reach the Bandera Range alive. And the only way to do it is the Texan way - fighting for every bloody, dusty mile ahead.

Western Trail

by Ralph Compton

Published 15 December 1992
A stubborn band of hard-driving Texans lock horns with a ruthless railroad baron in a bloody battle for an untamed land. The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn, and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history blazing trail drives. Benton McCaleb and his band of bold-spirited cowboys brave over a thousand treacherous miles to drive 2400 head of ornery cattle into Wyoming's Sweetwater Valley. They're setting up a ranch just north of Cheyenne when a ruthless railroad baron and his hired killers try to force them off the land. With the help of a Shoshoni Indian tribe and Buffalo Bill Cody, McCaleb and his men vow to stand and fight. Outgunned and outmanned, they'll wage the most ferocious battle of their lives - to win the right to call the land their own.