Long Way to Texas brings together three rare Kelton novels, all with Texas roots.
In Joe Pepper, the titular character, while awaiting a hangman's noose, tells the story of how he discovered a propensity for violence while seeking revenge. The irony is that Joe's keen sense of justice puts him on the wrong side of the law.
Long Way to Texas, taking place just after the Civil War battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico, is the story of Lt. David Buckalew, whose remnant of Confederate riflemen is under siege and low on rations and water. Complicating matters is the young officer's self-doubt and fear of failure. Thomas Canfield of Eyes of the Hawk, known to the Mexican citizens of his town of Stonehill, Texas, as "El Gavilan"-the Hawk-is not a man to forgive a wrong. He sets out to prove this to an insolent ranchman rival who intends to build a fortune at Canfield's expense.
The Hawk has a radically different idea: he will destroy the town before yielding to his enemy. This omnibus edition of three novels by Elmer Kelton features an introduction by Dale L. Walker, author of twenty-three novels and a past president of the Western Writers of America.
Elmer Kelton's westerns are filled with authentic details and unforgettable characters. With works including The Smiling Country and Texas Rifles, he has won six Golden Spur Awards and attracted a world-wide audience of fans. By 1873, the great buffalo herds have been all but wiped out, and the hide hunters are looking for other work. So when Gage Jameson hears of one remaining herd, he sees a final opportunity to make a huge profit. But to find the buffalo, he will have to take his line of wagons deep into Comanche territory, where death lurks behind every rock. Kelton's feel for the last days of the American West is evident in each chapter of Buffalo Wagons. As Jameson and his crew journey further into danger, the growing tension is dramatically voiced by Audie Awarda-winning narrator George Guidall.
Although Crow Feather and his Comanche tribe rule the southern plains, Confederate veteran Jeff Layne and his party of desperate hide seekers, traveling from Dodge City, refuse to be turned back from their trek. Reprint. NYT.
Forged from Elmer Kelton's 1950s observations of drought-ravaged West Texas, this Spur Award winner-written by the WWA's greatest Western writer-tells the compelling story of one rancher's struggle to maintain his independence. But as rainless years continue and farmers and ranchers sell their souls for federal hand-outs, Charlie finds himself under increasing pressure to compromise his principles.
Spur-award winning author Elmer Kelton delivers the sequel to his novel Slaughter with this powerful story of one man's search for peace on the war-stricken plains of the Wild West. In The Far Canyon, Kelton masterfully unveils for his reader the finality of the buffalo's demise, the beginning of a time when cattle would replace the American bison on the southern plains and ultimately end the Plains Indian culture. The novel reveals the history of the period, not in a general grand swoop of the pen, but rather, up close and personal, so his readership can judge the impact of the period upon his characters.
Voted by his peers as the best Western writer of all time and honored with a record seven Spur Awards, Elmer Kelton is the beloved author of such compelling tales as The Good Old Boys. A beautifully written and highly readable memoir, Sandhills Boy reveals the origins of a unique storytelling talent and Texas treasure.
From seven-time Spur Award winner Elmer Kelton comes a riveting tale befitting the Western Writers of America's Greatest Western Writer of all time. When Comanches slaughter his parents in 1855 West Texas, eight-year-old Jeff buries their scalped bodies'and the
charred remains of his younger brother. Taken in by a homesteading family, Jeff ekes out an existence. But as he dons Confederate gray, he never dreams his brother is alive'or that he's wearing Union blue.
Deputy Sheriff Jim-Bob McClain isn't sure he's ready to follow in his father's footsteps as the law in Coolridge County. In fact, he has a hard enough time keeping the peace between the drunks in the local saloon. But with tough Sheriff Mont Naylor to back him up he figures he can handle whatever comes his way. Jim-Bob's first real assignment is no piece of cake. He must escort a ruthless outlaw into the hands of justice. All seems well with the lawless killer firmly in Jim-Bob's custody. But nothing prepares him for an angry mob, determined to take the law into their own hands and provide their own brand justice: a hangman's noose. Shadow of a Star is a gripping tale by Elmer Kelton, voted one of the best Western Writers of all time by Westerns Writers of America, Inc.
Whatever Elmer Kelton says is worth listening to. Here are five of this famous author's best speeches, recorded live. Known for his award-winning fiction, Kelton, who in 1995 was named the greatest Western author of all time by Western Writers of America, is highly sought after as a keynote speaker. His vast knowledge of and passion for the subjects he uses as backdrops for his novels is evident in these finely-crafted, humorous talks. Finalist in AudioWorld's 2004 Golden Headsets Awards for Best Self-Help/Inspirational Audio.
From one of the West's greatest living storytellers, winner of numerous awards, including the Spur, the Golden Saddleman, and the Western Heritage Award, here is Elmer Kelton's magnificent new novel of the wildcat West Texas oil boom of the 1920s. It used to be that the worst crime in Caprock was moonshining or lying about your Saturday night date on Sunday morning--until someone struck oil. Now the scent of the stuff has brought every dreamer, drifter, and two-bit swindler to town. Among them is the frontier mobster Big Boy Daugherty, who warns any who'd stand in his way: Get Out or Die. One man will do neither. Sheriff Dave Buckalew is a man too proud to give up and too stubborn to give in. He liked his town the way it was--before the bootleggers, brothels, and fortune-seeking roustabouts--and so did a lot of other hardworking decent folk. Together they'll fight to win back their town--and their future. This is the story of their heroic stand.
Recipient of Golden Saddleman, Lone Star Lifetime Achievement, and Western Heritage Awards, Elmer Kelton is WWA's "Greatest Western Writer of All Time." Honored by WWA as one of history's 25 Best Westerns and based on an actual 1883 Texas cowboys' strike, this Golden Spur Award-winning novel tells the gripping saga of veteran cowboys and upstart cattle lords vying for power-vainly resisting change.
'The Buckskin Line tells of Texas' chaotic early years, when a ragtag group of irregular volunteers fought to defend the far edges of settlement from incursion by Indians and frontier outlaws. In time, they would become known as the Texas Rangers.'--Elmer Kelton This is a story of the early days when... An intense, red-haired young man named Rusty Shannon rides into Fort Belknap on the Brazos River and joins the Texas Rangers. Years before, Mike Shannon rescued Rusty from a Comanche war party and became his adoptive father. Not long ago, Mike Shannon, was bushwhacked and killed, and his death still haunts Rusty. Rusty thinks he knows the identity of Mike's killers. But with Texas now in the throes of seceding from the Union, Rusty has his hands full fighting for the law in lawless Texas and for the life of the woman he loves. If that were not enough of a burden, Rusty is also heading for a showdown with the Comanche warrior who killed his family over twenty years ago.
