Bill Canavan rode into the valley with a dream to start his own ranch. But when he managed to stake claims on the three best water holes, the other ranchers turned against him.
No one is more determined to see Canavan dead than Star Levitt. Levitt is an unscrupulous businessman who has been accumulating cattle at an alarming rate. Suspicious after witnessing a secret meeting between the riders of warring ranches, Bill begins noticing other dubious behavior: Why is Levitt's fiancée, Dixie Venable, acting more like a hostage than a willing bride-to-be?
Canavan doesn't have much time to figure out what's going on. The entire valley is against him, and everyone is ready to shoot on sight.
Rock Bannon, wounded in an Indian attack, is rescued by a wagon train heading to Oregon. He has fully recovered when the train pulls into a fort to stock up on supplies. It is there that the leaders of the train meet Morton Harper, a smooth-talking man who persuades them to take an easier trail that will allow them to escape an attack by Indians. Bannon knows that there will be no escape from attack on that route and that it will lead the train directly onto Hardy Bishop's vast ranching domain. Either way, and probably both, it will mean war-a war the pioneers will undoubtedly lose.Bannon first appeared in Giant Western (Winter 1948) under the title Showdown Trail. L'Amour subsequently reworked and expanded this story into The Tall Stranger, published as an original paperback in 1957. The expanded story was filmed as The Tall Stranger (Allied Artists, 1957), directed by Thomas Carr and starring Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo.
Wounded, dehydrated, and escaping and violent feud with the men of Bob Sutton's ranch, Trace Jordan is near collapse when he descends from the heat of the desert into a cool, secluded canyon. He wakes to find a beautiful woman gently caring for his injuries. Maria Cristina and her family have also suffered at the hands of Sutton and his men. The experience has left her hostile and defiant. But Jordan sees another side of Maria, and the more time they spend together, the greater his concern for her safety becomes. Sutton's men are watching and waiting for him to show himself. If he escapes, Maria will be left behind to face their brutality. But if he convinces her to join him, he will be leading her into a heat-blasted, waterless desert. And if that doesn't kill them, the Apaches will.
He was a tough enforcer for a New York gang. But when young Tom Shanaghy made one too many enemies, he skipped town on a fast-moving freight. He landed in a small Kansas town that had big dreams, no name, and the need for an honest lawman. Tom figured that a knuckle-and-skull man from Five Points would be perfect for the job. He didn’t know that a high-stakes cattle drive was headed his way and that leading it was a vindictive rancher bent on settling an old score, even if he had to destroy the town to do it. Tom had himself stuck in the middle of the feud before sunset on his first day in town. All he could do was hope that his years on the Bowery had left him with the smarts he needed to keep himself alive.
Tap Duvarney lost his innocence in the War Between the States and then put his skills to the test as a soldier in the frontier army. Now he has settled on the Texas coast, working a ranch as the partner of his old friend Tom Kittery-and finding himself in the middle of a feud between Kittery and the neighboring Munson family. Around Matagorda Island, most people are either backing the Munsons or remaining silent. But the danger from outside Kittery's camp is nothing compared to the threat within, as Duvarney begins to suspect that Kittery's woman isn't everything she appears to be. Now Tap is discovering that he must go to war again. But will it be with the Munsons-or with his closest friend?
It was the only water for miles in a vast, sun-blasted desert where water meant survival. So Logan Cates naturally headed for Papago Wells. But he wasn't the only one. Fleeing the fierce Churupati and his Apache warriors, other travelers had come there too. And when the Apaches found them, they began a siege as relentless and unforgiving as the barren land...and just as inescapable.
The last thing Cates wanted was to be responsible for the lives of thirteen desperate strangers and a shipment of gold. But he knew that if they were to survive, he was their last chance. He also knew that some in the party were willing to die-or kill-to get their hands on the money. If he couldn't get them to work together, it wouldn't be the desert or even the Apaches that would do them in-it would be the greed of the very people he was trying to save.
Dan Killoe--over six feet of tough, raw, lightning fast man. He had a trail heard and a mass of settlers to get across unknown territory to a new land. Then he gave shelter to a stranger being hunted by Felipe Soto, scar-faced leader of the renegade Comancheros. This time Killoe was borrowing more trouble than he wanted to handle.
Barnabus Pike is no gunfighter and not much of a street fighter. Eddie Holt is a black boxer in a white man's world. They've both taken their share of hard knocks. Now they're looking to survive a brutal winter in a remote Montana line shack, collect their pay, and settle down for good. Then they cross paths with a hardworking Irish immigrant and his beautiful, spirited sister, who've been burned off their land. It's a fight Pike and Holt don't want, don't need, and don't dare turn their backs on-especially when one of the perpetrators might be one of Pike's old friends. Hunted like animals across the frozen countryside, Pike and Holt will risk everything-including their reputations, their dreams-and their lives.
When Gaylord Riley walked away from the Coburn gang, he had money and a dream. He worked hard and built a cabin, gathered a herd of cattle, and fell in love with Marie Shattuck.
But when he is confronted with false accusations of rustling and murder, Riley is forced to defend his new law-abiding way of life. Outnumbered and facing a lynching party, Riley is surprised when his old friends return to lend him a hand. But how can they help him and keep themselves out of jail? With the local marshal already suspicious of Riley, the Coburn gang will have to plan well and move fast. But that shouldn’t be a problem. Their reputation was built by doing just that.
Major James Brionne brought Dave Allard to trial for murder. Just before the hanging, Dave swore his brothers would take vengenance. . .Four year later the Allard boys retumed to settle the score. Only Brionne's son escaped. They murdered his wife, destroyed his home, and left Brionne nothing but the charred ruins of his past to haunt him. Seeking peace and a new life, Brionne and the boy headed west. But the Allards hadn't finished with him. He knew they'd call him for a showdown-and this time he'd be ready . . . .
Lance Kilkenny has a debt to pay, and he isn't about to let the friend who saved his life go down in a range war. But when Kilkenny tries to stop the fighting, he finds there's more at stake than land or wire.
Whoever is stirring up trouble has big ideas for the Live Oak country-and an army of hired guns to back them up. Nita Riordan, the beautiful and fiery owner of the Apple Canyon Saloon, warns Lance that the mysterious man orchestrating the conflict wants him dead. Lance realizes that if he doesn't watch his step, he'll pay the debt he owes with his own blood.
Set in New Mexico, A Man Called Trent opens to a nester named Dick Moffitt lying dead where he was killed by King Bill Hale's riders. Sally Crane, who is sixteen and was adopted by Moffitt, and Moffitt's fourteen-year-old Jack witnessed the murder from their hiding place.
