"Two young men in the gold fields of California spend a last evening together as one of them, very sick, confronts his own imminent death. The tenderness between them may seem idealized, but you understand reading this story how premature death from accident and disease haunted the lives of far more westerners than death by violence."
"Gladstone Brass found out how to make his livelihood during the thirty years he prospected the arid wastes of the Nevada desert. He pried ore out of the few small deposits he discovered, then went to town—which he hated—only long enough to trade his bits of gold for the supplies he needed. Otherwise, he was devoted to keeping these arid, secret wastes all to himself, and that meant driving out rivals, invaders, interlopers, and adventurers. His only friend and companion was Tía María, a burro he’d caught in a desert canyon after his mule died from a snake bite. His great enemy was Bitter Bowler, a younger man, but run-down and dishonest.
One day, Brass spotted buzzards circling, and curiosity led him to investigate. He found a dead burro and an injured Bitter Bowler with his revolver trained on Brass. Bowler claimed he had broken his leg and couldn’t move. He wanted Brass’ water. When Brass refused, Bowler shot Tía María, then told him the next shot would be for him if he didn’t leave his water and supplies and get more water and something he could use for a crutch. Brass agreed and headed for Angel Cliff seep, the nearest water supply. He was debating whether he should go back to rescue Bitter Bowler when he arrived at the seep to find a stranger camped there who immediately turned, his gun pointed right at Brass."
"Collected here are ten Western short stories by Richard S. Wheeler, the award-winning author who makes storytelling look easy.
In “Mugs Birdsong’s Crime Academy,” celebrated criminal Mugs Birdsong decides to found an academy that will instruct lawmen on the ways and means of lawlessness. “The Last Days of Dominic Prince” is the tragic tale of a cattle baron and his final conflict with the forces of political correctness. “Dead Weight” introduces us to a coffin maker who constructs a work of art. And in the title story, two young men in the gold fields of California spend one last night together as one of them confronts his own imminent death.
This collection also includes “The Square Reporter,” “A Commercial Proposition,” “The Great Filibuster of 1975,” “The Tinhorn’s Lady,” “Hearts,” and “Looking for Love at a Romance Writers Convention.”"
"Wiley Smart is as sly and cunning as his fake name. Hannah Holt is like an unexpected tonic on a hot, dusty prairie. Linc Larrimer is 12, orphaned, and has a chip on his shoulder the size of a two-by-four. These three unlikely bunkmates are thrown together in a hilarious journey through Indian territory, under the vigilant eye of the most feared Indian of all-Red Cloud."
"Jebediah Owen stepped off the steamboat that brought him to the headwaters of the Missouri and onto the vast, unknown plains of the prairies. He was not heard of again. His betrothed-Susannah St. George-has gotten tired of waiting and takes matters into her own hands. Eliciting the aid of a French fur scout and incorrigible bigamist by the name of Jean Gallant, the two of them set out for the place where Jed told Susannah he could be found . where the river runs."
"Down the eastern slopes of the Rockies, out upon the Great Plains, and into the heart of Blackfeet country flows the Two Medicine River. To this wild and beautiful land come a pair of young wanderers, half-breeds born of two worlds... but belonging to neither. Marie Therese de Paris - driven by the ancestral fires in her spirit - sets out on a vision quest, hoping to save the Blackfeet from their cruel fate. Peter Kipp, bold and ambitious, chooses to follow his father into the American Fur Company, determined to prove himself in the white man's world. Bound by love, torn by their loyalties, they share a single destiny about to unfold on the Two Medicine River..."
"Witness to Gettysburg brings the bloodiest, most crucial battle of the Civil War to life through on-the-spot eyewitness accounts. From the courageous fighting men and officers to the civilians watching as the conflict raged through their towns, from the reporters riding with the regiments to the children excited or terrified by the titanic drama unfolding before them, each account stems from personal experience and blends with the whole to create a startlingly vivid tapestry of war.
In their own words, and through the eyes of their closest aides, such commanders as Robert E. Lee, Jeb Stuart, George Meade, and Abner Doubleday emerge as memorable, living men. So does the seventy-year-old Gettysburg resident John Burns, who joined a Union regiment when the rebels angered him by driving away his milk cows, was three times wounded, and emerged from the battle a national hero.
This is eyewitness history at its best."
"Noted Civil War historian Richard Wheeler brings this narrative to life with haunting images of the final days of the Civil War: President Lincoln walking through the streets of Richmond, drawing an admiring crowd of blacks; Confederate and Union troops gathering in the fields around Appomattox Court House, mingling with former foes, experiencing disbelief, bitterness, relief.
Drawing from numerous eyewitness descriptions, Wheeler effectively recreates a moment of the Civil War that is perhaps unequalled in sheer emotion. This account is as much a tribute to Confederate courage as it is a record of the final triumph of the Union cause."
"From the moment Abner Dent spotted Eve in a Maiden dance hall, he knew he wanted her for his wife. He promised her everything and kept his word. But suddenly--so it seemed to Abner--everything was falling into ruin. When it seemed as if nothing worse coul"
"Candace enters the Badlands on a scientific expedition. Young, beautiful and in love with knowledge, she is there to study early man and prehistoric fossils. But what begins with the purest of motives will end in a nightmare of violence and lust."
"Aristotle Schrimshaw plans a midnight stagecoach run through a bandit-infested wilderness. He, himself calls it a fool\'s coach but is willing to risk it and will take others if they dare!"
"Richard Lamb was a peace-loving man forced to fight for his kin and his rights against the U. S. Army. Captain Partridge had orders to arrest Lamb's entire family, then place them on the Blackfoot Reservation."
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