A Civil War veteran and trail hardened cowboy, Jacob Welles receives an unexpected inheritance and heads west to Chalk Creek Canyon in central Colorado. Confronted by bandits, rustlers, and gunmen, he gathers a loyal crew of tough cowboys, vaqueros and unexpected Ute allies who assist him in establishing a ranch with cattle purchased from his old boss, Charles Goodnight. A dangerous game is being played as he confronts a growing mystery and must choose between two women who love him.
A part-Cherokee Civil War veteran who served with General Stand Watie’s Mounted Cherokee Rifles, Jacob Welles has since become a trail hardened cowboy working for nearly a decade for the legendary cattle king Charles Goodnight. Upon receiving an unexpected inheritance from his late Uncle Henry, he heads west to establish the Running W Ranch along Chalk Creek in the upper Arkansas River Valley of central Colorado. Along the way he si engaged in gunfights with murderous bandits. However, they are but a prelude to the conflicts and adventures he will face in Colorado. Gathering about him a loyal crew of tough cowboys and vaqueros, he moves his herd from Trinidad in southern Colorado to his destination at the base of the mythological Chalk Cliffs in a canyon at the foot of Mt. Princeton. There begins the struggle to establish a ranch with cattle purchased from his old boss. Faced with rustlers, nightriders and hired gunmen, he and his men defend themselves and Jacob’s dream and develop an unexpected alliance with the Ute Indians in the region. Danger and death become regular events in the life of the Running W as Jacob witnesses the killing of some of his men and the constant raids against his property. He also confronts a growing mystery as to the cause of the conflict that threaten to destroy his dream. Added to this is a decision that he must choose between two women who love him, Alexis Forsythe, a sophisticated business woman from Baltimore who has established herself in New London and promises him passion and riches, and a sister to his vaqueros, Ana Garcia, who has been hired to keep house and cook for him and becomes a trusted friend. The author’s great-grandparents were Kansas and Colorado pioneers and he himself has lived in the places described in this, his first novel of the old west. A lifelong horseman, he knows the feel of the saddle after a long day, the smell of the dust of the trail, the feel of a Rocky Mountain winter and his taste for the realism of the time and place enables him to bring alive the struggle, adventure and conflict within this unique, fast paced, rollicking western adventure.
Set in Indian Territory during the Civil War, Watie's Wolves follows the violent adventures of a mixed-breed Cherokee, Jacob Welles, and three boyhood friends who evolve into a special unit of scouts within the famed Cherokee Mounted Rifles led by Stand Watie, the last confederate general to surrender. With an underlying current of tribal factionalism, they participate in and witness the decimation of Indian Territory as the conflagration of war destroys lives and dreams, not the least of which is Jacob's love for Rachel Creech and their hopes for a future together. The loss of friends and loved ones hardens the young warrior's heart and his sense of justice leads him to commit acts that result in his becoming a fugitive. His ultimate salvation is brought about by his Grandfather and unexpected support and protection. Based on historical fact and interlaced with Cherokee mythology and legend, the author, part Cherokee himself, brings to life the struggle, pain, and destruction of the war in Indian Territory. Fans of westerns, Native Americana, and the Civil War will find this evocative novel about an unusual aspect of the Civil War in the West an excellent addition to their library.
This collection of popular newspaper and magazine columns by Vernon Schmid is gleaned from hundreds of published pieces over the years in newspapers and magazines. His work regularly reaches tens of thousands readers. A prize-winning poet and newspaper editor, he is also a novelist and playwright. Filled with humor, wit and wisdom, these pieces offer insight into the always odd and illuminating activities of humanity, albeit from a unusual point of view. Whether a rancher, farmer, stable owner, racehorse aficionado, or casual reader, these columns will tickle your funny bone and sometimes bring a tear to your eye.
For more than thirty years, Vernon Schmid's poems of faith have appeared in religious and secular periodicals, as well as in various collections and anthologies.
In this gathering of columns and articles, Vernon Schmid touches, provokes, gouges, tickles, and challenges his readers. A United Methodist pastor, and author of Watie's Wolves (iUniverse, 2007), he has been a horse trainer, ranch hand, wrangler, Rocky Mountain trail guide, radio announcer, country, rock-a-billy, folksinger and educator. His first novel, Seven Days of the Dog, was a Heekin Group Fiction Finalist and his collection of poetry, Hog Killers and Other Poems was a Northwoods Poetry Prize winner. A member of the Western Writers of America, his popular magazine column "Horse Sense" appears monthly in the National Foundation Quarter Horse Journal with readers in the all 50 states and 24 foreign countries.
"This is the smart summer thriller you've been waiting for."--NPR's All Things Considered NAMED A MUST READ BY THE BOSTON GLOBE, BBC.COM, AND NEW YORK POST NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR A compulsively readable psychological thriller set in New York and at Oxford University in which a group of six students play an elaborate game of dares and consequences with tragic result It was only ever meant to be a game played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University; a game of consequences, silly forfeits, and childish dares. But then the game changed: The stakes grew higher and the dares more personal and more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round. Who knows better than your best friends what would break you? A gripping psychological thriller partly inspired by the author's own time at Oxford University, Black Chalk is perfect for fans of the high tension and expert pacing of The Secret History and The Bellwether Revivals. Christopher J. Yates' background in puzzle writing and setting can clearly be seen in the plotting of this clever, tricky book that will keep you guessing to the very end.
Professor emeritus at Osgoode Hall Law School and former president of Toronto’s York University, Harry W. Arthurs is one of Canada’s most widely respected scholars, educators, and policy makers in the world today. His enormous academic and institutional productivity has extended to administrative and labour law, legal pluralism and legal theory, and legal education. Bringing together scholars of law, history, and political economy, The Daunting Enterprise of the Law applies the framework of Arthurs’s extraordinary scholarship to a series of themes running through current legal, economic, and political thought. Contributors from around the globe engage with Arthurs’s work in several fields and sub-fields and consider the past and future of industrial democracy, globalization, labour law, legal education, and legal theory in the twenty-first century. Through the process of surveying, evaluating, and reflecting upon Arthurs’s ideas and intellectual contributions, they further advance the reader’s understanding of labour law and industrial relations. Remarkable in breadth and scope, The Daunting Enterprise of Law is both a celebration of Arthurs’s institutional achievements and policy leadership and an important contribution to contemporary scholarship.
Buck Fletcher, headed for Montana's Two-Bit Creek to pay his respects at the grave of his parents, finds himself drawn into a range war, but the feuding ranchers don't that Buck's guns aren't for sale.
The first two volumes of this outstanding history of Canada's defence and foreign policy have drawn unanimous acclaim from scholars and critics alike. Richard Preston said of the first volume that is 'opens up a new chapter in Canadian historiography' and of the second that is 'amply lives up to the promise of the earlier epoch-making book.' Kenneth McNaught stated: 'There could not be more important reading for anyone trying to apprehend the tenacious traditions underlying our present position in world affairs.' The third volume has been described in Political Science Quarterly as 'a first class book – learned in content, lucid and witty in style.'
