A former soldier must survive a journey more treacherous than any war in this novel from Spur Award-winning author Charles G. West. Joel McAllister is a lieutenant in the Confederate Army—or at least he was, until Lee surrendered. Now he’s determined to get as far away from war as possible, somewhere beyond North and South and maybe somewhere with some gold: Idaho Territory. Accompanied by his steadfast sergeant, Riley, the two former soldiers travel westward from Texas. But the trail to Silver City is littered with peril. When his traveling party expands to include a Bannock Indian and two women survivors of a Comanche raid, Joel will need to rely on what soldier’s instinct he has left in him to deliver everyone to Silver City alive—and keep them alive once they’re there.
A former soldier must survive a journey more treacherous than any war in this novel from Spur Award-winning author Charles G. West. Joel McAllister is a lieutenant in the Confederate Army—or at least he was, until Lee surrendered. Now he’s determined to get as far away from war as possible, somewhere beyond North and South and maybe somewhere with some gold: Idaho Territory. Accompanied by his steadfast sergeant, Riley, the two former soldiers travel westward from Texas. But the trail to Silver City is littered with peril. When his traveling party expands to include a Bannock Indian and two women survivors of a Comanche raid, Joel will need to rely on what soldier’s instinct he has left in him to deliver everyone to Silver City alive—and keep them alive once they’re there.
Abigail Adams offers a fresh perspective on the famous events of Adams's life, and along the way, Woody Holton, a renowned historian of the American Revolution, takes on numerous myths about the men and women of the founding era. But the book also demonstrates that domestic dramas--from unplanned pregnancies to untimely deaths--could be just as heartbreaking, significant, and inspiring as the actions of statesmen and soldiers. A special focus of the book is Adams's complex relationships: with her mother, sisters, and children; with her husband's famous contemporaries; and with Phoebe, one of her father's slaves. At the same time that John exhibited his own diplomatic skills on a better-known canvas, Abigail struggled to prevent the charitable gifts she gave her sisters from coming between them. In a departure from the persistently upbeat tone of most Adams biographies, Holton's work shows how frequently her life was marred by tragedy, making this the deepest, most humanistic portrayal ever published. Using the matchless trove of Adams family manuscripts, the author steps back to allow Abigail to respond to her many losses in her own words. Holton reveals that Abigail Adams sharply disagreed with her husband's financial decisions and assumed control of the family's money herself--earning them a tidy fortune through her shrewd speculations (this during a time when married women were not permitted to own property). And he shows that her commitment to women's equality and education was intense and explicitly expressed and practical, from the more than two thousand letters she wrote over her lifetime to her final will (written in defiance of legislation prohibiting married women from bequeathing property). Alternately witty, poignant, and uplifting, Holton's narrative sheds new light on one of America's best-loved but least-understood icons.
Though academically thorough in its exploration, the popular style of delivery of Massacre on the Lordsburg Road will capture and hold the interest of general readers of Indian history.
I was born in a very small town in rural southern Mississippi, down in the delta, the name of the town is Little Texas. My parents were share croppers. I am the second eldest of five siblings. When I was eight, we moved to Rockford, ILL. We were all schooled there. I left school my senior year and became a machinist. I worked in machine shops for 22 years then became a truck driver and moved to Florida. I attended Indian River Community College and studied Art. I paint portraits, seascapes, land
In this gripping western tale, nothing burns as hot as the flame of righteous vengeance. Wyoming holds the promise of a bright future for newlyweds Cole and Ann Bonner. Alongside Ann’s sister, her husband, and their children, the young couple have braved the long, hard road across Nebraska in hopes of building a new life for themselves on a tract of land near Crow Creek Crossing. But their dreams of a fresh start are quickly cut short. While Cole is away in town, a gang of outlaws led by the despicable Slade Corbett raids the family homestead, leaving behind a smoking ruin and the bodies of everyone Cole holds dear. The vicious attack transforms this once easygoing young man into a grim avenger. With cold, merciless determination, Cole vows to track down every last member of the gang and make them pay—in blood.
Historians have long admired Ralph Emerson Twitchell's "The Leading Facts of New Mexican History," considered the first major history of the state. Put succinctly by former State Historian Robert J. Torrez, Twitchell's work (of which this is one of the first two volumes Sunstone Press is reprinting in its Southwest Heritage Series) has "become the standard by which all subsequent books on New Mexico history are measured." As Twitchell wrote in the preface of his first volume, his goal in writing "The Leading Facts" was to respond to the "pressing need" for a history of New Mexico with a commitment to "accuracy of statement, simplicity of style, and impartiality of treatment." Ralph Emerson Twitchell was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on November 29, 1859. Arriving in New Mexico when he was twenty-three, he immediately became involved in political and civic activities. In 1885 he helped organize a new territorial militia in Santa Fe and saw active duty in western New Mexico. Later appointed judge advocate of the Territorial Militia, he attained the rank of colonel, a title he was proud to use for the rest of his life. By 1893 he was elected the mayor of Santa Fe and, thereafter, district attorney of Santa Fe County. Twitchell probably promoted New Mexico as much as any single New Mexican of his generation. An avid supporter of New Mexico statehood, he argued the territory's case for elevated political status, celebrated its final victory in 1912, and even designed New Mexico's first state flag in 1915. Just as Twitchell's first edition in 1911 helped celebrate New Mexico's entry into statehood in 1912, the newest edition of the text and illustrations, including the "Subscriber's Edition" page of Number 1,156 of 1,500, serves as a tribute to the state's centennial celebration of 2012. In the apt words of an editorial in the "Santa Fe New Mexican" at the time of Twitchell's death in 1925: "As press agent for the best things of New Mexico, her traditions, history, beauty, glamour, scenery, archaeology, and material resources, he was indefatigable and efficient.""
In this thrilling western, the combined sins of a father and son will push a lawman to his limits. There’s no taming Billy Blanchard. He’s cut from the same rough cloth as his father, Jacob, the man who built the town of Black Horse Creek from nothing. Jacob takes pride in Billy’s lawless, wild ways. But when the boy returns home with a stolen horse, having just killed a U.S. Marshal, Jacob knows trouble will be coming. Called in on special assignment, enigmatic former deputy marshal Grayson is asked to find Billy. The marshals would prefer to have him brought in alive. But Grayson knows Billy. He knows his father. And he knows that things don’t always go the way the law would like....
A man refuses to rest until he finds his family’s killer in this pulse-pounding tale of the American West. No child should have to witness what twelve-year-old Cord Malone sees the day his parents are murdered and his home burned to the ground. After he’s rescued from the blaze by his Uncle Jesse, the terrible images haunt him, as does the name of the man responsible: Eli Creed. Jesse tries to track Creed down, only to lose the man’s trail. But Cord won’t give up. He waits out his young years before setting out on a trail long gone cold—and one day, he will satisfy the need for revenge that burns inside him.
