by Ralph Compton

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn, and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-blazing trail drives.For veteran cattle driver and Montana rancher Nelson Story and his counterpart Benton McCaleb of Wyoming, it was an opportunity a man doesn't pass up: beef at boom prices to feed the Black Hills' hungry gold miners. But for their two outfits--seeded with fighters, gunmen and Texans--the drives would lead straight through Crow, Sioux and Gen. George Armstrong Custer country, and get tangled by violent grudges, stampeding herds, and dangerous deception. With high spirited women and lovesick cowboys among them, the two brawling outfits had one thing in common: a deadly surprise waiting at the end of the trail.