Charlie Lyles had been pushed and prodded by the modern world--and he was about to change the rules. Leaving a perfectly good pickup behind, Charlie stole a horse, jumped his parole, and rode into the wilderness. With law enforcement tracking him into territory that hadn't changed in over a century, Charlie discovers that he's the last cowboy against the modern world. Contains explicit language. 2 cassettes.

When Cowboys Die (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)

Dearen, Patrick

Literature & Fiction

G.K.Hall & Co.

WINNER: 2016 NEW MEXICO-ARIZONA BOOK AWARD Rising at 11,750 feet in the Sangre de Cristo range and snaking 926 miles through New Mexico and Texas to the Rio Grande, the Pecos River is one of the most storied waterways in the American West. It is also one of the most troubled. In 1942, the National Resources Planning Board observed that the Pecos River basin "probably presents a greater aggregation of problems associated with land and water use than any other irrigated basin in the Western U.S." In the twenty-first century, the river's problems have only multiplied. Bitter Waters, the first book-length study of the entire Pecos, traces the river's environmental history from the arrival of the first Europeans in the sixteenth century to today. Running clear at its source and turning salty in its middle reach, the Pecos River has served as both a magnet of veneration and an object of scorn. Patrick Dearen, who has written about the Pecos since the 1980s, draws on more than 150 interviews and a wealth of primary sources to trace the river's natural evolution and man's interaction with it. Irrigation projects, dams, invasive saltcedar, forest proliferation, fires, floods, flow decline, usage conflicts, water quality deterioration--Dearen offers a thorough and clearly written account of what each factor has meant to the river and its prospects. As fine-grained in detail as it is sweeping in breadth, the picture Bitter Waters presents is sobering but not without hope, as it also extends to potential solutions to the Pecos River's problems and the current efforts to undo decades of damage. Combining the research skills of an accomplished historian, the investigative techniques of a veteran journalist, and the engaging style of an award-winning novelist, this powerful and accessible work of environmental history may well mark a turning point in the Pecos's fortunes.

Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River

History

Americas

University of Oklahoma Press

A cowboy throwback living in the modern world of the twentieth century, Charlie Lyles steals a horse and, pursued by the police, journeys deep into the untamed wilderness on a desperate search for the vanished American frontier.

When Cowboys Die (Evans Novel of the West)

Genre Fiction

M. Evans & Co.

***THIS IS THE OLD EDITION. THE NEWLY UPDATED EDITION HAS "REVISITED" IN TITLE. True tales and tall ones come alive in "Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier". Patrick Dearen of San Angelo is the author of this definitive, thoroughly documented study of six West Texas folk stories. Included are the stories of: - Castle Gap, a break in a mesa some 12 miles east of the Pecos River, used by Comanches on the warpath, emigrants seeking California gold and cattlemen driving Longhorns up the Goodnight-Loving Trail; - Horsehead Crossing, the most infamous ford of the Old West, considered the graveyard of hopes by drovers and emigrants alike; - Juan Cordona Lake, the cast salt lake where sandstorms and skull-baking sun defied early efforts to mine the salt needed for everyday survival on the frontier; - The "bulto" or ghost who wanders the Fort Stockton night in search of peace; - Lost Wagon Train, a 40-wagon caravan entombed in the sand of West Texas; - Will Sublett, who found a fortune in gold hidden in the Pecos Country and kept the secret of its location even unto death. In the foreword, Texas novelist Elmer Kelton, a lifelong resident of the Pecos River country, recalls the stories and legends he heard as a youngster and comments on the rich mixture of history and folklore they represent. Dearen's years of research into these now-aged mysteries and legends included personal visits with many resident and old-timers of the Pecos Frontier. A complete index lists everybody interviewed and quoted. In addition, he read yellowing newspapers and dusty court records and walked the country himself, finding the landmarks. From his search emerges a fascinating picture of an inhospitable land, its heritage and its people. "Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier", is illustrated with maps and both old and new photographs.

Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier (Chisholm Trail Series)

Texas Christian University Press

BY THE WINNER OF THE 2015 SPUR AWARDThe Pecos River flows snake-like out of New Mexico and across West Texas before striking the Rio Grande. In frontier Texas, the Pecos was more moat than river--a deadly barrier of quicksand, treacherous currents, and impossibly steep banks. Only at its crossings, with legendary names such as Horsehead and Pontoon, could travelers hope to gain passage. Even if the river proved obliging, Indian raiders and outlaws often did not. Long after irrigation and dams rendered the river a polluted trickle, Patrick Dearen went seeking out the crossings and the stories behind them. In Crossing Rio Pecos--a follow-up to his Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier--he draws upon years of research to relate the history and folklore of all the crossings--Horsehead, Pontoon, Pope's, Emigrant, Salt, Spanish Dam, Adobe, "S," and Lancaster. Meticulously documented, Crossing Rio Pecos emerges as the definitive study of these gateways which were so vital to the opening of the western frontier.

Crossing Rio Pecos (Chisholm Trail Series) (Volume 16)

TCU Press

First published in 1988, Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier was acclaimed by reviewers as “superb,” “significant,” and “utterly delightful.” In this revised edition, Patrick Dearen draws upon the latest in scholarship to update his study of the Pecos River country of West Texas. It’s a land wild with tales that blend history, geography, and folklore, and from his search emerge six fascinating accounts: -Castle Gap, a break in a mesa twelve miles east of the Pecos River, used by Comanches, emigrants, stage drivers, and cattle drovers; -Horsehead Crossing, the most infamous ford of the Old West; -Juan Cordona Lake, a salt lake where sandstorms and skull-baking sun defied early efforts to mine salt vital to survival; -The “bulto” or ghost who wanders the Fort Stockton night; -Lost Wagon Train, a forty-wagon caravan buried in the sands; -The lost mine of Will Sublett, who found gold and kept its location secret unto death. Although linked by the search for treasure, the stories are as varied as the land itself. They speak eloquently of the Pecos country, its heritage, and its people.

Castle Gap and the Pecos Frontier, Revisited

Patrick Dearen went in search of buried treasures, not gold or silver or jewels, but untapped tales worthy of J. Frank Dobie. And he found for Lone Star Lost ten such stories that spring from the bedrock, shared with the author by native sons and daughters who know that the real treasure is our Texas heritage. These stories grew from the land—the Texas soil that gives birth to history and sprinkles it with legend. From the piney woods on the east to the Chihuahuan Desert on the west, from the subtropical marshes on the south to the mountains on the north, Texas is alive with the kind of wonder that has sent men in quest of their own Cibolas for generations.

Lone Star Lost: Buried Treasures in Texas (Texas Small Books)

In his newest book, Devils River, Patrick Dearen traces the 400-year history of the notorious river from the time of the first Spanish explorers to the modernization of southwestern Texas and the coming of the railroad. He vividly retells stories of Indian encounters, train robberies, and other horrific events that prove just how the name “Devils River” was coined. With his inimitable style, the author weaves together a variety of themes--military events, including the Civil War and stories about the Texas Rangers; the development of the first mail lines; and the introduction of cattle and sheep raising--into a comprehensive account of the violence and bloodshed surrounding the Devils River. The nature of the river’s history is such that very few anecdotes have happy endings, but Devils River contains stories of triumphs as well as disasters. Although this is an excellent account for historians studying the west, it is also very accessible to others with little or no background in early western history.

Devils River: Treacherous Twin to the Pecos, 1535-1900

WINNER, 2014 ELMER KELTON AWARD, WEST TEXAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONFINALIST, 2013 WILL ROGERS MEDALLION AWARD FOR WESTERN FICTIONWATCH BOOK TRAILER: patrickdearen.com/ToHellorthePecos.htmlTom Rowden has been riding away from the Pecos for twenty years, plagued by the image of his wife, Sarah, the second before he killed her. Now, he is dead-set on returning to her unmarked grave at Horsehead Crossing to make final atonement. His journey is interrupted when a group of Mexican bandits burn down the 7L ranch house, kill the owner, and abduct a young woman, Liz Anne.Tom joins Jess Graham and three other men in an attempt to ride down the Mexicans and rescue Liz Anne, whom Jess loves. But the haunting memories and a 79-mile stretch of desert prove just as threatening as the bandidos they must overtake on the Pecos.

To Hell or the Pecos, a novel

United States

Will Brite is a Slash Five cowboy working in the Middle Concho region of Texas in the winter of 1884 when a blizzard descends upon him―the likes of which he has never seen. Trapped under his horse and entangled in a barbed wire fence, Will finds an unexpected (and unwelcome) savior in the form of Zeke Boles, a former slave on the run from a bloody, guilt-filled past. In Zeke’s dark features Will sees a reflection of the haunting memories he has been trying to escape for so long, but he reluctantly offers him shelter for the night at the Slash Five camp. Little does he know that their lives will be inexorably linked in the spring of ’85 through what will be one of the most brutal roundups of the nineteenth century. Follow Will, Zeke, and the rest of the Slash Fives as they ride through West Texas in search of stray cattle in an unforgettable tale of love, redemption, and true grit.

The Big Drift

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