Captain Culpepper's 235-foot-long sternwheeler, the steamer Barnard Clinton, is going to try to make a record second trip in 1866 to the head of navigation on the Missouri River. The railroads are expanding, and the successful trip of the big steamboat has attracted the attention of some unscrupulous railroad investors. They would like the big steamer to fail, and to this end, they have hired several bad characters to join the steamer on her upriver voyage. They intend to sabotage the vessel, and if there is loss of life, so much the better. Culpepper and his crew will have to deal with these outlaws, low water, other outlaws, Native Americans, and a young pilot who can't seem to keep the Clinton off the bottom of the river. And, as if he didn't have enough on his mind, the captain is distracted by a beautiful but mysterious lady.

The Last Voyage of the Steamer Barnard Clinton

Literature & Fiction

Unruh, David E.

United States

AmazonEncore

Hobbs and the Kid

Sparks fly when crusty, black cavalry sergeant Daniel Hobbs is forced to play nursemaid to J. Wentworth 'Mac' McAllister III, a spoiled, racist white orphan. Mac chafes under the stern discipline until Hobbs changes his approach and tries to teach him how to ride, rope, and read Indian signs. He teaches him about honesty and integrity. Gradually, the harsh resentment between them turns to begrudging respect and, finally, love. When Mac is kidnapped by a greedy white man and traded to the Apaches, Hobbs goes in pursuit only to learn that they have condemned Mac to death. Hobbs challenges a young Apache for Mac's life, and the battle is sanctioned by the great chief Geronimo. Hobbs holds his own in the fight until a near-fatal miscue threatens his life, but in an act of supreme courage, Mac saves the day. Impressed by their bravery and loyalty, Geronimo sets them free. But now Mac is devastated to learn that Hobbs has been transferred to Montana. Hearts breaking, they declare their everlasting friendship, and Hobbs vows to return.

Sharpe, John M.

Travis Alexander Boone, a bronco peeler in Montana, just lost his job after six long years. In search of a place to store his bedroll before another cold winter closes all the trails out of Montana, Boone rides to Wyoming: Three hundred miles later, in Six Mile Junction, he meets Mary Agnes Canfield, the widowed owner of the Double Deuce, a small nearby ranch. He accepts her offer of board for a winter's work, unaware that her feud with a nearby rancher, Wells Gorman, is near its breaking point. Gorman, in desperate need of water, must build a canal through part of Mary's land to reach it through her late husband's resting place.When Mary Agnes refuses to negotiate, Gorman swears vengeance. It'll be up to Travis Alexander Boone and his trusty long-barreled Walker Colt to deal with this embittered rancher and his horde of gunmen and saloon tramps.

The Bronco Man

SMITH, Scott

Finding his parents and young sister murdered and their house pilfered and burned, Broken Rock schoolteacher Matt Addison vows to avenge the carnage by tracking down the killers and meting out his own form of justice. Addison hopes to find help in this daunting effort, but only one man steps forward an illiterate, banjo-playing minstrel who offers to be Addison's guide. Leaving Addison's fiancøƒe behind in southeastern Colorado, the two inexperienced but determined hunters discover clues that convince them they are closing the gap. In towns along the way they are confronted by evidence of more murder and robbery that can only be attributed to the evil handiwork of the gang they're stalking. With each new discovery, their flagging search takes on new energy.The trail ends in Pueblo, where a private detective devises the ultimate strategy to flush the quarry into the open - but not before Addison is struck with one final heartbreaking trauma.

Heartbreak Trail to Pueblo

Kennison, Jim

Tilman Wagner's peaceful family life in Buena Vista, Colorado, takes a sudden change when he accepts the offer of a sheriff's badge to stop a fast-moving gang of robbers who strike and then disappear.Prosper Charbonneau, a powerful man with a cleaned-up past, now seeks political power and appears willing to kill for it. He grooms his nephew Marcel to take his place if and when he moves to the Denver statehouse, but Marcel has one fatal weakness. Prosper's daughter Marie, a woman who outwardly has everything, is desperate for fulfillment as her life spirals into disappointments and unfulfilled dreams. She finds herself drawn to her cousin Marcel's exciting plans. Tilman must ask for help from Marie's husband, Jim Peel, who wanted the badge Tilman now wears. But Peel has turned to whiskey to drown his failure both as a husband and as a man. Deputy sheriff Butter Pegram stands firm when his old friend Tilman must choose between the law and a return to his old ways with a gun.Honor com

The Search for Honor (Telegraph Western)

Culp, Judy

Culp, Ronald

At the age of seventeen, Ace Donovan witnessed the hanging of his father and brother by six contractors hired by the railroad to run people off its lands. He has spent the past fifteen years tracking down these men and exacting his own form of justice. Only one of the six remains. Dulcie Slaughter, widowed less than five months after her wedding, hires Donovan to trail her cattle to market. He knows it's taboo to bring a woman on a cattle drive. Therefore, when she insists on joining the drive, Donovan decides against the thousand-mile trip to Kansas, but instead trails the cattle over the Superstition Mountains to Fort Apache, Arizona. The Apache believe the Screaming Woman spirit is angry because they didn't prevent the white man from invading sacred lands. Outlaws use this Apache legend in an attempt to steal the herd. Dulcie's trust in Donovan is shattered when one of the outlaws recognizes him as the man who killed her husband.

Superstition Trail

Rogers, L.W.

Matthew Stoker, Harvard graduate, has returned from the war to find that the family plantation has a new owner. He becomes a hired gun and heads west toward Colorado, where he hopes to start a new life. On the way, Matt discovers that Maria Johnson's father has been murdered and she is being harassed. Why was Johnson murdered? Matt begins to consider various possibilities. He knows that John Culbertson, Maria's neighbor wants the Johnson ranch, but would he resort to murder and then confront Maria with a phony deed? Maybe Johnson had won big at cards, and someone bushwhacked him for the money. Maybe he had an enemy that simply seized an opportunity when it arose. Matt realizes that such speculation is futile. He is a newcomer and simply doesn't have any answers at this time. Matt also knows that it is now going to take him a little longer to reach his new home. He now has to stay around to help Maria and until the mystery of Johnson's death is unraveled.

The Time Has Not Yet Come

Dearmin, Michael

The Last Outlaw

Cash McCall was destined to live outside the law. But after serving time in one of the most brutal prisons in the Southwest, he determines to hang up his guns and go straight. However, Cash soon discovers that a man cannot easily escape either his past or his destiny. Unable to find honest employment and saddled with a younger brother determined to pursue his own criminal path, Cash once again finds himself partnered with Steve Reno and his outlaw pack in a daring gold robbery. What follows becomes a trail of treachery and deceit, with Cash's younger brother unknowingly becoming the pawn in a deadly game between two former friends turned deadly adversaries. Now a wanted man, Cash must free his brother from the clutches of the vicious Steve Reno and his murderous gang while keeping himself ahead of the law.

Wallace, Stone

Captain Culpepper refurbished his steamboat to withstand the rigors of navigating the Missouri River from St. Louis to Fort Benton, Montana. The vessel would be the largest steamboat to ever make the trip, but it was well equipped, powerful, and had a shallow draft. He hired the most competent pilots and officers available as well as a young Civil War veteran, Danny Barton, to keep the peace on board. The Captain's careful preparations promised an uneventful trip, but that was before he took on passengers. A variety of characters booked passage on the river boat, including three deadly brothers, a Union traitor, a woman fleeing her past, and a girl seeking to avenge her brother's death. Add to this the treacherous, muddy Missouri River with her snags and sandbars, marauding Indians, incompetent wharfmasters and flatboat operators, and it will take all of the Captain's resolve and his crew's skill to avoid disaster.

The Missouri River Murders

Konniger's Woman

Keith Konniger enjoys his quiet, solitary life as a hunter. But when he rescues a woman and a child his world is turned upside down and then twisted a little bit more. Little could he know that his good deed would most certainly not go unpunished, as he finds himself with a war chief after his scalp, hired killers hot on his trail, and the worst fate he can imagine being stuck with two female companions until the spring thaw!Konn soon learns that even more devastating than the punishment he s facing for coming to the aid of his two companions is the pain of loving someone who will never love him in return. His misery is eased only by the continued threats on his life, so when death comes looking for Konn, he welcomes the chance to meet it head-on!

Bowers, Terrell L.

Genre Fiction

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