Wayne D Overholser

The summer warpath began in late spring 1876 and was one laid out under the command of General George Crook, perhaps the most experienced Indian fighter in the United States Army at that time. Among other officers under Crook's command was the daring and resourceful Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry. The purpose of the campaign was to round up the wild tribes of the Cheyennes and Sioux and place them on reservations. Walt...

Small ranchers in Harmony Oregon are up against it with the price of cattle down and Skull Ranch, owned by a syndicate, trying to buy them out. Dan Riley spends a month trying to find a bank to help them, but he fails. When the editor of The Clarion is shot, the ranchers blame Black Mike Sand, the manager of Skull, in spite of the circumstances of the shooting. As pressure mounts, Riley is determined to find out who is really in charge of the syndicate,...

Central Oregon-the last frontier. Transportation is still by stagecoach and freight wagon. There is a movement afoot for a people's railroad, paid for by the state, to bring the benefits of rails to the area, to make it easier to ship livestock and produce, and to encourage settlement. For years, the competing railroad barons, James J. Hill and Edward H. Harriman, have done nothing toward building a line in central Oregon, but now, under the impetus...

Wayne D. Overholser, winner of three Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America, weaves a magic spell in this story with his consistent skill in presenting vibrant characters and his uncommon sensitivity to the depths of human personality.

It was while Neal Clark was in the gunsmith's shop that the Shelly gang attempted to hold up the bank. Neal rushed out of the shop with his rifle, took aim, and fired, repeatedly, killing Buck Shelly and his son Luke Shelly. He may also have wounded Ed Shelly, a teenage boy, who was holding the horses. Ed Shelly made good his escape, but was believed to be mortally wounded. That's what Neal thought until he received a letter from Ed Shelly, declaring...