The Bandera Trail

Trail Drive #4

by Ralph Compton

The only riches Texans has 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.

Set on rescuing their old friend Clay Duval who is trapped inside war-torn Mexico, Gill and Van Austin, nephews of Texas founder Stephen Austin, cross the border after him and soon discover half of Mexico's army wants them dead. Taken prisoner by Santa Anna's soldiers, the brothers make a daring escape and head into Durango country, where they stumble on a valley full of longhorns--and a chance to build a future north of the border. All they have to do now is break Duval out of prison and drive the cattle to safety.

But faced with outlaws, soldiers and the cunning plans of a beautiful woman, the Austins are finding out that this isn't a trail drive, it's a war to reach the Bandera Range alive. And the only way to do it is the Texan way--figting for every bloody, dusty mile ahead.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 15, 1993

About the author

Ralph Compton (April 11, 1934—September 16, 1998) was an American writer of western fiction.

A native of St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton began his writing career with a notable work, The Goodnight Trail, which was chosen as a finalist for the Western Writers of America "Medicine Pipe Bearer Award" bestowed upon the "Best Debut Novel". He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series. In the last decade of his life, he authored more than two dozen novels, some of which made it onto the USA Today bestseller list for fiction.

Ralph Compton died in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 64. Since his passing, Signet Books has continued the author's legacy, releasing new novels, written by authors such as Joseph A. West and David Robbins, under Compton's byline.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/ralphc...

Reviews

[Mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This gets two stars for the author’s ingenuity. By chance I had two books about Texas at the same time, one from the library and one purchased just before a long trip. This book takes place after the battles between the province of Texas had been fought against the Mexican government and, refusing to give up slavery and refusing to pay taxes, and stealing the lands of the people who were already living in the territory, the province declared itself independent. It was then and is now a sorry place. The author skips over all that inconvenient history to tell the tale of two nephews of Stephen Austin who go to Mexico to steal cattle and horses and bring them back across the border. They seem to feel they have a right to the Longhorns and the horses and the trail ride is described in amazing detail, with every possible emergency happening to the men and their crew with the exception of an earthquake or a blizzard. They are traveling in August so I guess the author decided to leave that out. And there is no plague of locusts, either, but every other type of storm and attack is faced down by the Austins and in the course of the book at least thirty people are killed. Very odd little book.

[Hodah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Ralph Compton’s ‘Trail Drive’ books a lot. I’m now going through them a second time. But I feel that this one was a lot more… ‘wordy’ (sorry). Towards the end I just felt like I was reading on and on… I’m not sure what I feel it lacked.
I did like the book overall, and I do like the series. It’s just how I felt about this one.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a strong Western with a good narrative of friendship, family and goal-driven group of men.
I recommend this story for any traditional Western novel lover or even someone who loves the gun slinging TV shows

[Edward Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great western action book that covers the time period when Texas was an independent nation.

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great followup on the Trail series. I enjoy the prologue at the end of each book.

[Donna McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Peter Charleston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice western. A lot of stampedes seemed to detract my attention.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audio version while on a long drive across West Texas - good book!!