Cheyenne Pass

by Lauran Paine

A feud between the biggest and richest cattleman, Richard DeFore, and the local stage line couldn’t have come at a worse time to Winchester, Colorado. The town’s new sheriff, John Klinger, young, inexperienced, and hot-headed, hasn’t been in the job for a month yet, when DeFore, who has never sold or donated the right of way for the pass which is on his land, demands the stage line pay a toll for passage, which the company is refusing to do. Luckily, Sheriff Klinger is backed by Deputy Ethan MacCallister, his father-in-law as well as the former sheriff, when the first confrontation takes place on the pass when DeFore’s men stop the northbound stagecoach. MacCallister understands the importance of the north-south roadway for the survival of Winchester, and he knows this smoldering feud could easily escalate into an all-out war between the two factions. So he keeps calm and defuses the situation, but when Ray Thorne, a notorious gunfighter, steps out of the stagecoach as a representative for the stage-line’s headquarters in Denver, he knows the stakes have been raised. With tensions running so high on both sides, can he keep the peace while helping his son-in-law learn what it takes to be an effective lawman.

129 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

aka John Armour, Reg Batchelor, Kenneth Bedford, Frank Bosworth, Mark Carrel, Claude Cassady, Richard Clarke, Richard Dana, J F Drexler, Troy Howard, Jared Ingersol, John Kilgore, Hunter Liggett, J K Lucas, John Morgan (many more).

Lauran Bosworth Paine (born February 25, 1916 in Duluth, Minnesota – 2003 in California) was an American writer of Western fiction. Paine wrote over 900 books, including hundreds of Westerns as well as romance, science fiction, and mystery novels. He also wrote a number of non-fiction books on the Old West, military history, witchcraft, and other subjects.

His apprenticeship as a Western writer came about through the years he spent in the livestock trade, rodeos, and even motion pictures where he served as an extra because of his expert horsemanship.

Reviews

[Christine Jeffords · Rating 3 out of 5]

The chief flaw in this tale is that Paine can't seem to figure out when it's supposed to be happening! At one point he implies that it's set in Colorado before statehood; at another he mentions the Johnson County War of 1892, and in a third he refers to a minor character (aged 25) whose father was "killed in the war," which makes it 1890 at the latest. However, if you can ignore that confusion, it's a brisk story with an unusual premise: the main trail north into Winchester Valley runs through the owned land of a powerful old cattleman who--after leaving it unmolested for many years--has suddenly decided to start charging a toll to pass through it, and this is exceedingly resented by the stage company that serves the valley and its eponymous town. To add to the conflict, the very new sheriff has named as his deputy his predecessor--who also happens to be a 25-year veteran of the law trade and his superior's father-in-law. And the sheriff's wife's former (disappointed) beau is the rancher's top hand. Throw in a cold-eyed gunslinger hired as security by the stage line, and an officious line exec whom the two lawmen end up clapping into jail, and the stage is set for conflict and mystery (*why* has the rancher started blockading the pass?).

[Jordan Standridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this audiobook from my library Nov. 2025. Listening with no expectations (new book/new author for me), I liked the elements of the old teaching the young, and an honest and honorable reason the "bad guy" was being such a prick. :-) Not having the typical land grab/gold greedy motive was actually the best part of the story for me. It was a nice little twist that I don't think I've read in other Westerns. The pace wasn't overly fast or taut, but there were moments/ situations that pushed it along. Readers and listeners need a break now and then, so to me, it was good read. It's nice to read a story that is entertaining for a little escape.