The Deadwood Trail

Trail Drive #12

by Ralph Compton

They had beaten the harsh odds of the frontier. But for the two powerful ranchers, the most formidable trail lay ahead. There had never been a trail drive like this before...

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn, and boldness to drive them to market along treacherous trails. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary series based on the history-blazing trail drives.

For veteran ranchers Nelson Story of Montana, and Benton McCaleb of Wyoming, it was an opportunity a man didn't pass up. In gold camps of the Black Hills, miners were hungry for beef, at boomtown prices. But within the two outfits were Indians, gunmen, Texans, lovesick cowboys, and high-spirited women. Worse, the drive would pass through Crow and Sioux territory, when Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn was just hours away. The drives were tangled by violent grudges, stampeding herds, and dangerous deception. The two brawling outfits had one thing in common: a deadly surprise awaiting them at the end of the trail...

Genres: Westerns, Historical Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 15, 1999

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

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just "middle of the line" for me. It wasn't bad in any way. It also wasn't excellent. It was a light/simple book about moving cattle and horses to Deadwood. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I think it would appeal to people who really enjoy what I might call "hard" westerns that don't come with a lot of extra "fluff."

[Jessica Henke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this one up at the local free library not realizing it was part of a series. I now want to read the whole series. This was a great book about a time in our history that is being forgotten. Can’t wait to read more of the trail series

[Susan1566 · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all of Compton’s books, this is an easy read full of cowboys, cattle stampedes and enemies. All of the books in this series that I’ve read have the same basic storyline so there are not a lot of surprises but a good light read

[Peter Charleston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relaxing western adventure.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yee...hah! Five thousand plus head of cattle and two hundred horses bound from Virginia City to Deadwood. Deadwood is a bonanza town for gold miners and the cattle drovers hope to get rich getting the cows to the hungry miners at boomtown prices before anyone else. The route is not for the faint hearted; passing through Sioux hunting grounds and crossing rivers like the Little Big Horn (that sounds familiar). Heading out at the beginning of March there is the snow to contend with, trying to find adequate graze for so many ruminants is quite a challenge. Graze for the cowboys is a challenge, too as the chuck wagon's wheels frequently break or get stuck in the mud. Plenty of time to brew some more fresh coffee while the wheel is fixed and hope the sun will suck up some of the moisture. Horses and cows are easily spooked and a lot of the story has the cowboys searching their herds after a stampede with the help of a couple of Indians in their outfit. The story is typical western fare with no big surprises in the plot. This is a book in a series about different trails and the text is often asterixed to refer to a previous books the characters appeared in.

[Ludwig · Rating 4 out of 5]

good story

[Michael Zink]

ECELLENT READ, EXCELLENT SERIES, VERY DESCRIPTIVE AND DETAILED