The Virginia City Trail

Trail Drive #7

by Ralph Compton

Through a thousand miles of dust, fists, and guns, they found the courage to keep on driving.

The only riches Texans had 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-making trail drives.

The Virginia City Trail

With a dream of building a ranching empire in Montana, Nelson Story sets off on one of the most extraordinary journeys in frontier history. By his side was a bunch of misfits and renegades-hard-fighting, war-bitten Texans with nothing left to lose. On his tail as the worst kind of enemy-brutal outlaws fixing to bleed his trail drive dry. Pushing his way through four harsh territories and three brutal seasons, Story would defy the Union Army, get a hold of a hundred Remingtons, and take on a thousand riled-up Sioux warriors, before he reached Virginia City-and came face-to-face with the man who wanted him dead...

Genres: Westerns

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published September 15, 1994

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

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a historical fiction book of a trail drive made in 1866. It is well written, and a very enjoyable light read. A very good book about a little known trail. The arrival of beef in Virginia City ensured survival of the territory.

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book about a little known trail. The arrival of beef in Virginia City ensured survival of the territory. Story was quite a legend in Montana. Good Book.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a historical fiction book of a trail drive made in 1866. It is well written, and a very enjoyable light read.

[Randy Grossman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good historical novel about a real cattle drive that took Nelson Story and his crew from Texas to Montana. Some of the characters including Story were actual historical individuals. It took about 3 years to gather the crew and cows and travel the distance. There were dangers from bad guys...renegade Indians and less than peaceful Indians of the time period. Also the US Army was more of a hindrance then help with the drive and some of the actions of the Army were rather unfair to the Indians. I read "Bury My Heart And Wounded Knee" in the past and am aware of some of the atrocities committed against the Indians, at least based on the account of THAT book. Unfortunately our nations history does have some negativity. But hopefully in the long run we can maintain a good relationship with the world nowadays.

[Chris Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that is a very suspenseful and action packed book. I love how you think you know what is going to happen next but then something else happens. It is one of my favorites.

[Peter Charleston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice western.