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The Legend of Stuart Brannon #1
Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing
A Horrific Blizzard Was Only the Start of Stuart Brannon's Troubles.
For a man who didn't need another disaster, the fierce winter at Broken Arrow Crossing couldn't have come at a worse time. Stuart Brannon had just abandoned his Arizona ranch, sick with grief after losing his family and his cattle. That's when the vicious Colorado blizzard struck. Half frozen, Brannon stumbles into the isolated stage station at the Crossing. There he finds a wounded prospector and sets about to nurse the man back to health.
Winter storms bring other stragglers to the station--an abused, pregnant Indian girl and naive gold seekers. Drawn into their desperate plights, Brannon plunges into a dangerous mission to rescue a boy from the Indians, and then himself becomes the target of an outlaw band.
For a man who didn't need another disaster, the fierce winter at Broken Arrow Crossing couldn't have come at a worse time. Stuart Brannon had just abandoned his Arizona ranch, sick with grief after losing his family and his cattle. That's when the vicious Colorado blizzard struck. Half frozen, Brannon stumbles into the isolated stage station at the Crossing. There he finds a wounded prospector and sets about to nurse the man back to health.
Winter storms bring other stragglers to the station--an abused, pregnant Indian girl and naive gold seekers. Drawn into their desperate plights, Brannon plunges into a dangerous mission to rescue a boy from the Indians, and then himself becomes the target of an outlaw band.
188 pages, Paperback
First published March 23, 2012
About the author
Stephen Bly
128 books72 followersStephen Bly (August 17, 1944 - June 9, 2011) authored 100 books and hundreds of articles. His book, THE LONG TRAIL HOME, (Broadman & Holman), won the prestigious 2002 CHRISTY AWARD for excellence in Christian fiction in the category western novel. Three other books, PICTURE ROCK (Crossway Books), THE OUTLAW'S TWIN SISTER (Crossway Books), and LAST OF THE TEXAS CAMP (Broadman & Holman), were Christy Award finalists. He spoke at colleges, churches, camps and conferences across the U.S. and Canada. He was the pastor of Winchester Community Church, and served as mayor of Winchester, Idaho (2000-2007). He spoke on numerous television and radio programs, including Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family. He was an Active Member of the Western Writers of America. Steve graduated summa cum laude in Philosophy from Fresno State University and received a M.Div from Fuller Theological Seminary. The Blys have three sons: Russell (married to Lois) and father of Zachary and Miranda (married to Chris Ross) and mother of Alayah, Michael (married to Michelle), and Aaron (married to Rina Joye) and father of Keaton and Deckard. A third generation westerner, Steve spent his early years working on ranches and farms.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 7, 2020
An inspirational western about a guy that stumbles into an isolated stage station, and gets involved in the problems all isolated stage stations seem to have in westerns.
Could use some more riding and shooting.
Could use some more riding and shooting.
April 4, 2019
Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing is by Stephen Bly, a former pastor now a writer, seminar speaker, and radio program host. He has written 17 books. This is the first of his that I have read. It is a western set in Colorado in the winter.
The hero is Stuart Bannon, referred to as Bannon throughout the book. He is handy with a gun and has to deal with bad men, Indians, difficult weather, and a variety of other issues such as a lost boy, a pregnant Indian woman, and an Irish mother who becomes irrational at times and does crazy things.
The book has no particular plot; it just moves from action to action, some of which is a bit strained. However, the story progresses quickly, and Bannon achieves some healing of his character. Some of what goes on is at Christmas Eve and the next day, so some reference to the Bible is made, and there are a couple of other brief discussions about God, why bad things happen to good people, and God’s providence and prayer.
It is light reading and will appeal to boys since it is action packed. I liked it, and Bannon is a likeable hero struggling to do what is right.
The hero is Stuart Bannon, referred to as Bannon throughout the book. He is handy with a gun and has to deal with bad men, Indians, difficult weather, and a variety of other issues such as a lost boy, a pregnant Indian woman, and an Irish mother who becomes irrational at times and does crazy things.
The book has no particular plot; it just moves from action to action, some of which is a bit strained. However, the story progresses quickly, and Bannon achieves some healing of his character. Some of what goes on is at Christmas Eve and the next day, so some reference to the Bible is made, and there are a couple of other brief discussions about God, why bad things happen to good people, and God’s providence and prayer.
It is light reading and will appeal to boys since it is action packed. I liked it, and Bannon is a likeable hero struggling to do what is right.
September 19, 2023
I enjoy a good story set in the Old West. Stephen Bly knew how to write such stories. I believe this was the first book in his Stuart Brannon series. The story is full of action and suspense involving cowboys, Indians, prospectors, and bad guys. Brannon was the kind of man you wanted on your side. He was honest, tough, dependable, trustworthy, determined, and caring. He never wanted to leave anyone behind, but he had to make difficult decisions and seek the greater good for the majority, rather than lose everyone for the sake of one or two. Even if he had to leave someone behind, his goal was to return to look for them after getting everyone else to safety. I appreciated the way he treated everyone with dignity, if they allowed it. Although I have seen a few intense snowstorms, I have never experienced anything like what he and the others at Broken Arrow Crossing went through as they struggled to survive the winter. Quite an exciting read that made me want to read more.
February 2, 2020
Cold winter
Stuart Brannon is caught in a deadly winter blizzard & stumbles into the Broken Arrow supply cabin halfway up the mountain where the Little Yellowjacket gold strike is centered. He finds the cabin foreman buckshot & is attacked from behind. The man steals his horse--a big no-no. By the time he retrieves his horse and buries the thief & returns to the cabin, a very pregnant Indian girl is hiding in the barn. A band of Indians & a gang of thugs come at the ones in the cabin, & Stuart manages to handle all comers. Meantime, he becomes part owner of the Little Stephan gold mine. In true Steven Bly style, the book is well written, entertaining, & leaves you wanting moe.
Stuart Brannon is caught in a deadly winter blizzard & stumbles into the Broken Arrow supply cabin halfway up the mountain where the Little Yellowjacket gold strike is centered. He finds the cabin foreman buckshot & is attacked from behind. The man steals his horse--a big no-no. By the time he retrieves his horse and buries the thief & returns to the cabin, a very pregnant Indian girl is hiding in the barn. A band of Indians & a gang of thugs come at the ones in the cabin, & Stuart manages to handle all comers. Meantime, he becomes part owner of the Little Stephan gold mine. In true Steven Bly style, the book is well written, entertaining, & leaves you wanting moe.
April 12, 2016
Stuart Brannon is in mourning and has been ever since his wife Lisa died in childbirth along with their tiny stillborn son. When a friend of his, Charley Imhoff, asks Brannon to join him at his gold claim in the Colorado Rockies, Brannon jumps at the opportunity to do something, anything. But now here he is, floundering through feet of snow and stumbling into a ripe fix of circumstances that won't thaw out until spring. Broken Arrow Crossing, a way station of sorts between civilization and the gold fields in Colorado, houses Everett Davis (also a friend of Charley's) who also happens to be back shot, a pregnant and abused Indian girl named Elizabeth, an Irish family by the name of Mulroney, an Englishman named Fletcher, and the Frenchman, Trudeaux. Brannon faces down his own fears, the evils that one man can do to another, and western justice, all before the first flowers bloom.
I'd lived in Colorado roughly 3 months before discovering Stephen Bly at my local library. I was 14-years-old at the time and there was nothing more adventuresome or engaging than this series. But the best thing about Stephen Bly's work is that it stands the test of time. Re-reading the series, it's as good today as I remember it when I was 14, although I'm happy to see those reprint covers. A lot of readers (and I'm guilty of it too) judge a book by its cover so these beautiful reprints should help.
Stephen Bly was blessed with a talent for telling stories. He didn't force them, didn't write according to an established heroine-must-meet-hero-before-chapter-three mentality. In fact, there is no romance in this series for Stuart Brannon. He's a man still deeply in love with his deceased wife. Instead the stories possess a natural flow. With his minimalist writing style, Stephen Bly told in 10 words what others would tell in 25. One sentence can have the reader in helpless giggles or fighting back tears. My favorite set of lines is so simple yet so telling, "Before the sun was above the treetops, Mulroney, Fletcher and Brannon hiked out of the clearing and into the trees. A small pair of snowshoes were strapped to Stuart Brannon's back." So much is said in these two sentences that encompass both intense fear and intense hope all at the same time. His writing style is beautiful, weaving a tale of the Old West so vivid that you can see the images galloping across the page.
This one, the introduction to Stuart Brannon, is brilliant in that it covers the topics of grief and anger at God without preaching at you. Brannon's wandering, trying to make sense of the injustice of the universe, believing in prayer, but not really in answered prayer, is all indicative of questions humanity has asked since forever. He comes face to face with himself, as a man, as a husband, as a father, and how he feels about God. Why does he do the right thing when so many others do the wrong thing? What makes his stance of protecting the helpless right? It's a great journey and he grows a lot in that single winter he spends at Broken Arrow Crossing. At one point, Brannon has a conversation with a couple of other characters about Lisa being A Stander, meaning she'll stick by you through anything. What Brannon didn't realize is that he's A Stander too.
This book is fraught with peril. The American West was awash with nasty gunslingers, maybe not like you see it in the movies, but if you have a gold rush, guess what? Evil men will flock to it! In this case, Brannon must defend the rights of himself and all of the others under his care, for the entire cabin and barn full of people at Broken Arrow Crossing are in his care, whether he wanted it that way or not. I love, have always loved, the respect that Stuart Brannon shows to others. Elizabeth gives birth to her "little warrior" Littlefoot, and Brannon protects her. It doesn't matter to him that she's an Indian. She's a lady and while he's there, nobody will treat her any differently because SHE IS A LADY.
Like a said, not a romance. Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing is one of those old-fashioned westerns about a man who's good to the very core of his being. He's lost so much, but he's still a good man. That's a man you can love.
You can find all my reviews and much more at my blog Bookshelves & Daydreams.
I'd lived in Colorado roughly 3 months before discovering Stephen Bly at my local library. I was 14-years-old at the time and there was nothing more adventuresome or engaging than this series. But the best thing about Stephen Bly's work is that it stands the test of time. Re-reading the series, it's as good today as I remember it when I was 14, although I'm happy to see those reprint covers. A lot of readers (and I'm guilty of it too) judge a book by its cover so these beautiful reprints should help.
Stephen Bly was blessed with a talent for telling stories. He didn't force them, didn't write according to an established heroine-must-meet-hero-before-chapter-three mentality. In fact, there is no romance in this series for Stuart Brannon. He's a man still deeply in love with his deceased wife. Instead the stories possess a natural flow. With his minimalist writing style, Stephen Bly told in 10 words what others would tell in 25. One sentence can have the reader in helpless giggles or fighting back tears. My favorite set of lines is so simple yet so telling, "Before the sun was above the treetops, Mulroney, Fletcher and Brannon hiked out of the clearing and into the trees. A small pair of snowshoes were strapped to Stuart Brannon's back." So much is said in these two sentences that encompass both intense fear and intense hope all at the same time. His writing style is beautiful, weaving a tale of the Old West so vivid that you can see the images galloping across the page.
This one, the introduction to Stuart Brannon, is brilliant in that it covers the topics of grief and anger at God without preaching at you. Brannon's wandering, trying to make sense of the injustice of the universe, believing in prayer, but not really in answered prayer, is all indicative of questions humanity has asked since forever. He comes face to face with himself, as a man, as a husband, as a father, and how he feels about God. Why does he do the right thing when so many others do the wrong thing? What makes his stance of protecting the helpless right? It's a great journey and he grows a lot in that single winter he spends at Broken Arrow Crossing. At one point, Brannon has a conversation with a couple of other characters about Lisa being A Stander, meaning she'll stick by you through anything. What Brannon didn't realize is that he's A Stander too.
This book is fraught with peril. The American West was awash with nasty gunslingers, maybe not like you see it in the movies, but if you have a gold rush, guess what? Evil men will flock to it! In this case, Brannon must defend the rights of himself and all of the others under his care, for the entire cabin and barn full of people at Broken Arrow Crossing are in his care, whether he wanted it that way or not. I love, have always loved, the respect that Stuart Brannon shows to others. Elizabeth gives birth to her "little warrior" Littlefoot, and Brannon protects her. It doesn't matter to him that she's an Indian. She's a lady and while he's there, nobody will treat her any differently because SHE IS A LADY.
Like a said, not a romance. Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing is one of those old-fashioned westerns about a man who's good to the very core of his being. He's lost so much, but he's still a good man. That's a man you can love.
You can find all my reviews and much more at my blog Bookshelves & Daydreams.
December 1, 2014
When cold weather comes and the holidays arrive, I find myself drawn to reread favorite books from my youth. This was especially true this year, as I ran across my copy of Stephen Bly's Stuart Brannon's Final Shot, the one that he was writing when he died and which his family finished and published for him posthumously. Up until now I hadn't been able to bring myself to read it, but this time when I saw the cover I realized I was ready for another Bly adventure. But you can't just pick up and read Book 7 in a series which you have revisited in years, so back to the beginning I went. Back to where Stuart Brannon first met the literary world.
A broken man after losing everything he held dear, Brannon leaves his Arizona ranch to accept an invitation to join his friend Charley in the Colorado goldfields. During a blizzard he stumbles into the remote stage station at Broken Arrow Crossing, which has been all but abandoned for the winter, just as a claim jumper attacks the place looking for a map to Charley's mine. His horse stolen by the less than scrupulous fellow, Brannon finds himself a stranded nursemaid to old propsector and station manager Everett Davis, who was injured in the conflict. Davis informs him that Charley has died after spreading word around the area that he had struck it rich. With no way out of the mountains, Brannon settles in for what he figures will be a quiet winter at the station.
He couldn't have been more wrong. On Christmas Eve a pregnant Indian girl finds herself on their doorstep, having run away from the man who mistreated her. Soon her baby arrives, bringing both hope and reflection to the isolated cabin. Just a few days later their world is again interrupted, this time by a group who was traveling through the area in hopes of being the first settlers in a goldfield community. As they were dangerously turned around during the snowstorms, Brannon must help locate and recover all members of the party. It won't be easy, as there is an Indian hunting party nearby, as well as a gang of outlaw brothers who are also seeking to find the gold mine.
While fighting for the survival of the whole ragtag group, Stuart struggles to come to terms with his own past and the way he feels about God. Having always kept his distance from the Almighty, especially after the tragedies in Arizona, Brannon finds it hard to believe that God could truly care about him and the others stranded at Broken Arrow Crossing. As the long winter unfolds into an early spring showdown, Brannon's understanding of an all-wise, merciful God is opened.
It's a joy to revisit this series, first published in the early 1990s by Crossway and reprinted by Greenbrier in 2012. I can still hear my father's voice reading these books aloud to my siblings and me many years ago. Stuart Brannon is an old friend and it feels good to be back in the saddle with him again!
This review originated at http://reviewsbyerin.livejournal.com
A broken man after losing everything he held dear, Brannon leaves his Arizona ranch to accept an invitation to join his friend Charley in the Colorado goldfields. During a blizzard he stumbles into the remote stage station at Broken Arrow Crossing, which has been all but abandoned for the winter, just as a claim jumper attacks the place looking for a map to Charley's mine. His horse stolen by the less than scrupulous fellow, Brannon finds himself a stranded nursemaid to old propsector and station manager Everett Davis, who was injured in the conflict. Davis informs him that Charley has died after spreading word around the area that he had struck it rich. With no way out of the mountains, Brannon settles in for what he figures will be a quiet winter at the station.
He couldn't have been more wrong. On Christmas Eve a pregnant Indian girl finds herself on their doorstep, having run away from the man who mistreated her. Soon her baby arrives, bringing both hope and reflection to the isolated cabin. Just a few days later their world is again interrupted, this time by a group who was traveling through the area in hopes of being the first settlers in a goldfield community. As they were dangerously turned around during the snowstorms, Brannon must help locate and recover all members of the party. It won't be easy, as there is an Indian hunting party nearby, as well as a gang of outlaw brothers who are also seeking to find the gold mine.
While fighting for the survival of the whole ragtag group, Stuart struggles to come to terms with his own past and the way he feels about God. Having always kept his distance from the Almighty, especially after the tragedies in Arizona, Brannon finds it hard to believe that God could truly care about him and the others stranded at Broken Arrow Crossing. As the long winter unfolds into an early spring showdown, Brannon's understanding of an all-wise, merciful God is opened.
It's a joy to revisit this series, first published in the early 1990s by Crossway and reprinted by Greenbrier in 2012. I can still hear my father's voice reading these books aloud to my siblings and me many years ago. Stuart Brannon is an old friend and it feels good to be back in the saddle with him again!
This review originated at http://reviewsbyerin.livejournal.com
January 4, 2017
A Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing is an early and it's a gem of a story.
Rancher and overall heroic type Stuart Bannon finds himself stranded at a cabin at Broken Arrow Crossing in the Winter with a minor named Everett Davis, who is tending the cabin for the Winter and has been shot in the back just before before Bannon arrives. Bannon has to tend to him because Winter has started and there's no way to get him to a Doctor. While the first fourth of the book are Bannon and Davis talking. Around Christmastime, this story begins to get complicated as they discover a pregnant and abused Indian woman on Christmas Day, learn that a gang of outlaws and a group of Indians are stalking the great outdoors.
The scenario is great. The escalating action gives most of the book a superb energy. You never get bored. It also has it grim moments. This book could easily be made into a John Ford-style Western. It really feels cinematic at times in its scope.
While all the characters have their charm (except for the constantly hysterical Mrs. Mulroney), this book is made by Stuart Brannon. When you think of Old West hero, Brannon is what you imagine. He's tough, great with a gun, lives by a code, and fights for what's right no matter what the cost. Yet, there's more to Brannon than this. He carries a heavy weight from the death of his wife in childbirth along with his son and the loss of most of his Arizona herd. He struggles with God and questions of morality. While Bly is a pastor, the book mostly eschews sermonizing for a more realistic portrayal of how people such a minor and a rancher in the middle of nowhere might relate to God.
The book is pobably fine for all seasons, but I loved listening to the a audiobook in the middle of Winter. It just seems so appropriate. In the end, this is a fine Western and the start of the Stuart Brannon series. This definitely left me hungry for more.
Rancher and overall heroic type Stuart Bannon finds himself stranded at a cabin at Broken Arrow Crossing in the Winter with a minor named Everett Davis, who is tending the cabin for the Winter and has been shot in the back just before before Bannon arrives. Bannon has to tend to him because Winter has started and there's no way to get him to a Doctor. While the first fourth of the book are Bannon and Davis talking. Around Christmastime, this story begins to get complicated as they discover a pregnant and abused Indian woman on Christmas Day, learn that a gang of outlaws and a group of Indians are stalking the great outdoors.
The scenario is great. The escalating action gives most of the book a superb energy. You never get bored. It also has it grim moments. This book could easily be made into a John Ford-style Western. It really feels cinematic at times in its scope.
While all the characters have their charm (except for the constantly hysterical Mrs. Mulroney), this book is made by Stuart Brannon. When you think of Old West hero, Brannon is what you imagine. He's tough, great with a gun, lives by a code, and fights for what's right no matter what the cost. Yet, there's more to Brannon than this. He carries a heavy weight from the death of his wife in childbirth along with his son and the loss of most of his Arizona herd. He struggles with God and questions of morality. While Bly is a pastor, the book mostly eschews sermonizing for a more realistic portrayal of how people such a minor and a rancher in the middle of nowhere might relate to God.
The book is pobably fine for all seasons, but I loved listening to the a audiobook in the middle of Winter. It just seems so appropriate. In the end, this is a fine Western and the start of the Stuart Brannon series. This definitely left me hungry for more.
January 31, 2013
Have you ever wondered what it was like to stay in the middle of the mountains in a Colorado winter with no technology? If you were in the cold winter with nothing but bad things around you how would you feel? Trying to find food and fire wood without passing out and dying. And mostly everyone else in the mountains is a murder or an Indian tribe coming after you. In the book Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing by Stephen Bly is a kind of a realistic fiction book that teaches that life’s not fair but every things going to be alright.
In the book Stuart Brannon wants to forget about his troubles he had in Arizona but he ran in to more troubles up in the mountains so he tries to forget his problems well dealing with the new problems he has. So he forgets about his old troubles. An excerpt from the book is “He didn’t bother to stop and eat. It looked impossible to build a fire. His grub bag hung empty anyway.” This shows how hard Stuart had it in the book.
If you like this book you will like other books by Stephen Bly most of his books are like this. They have some of the same characters too. There are also have stories about mountain men that do tough guy things.
I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 if you like books that have stuff about the times how they did things you will like this book. I like that kind of stuff and that’s why it’s rated so high for me.
In the book Stuart Brannon wants to forget about his troubles he had in Arizona but he ran in to more troubles up in the mountains so he tries to forget his problems well dealing with the new problems he has. So he forgets about his old troubles. An excerpt from the book is “He didn’t bother to stop and eat. It looked impossible to build a fire. His grub bag hung empty anyway.” This shows how hard Stuart had it in the book.
If you like this book you will like other books by Stephen Bly most of his books are like this. They have some of the same characters too. There are also have stories about mountain men that do tough guy things.
I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 if you like books that have stuff about the times how they did things you will like this book. I like that kind of stuff and that’s why it’s rated so high for me.
October 14, 2014
After a bit of a slow beginning, this book picks up pace and the action never lets up until the end! This book was the most entertaining and easy read I've had in quite a while.
Bly does not disappoint with his hallmark dialogue-driven story that mixes in plenty of western action, unparalleled heroes, and highly developed characters. With less humor than some of Bly's offerings, Hard Winter instead delves into dangerous adventures and life-threatening gunfights.
Bly takes readers to a place where the good guys are true heroes, the perfect blend of manly strength and confidence balanced with gentleness and protective respect toward women. We need more tales like Bly's, which show flawed, but wonderful examples of true manhood and integrity in a world of hard circumstances. Without being preachy, Bly also takes his hero on a spiritual journey that leads him to grapple with the idea of a good God in the midst of suffering.
Bly does not disappoint with his hallmark dialogue-driven story that mixes in plenty of western action, unparalleled heroes, and highly developed characters. With less humor than some of Bly's offerings, Hard Winter instead delves into dangerous adventures and life-threatening gunfights.
Bly takes readers to a place where the good guys are true heroes, the perfect blend of manly strength and confidence balanced with gentleness and protective respect toward women. We need more tales like Bly's, which show flawed, but wonderful examples of true manhood and integrity in a world of hard circumstances. Without being preachy, Bly also takes his hero on a spiritual journey that leads him to grapple with the idea of a good God in the midst of suffering.
January 2, 2008
Stuart Brannon has been one of my family's favorite modern literature characters for the past 12 years. I still love him and his great sidekicks with every reread. This first book introduces our hero and allows us to see him grow into the man he will become for the 5 sequels.
**May 2012 edit: I just received the new edition of this book and it looks fabulous! Looking forward to having Stuart Brannon a part of my life for even more years to come. :-)
**Nov. 2014 edit: See the 2012 edition for my full review of this novel.
**May 2012 edit: I just received the new edition of this book and it looks fabulous! Looking forward to having Stuart Brannon a part of my life for even more years to come. :-)
**Nov. 2014 edit: See the 2012 edition for my full review of this novel.
May 6, 2013
Not even close to Louis L'Amour or Zane Grey's caliber. Poor historical research and one dimensional characters that do not develop mar what could have been an interesting story. In fact, the protagonist was irritating enough that I will not likely continue the series (the only reason I was able to finish this book was because it was read to me).
December 28, 2008
Interesting book. akin to Louis Lamour.
Well written.
Well written.
June 12, 2010
The ultimate BEST western ever. You have Indians, you have outlaws, you have a pregnant woman who needs help, you have a search for a missing boy...it's all here. And written very very well.
Read
June 14, 2012Available at http://www.BlyBooks.com
October 17, 2015
An excellent western.
October 18, 2015
I didn't think I liked westerns, but this book hit the spot. Very easy reading but the writing is good and the characters are lovable.
January 3, 2016
Starting to read through the Stuart Brannon series again. Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing is such a great start to the series and introduction to the all time great character of Stuart Brannon.
June 11, 2022
Excellent little western with gunfights, blizzards, and gold claims.
March 31, 2016
I love these page turning westerns by Mr. Bly. Can't wait to read the next in this series
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews