The Old Spanish Trail

Trail Drive #11

by Ralph Compton

An extraordinary saga of the trail-blazing cowboys who made their fortune driving cattle from Texas to the great frontier. Hard-riding Texans were braving mountains, desert and Indian war-- for the promise of a golden land called California...

Over one million copies of Ralph Compton's Trail Drive novels in print!

Missouri was closed to Texas cattle. Santa Fe was closed by murder. Now, they had one cross desert mountains and hostile Indian land-- to a place called California...

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-blazing trail drives.

For the ranchers riding with Rand Hayes, things had gone from bad to worse. The Santa Fe man who'd contracted five thousand head of cattle was dead-- murdered by renegades. Now the Texans had a herd of longhorns and only one cross two mountain ranges and the Mojave Desert to the gold-fevered market at Los Angeles. A trail blazed by ancient Spaniards, this was a route that would lead through a brutal, wondrous land, where a hostile Ute nation was only one danger the cattle drive faced, and California was a shooting war away...

Genres: Westerns, Historical Fiction

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published January 15, 1998

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

[Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather good, very close to four stars just in the end the various descriptions of Civil War Los Angeles sounded false to me because as a native angelno I'm going your in Saugas then you go downtown then you go to the beach and then the Harbor (do you know how far these distances are?) So that kind of threw me otherwise it's a great little book really enjoyed it's descriptions of the Spanish trail a part of the country I'm more than a little familiar with did wonder about a few other little items like how does 5000 head of cattle manage with a small spring in the desert or how do you travel hundreds of miles on horseback with only a blanket? Other than these great questions I found this a really enjoyable read, will try to find a few more of these trail drive stories they seem to be a lot of fun. Four star read but some confusing distances descriptions and a few other odd story subplots brings it down to a high three. Still a good story which I recommend to anyone who would like something light and historical to read. Very Cowboy positive.

[Jeffery · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really becomes a page turner after about 5 chapters. I wish there were a few more chapters. I could have easily given it 5 stars.

[Nick Dupree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not that great; its main flaw is that, with so many characters, with dialogue bouncing from one cowboy to the next, you never really get a chance to lock in and get to know any one character. The story gets more interesting when the cowboys find 7 women that subsequently join the herd, but, again, 7 of them meant you never get to know and understand any one woman. Could have been enjoyable pulp if they'd stilled the camera on one character or so just long enough for the reader to get to know and care about one. An example of action trumping character.

Not meaning to judge the other books in Compton's Trail series, just this one I happened across.

[Sharon Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, so interesting.

[Peter Charleston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly enjoyed the trials and tribulations throughout the book. Will be reading more of this trail drive series.

[Ludwig · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book great entertainment