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Trail Drive #6
The Shawnee Trail
Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here
Stampedes, rustlers, and hostile Indians wouldn't slow them down. They were bound for Kansas, and a Texas-sized fight!
The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maerick longhorns and the brains, brown and boldness to drive them north 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.
The Shawnee Trail
Long John Coons, the Cajun son of a conjuring woman, was driving 2,000 head of cattle north from Texas to the railroad in Kansas--through Indian Territory and outlaw strongholds. At his side was a beautiful woman with a sordid past, three ex-cattle rustlers, some renegate Indians, Mexican vanqueros and a straight-laced young trail boss. And while Long John tried to keep his hot headed crew from killing each other before they reached the end of the line, the biggest dangers was waiting up ahead--where an all-out war in Kansas make the Texas fight together, or die at the same time.
Stampedes, rustlers, and hostile Indians wouldn't slow them down. They were bound for Kansas, and a Texas-sized fight!
The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maerick longhorns and the brains, brown and boldness to drive them north 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.
The Shawnee Trail
Long John Coons, the Cajun son of a conjuring woman, was driving 2,000 head of cattle north from Texas to the railroad in Kansas--through Indian Territory and outlaw strongholds. At his side was a beautiful woman with a sordid past, three ex-cattle rustlers, some renegate Indians, Mexican vanqueros and a straight-laced young trail boss. And while Long John tried to keep his hot headed crew from killing each other before they reached the end of the line, the biggest dangers was waiting up ahead--where an all-out war in Kansas make the Texas fight together, or die at the same time.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 15, 1994
18 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Ralph Compton
247 books84 followersRalph 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 14, 2014
Western is a genre that I normally pick up whenever I miss my dad. For movies, this is one of his and his cousin, a general in Philippine Army, favorite genres. I still remember when I was in college and my father would bring many thin pocketbooks home from Manila and they were all western - about cowboys, horses, trails, settlements, farms, etc.
But this book, The Shawnee Trail, seems like an ordinary western novel. There is nothing in it except the usual cowboy adventure. There is no interesting plot and big revelation in the end. There is no mood that one can get excited about just the like the other cowboy stories that I've read. There is no denouement like when injustice is done to the family of the cowboy so the cowboy takes revenge by killing the perpetrators. I want those to be in my western novels. I want not only action and adventure but also the melancholic mood of men riding in the wilderness of America at the time when life is simpler and people are still very much truth to their values.
Unfortunately, any of those are not here in this book. This one is just a waste of my time.
But this book, The Shawnee Trail, seems like an ordinary western novel. There is nothing in it except the usual cowboy adventure. There is no interesting plot and big revelation in the end. There is no mood that one can get excited about just the like the other cowboy stories that I've read. There is no denouement like when injustice is done to the family of the cowboy so the cowboy takes revenge by killing the perpetrators. I want those to be in my western novels. I want not only action and adventure but also the melancholic mood of men riding in the wilderness of America at the time when life is simpler and people are still very much truth to their values.
Unfortunately, any of those are not here in this book. This one is just a waste of my time.
August 18, 2021
A quick, enjoyable "shoot 'em up" complete with rustlers, renegades, balky cattle, ferocious bulls and a couple of historical figures thrown in for good measure. Plus the buxom "soiled dove with the heart of gold."
Leaves you picking cactus needles from your hide and spitting the tail dust from between your teeth at the end. Going to check out the others in the series.
Leaves you picking cactus needles from your hide and spitting the tail dust from between your teeth at the end. Going to check out the others in the series.
September 25, 2021
Another fun trip on a lesser4 known trail. Never heard of tick fever. I enjoy how he brings more well-known frontier names into the stories. Fun.
March 20, 2022
A quick, enjoyable "shoot 'em up" complete with rustlers, renegades, balky cattle, ferocious bulls and a couple of historical figures thrown in for good measure.
February 14, 2017
Run of the mill western.
June 10, 2013
We listened to this as bwe played cards at Shiloh. Dale loved the main character and we both found some funny and repeatable expressions in this old western tale.
May 22, 2015
I listened to the audio version, and was very entertained.
I especially liked the Cajun accents!
Nice, easy listening, I would definitely pick up other novels by this author!
I especially liked the Cajun accents!
Nice, easy listening, I would definitely pick up other novels by this author!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews