Showing results by author "Dusty Richards" in All Categories

Cattle baron Rupart MacDavis wants to bury the ranchers of Horse Creek, Montana. With the local law in his pocket, MacDavis brutalizes the town - until Herschel Baker begins showing the people how to fight back.

Two-time Spur Award winner and member of the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame, Dusty Richards pens gritty Western tales packed with period authenticity. Texas Blood Feud stars Chet Byrnes, a third generation Texan looking to save his family’s ranch with one more big cattle drive. But his plans are dashed after he strings up three horse thieves, sparking a deadly feud with a family bent on revenge.

Chet Byrnes has built a ranching empire from the ground up. And he's defended it with his sweat, blood, and a ragtag band of ranch-hand fighters. Now a beautiful, young Spanish widow comes into Chet's life just as he starts off in search of a lost cattle drive. The search leads into the eye of a sprawling, violent storm. Chet and his men - and his seductive new woman - end up on a wild ride through Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas, where authorities want to confiscate the beeves for trespassing.

Mackworth “Mack” Harrigan’s family legacy burned to the ground in the spring of 1849. The Ohio mill that brought them prosperity was now cinder and ash, and his ruthless father perished in the flames along with their fortune. If the Harrigans have a future, it lies out west in open country where they can build whatever lives they choose. Mack knows his wife Ell, and their children Kane, Meghan, and Fitch are more than capable of overcoming the challenges of their journey.

Herschel Baker's new role as the sheriff of Yellowstone County is a far cry from his previous life as a rancher. As sheriff, Herschel is sworn to uphold the law, and that means butting heads with those who don't want to playby the rules. So when a cowboy named Billy Hanks is hung from a tree with the words "Hoss Steeler" pinned tohis chest, Herschel must find those responsible.

Voted the favorite stories of readers around the world! In tales from heart-warming to bone-chilling, authors from across the country take us back to the lives and times of the western frontier, where the new culture met the old and battles were fought, love born, and dreams achieved—or lost. This collection of the Tales voted Best by readers each month at www.FrontierTales.com, plus an Editor's Choice, make 13 wonderful stories of the Old West. Meet civil war soldiers, sheriffs, grifters and gunslingers, natives and ne'er-do-wells, and the women and men who pioneered this vast new land. ...

In the brutal, unforgiving wastes of the Arizona desert, Chet Byrnes built a cattle ranching empire with his bare hands, steel will, and a fast draw. As the US marshal, he risks his life to bring law to a lawless land. When a new railroad route is planned to pass through Navajo territory, Chet fights to get the Indians a contract to supply the locomotives with coal. But the corrupt politicians in Tucson and D.C. have other ideas. The coal contract means millions, and the ruthless Tucson Ring will do anything to get it - even if it means killing a US marshal.

Long John O'Malley is only 19 years old, but he's no greenhorn. The oldest and boldest of the O'Malley brothers, Long John cut his teeth tangling with Comanche at the tender age of 16. He risked his life to rescue a group of captive women settlers - and forged his own destiny as a hero in the making.

The Byrnes family has fought fiercely for its ranching empire. And with success comes the fate of empires: The Brynes have taken in far-flung family members, hired hands, and folks looking for another chance at life. The Byrnes clan has taken their fair share of hurt, too, taking on outlaws too deadly and powerful for the law. When a stage is robbed of a fortune in gold, the Byrnes boys set off on a wild race through the wilderness. In a harsh, unforgiving land, the Byrnes men face a mystery of gold and death - that could explode like a bomb in their hands.

Spur Award winner and recipient of the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award, Dusty Richards pens authentic Western tales that blaze to the top of best seller lists nationwide. Between Hell and Texas continues the Byrnes family saga, picking up with Chet striking out on a dangerous trail from Texas to Arizona in the hopes of reversing his family’s diminishing fortunes.

Whip Station, a critical stop on the Butterfield stagecoach line, is dead smack in the middle of no-man's land. The lawless call it an easy target. Joe O'Malley calls it home. If anybody can tame a wild, violent territory, it's the seasoned frontiersman. So can his family, who have with the same pride and honor coursing through their veins. Helping to plant roots is his son Jackson, a former wrangler married to a steadying force of nature. Joe's grandchildren have their own brand of grit. The boy - a firebrand with a knife. The girl - book-smart and wicked-wise.

Captain Jack Starr served the Confederate cause with honor for four years. The town of Lost Dog Creek promised an opportunity for the war veteran to rebuild his life-and a woman to share it with. But not everyone is willing to roll out the welcome wagon....

Chet Byrnes is building a new life in Arizona Territory as he expands his cattle ranching operation - but trouble just keeps coming. A brutal Apache attack on his cattle drive. A friend's young daughter is abducted, and the search leads Chet and his men to the wild town of Tombstone and ultimately south of the border, where everything comes with a price...and life is cheap.

The Byrnes family came to Texas and carved out a place on the land. Three generations who paid in blood and treasure. Children carried off by Comanche. A brother lost to war. Lives shattered. Chet Byrnes was trying to hold the ranch together through one more winter for one more cattle drive when he hanged three horse thieves this side of the Red River - and a blood feud erupted....

A landmark feat of innovation is about to change the American West forever. With electric cables stretching from the Colorado River to Gallup, New Mexico, a new telegraph system will connect the settlers of the Arizona Territory to rest of the country - a dream come true for rancher Chet Byrnes and his family. But laying 400 miles of steel wire can be a deadly task. Chet has to face off with hired henchmen who would kill to sabotage the project. And Chet's nephew JD has his hands full with cutthroat rustlers on the Mexican border.

A landmark feat of innovation is about to change the American West forever. With electric cables stretching from the Colorado River to Gallup, New Mexico, a new telegraph system will connect the settlers of the Arizona Territory to the rest of the country — a dream come true for rancher Chet Byrnes and his family. But laying 400 miles of steel wire can be a deadly task. Chet has to face off with hired henchmen who would kill to sabotage the project. Chet’s nephew JD has his hands full with cutthroat rustlers on the Mexican border.

Proving that the grand Western tradition is alive and well, over four million Ralph Compton books are now in print. After years of driving cattle and wearing a ranger's badge, disaffected Texan Ed Wright retires - intent on drowning his sorrows with whiskey. But then, widowed rancher Unita Nance - a mighty fine woman, any cowboy would agree - storms into Rosie's Shamrock Saloon and carts Ed's inebriated, six-foot frame out into the sunshine with a wheelbarrow. She has one last job for him, and she won't take no for an answer.

In this third novel in Dusty Richards' Spur Award-winning Herschel Baker series, a rawhide-tough horse thief rides up from Mexico with a lightning-quick draw that leaves a trail of dead criminals in his wake. His son Herschel now wears a badge, but many years have passed since he left his boy to chase down sunsets.

For Chet Byrnes, building a ranching empire means adding new land, hiring good men, finding water, and trying new breeds of cattle. But outlaws and Tuscon's idle rich want to take it all away - and Arizona just may be too lawless to stop it. So while the Byrnes family expands its reach, Chet must do his job hunting down outlaws on either side of the border.

From a woman who lays claim to Chet's heart to a land ripe for grazing, the Arizona territory begins to open its arms to the dauntless determination of the Byrnes family. But with every success there comes a rising danger. There’s a sheriff who refuses to do his job. Trigger happy outlaws competing to kill them. And a mysterious rancher who’s hell bent on running a herd across Chet's land - and forcing the Texan into a war...