In a land where justice was found in the barrel of a gun and the line between outlaw and citizen was thinly drawn, two women struggled, fought, and won. Rebecca, the elder, beautiful and defiant, found herself in the majestic mountains of Utah, forced to marry a brutal polygamist. All she wanted was to become a physician - and a free woman. Katie, younger, innocent, passionate, risked her life so her sister might have a chance for freedom. She risked all to establish a sprawling sheep ranc...

Our American West, Volume 2 begins with America’s first colonizers, the prairie dogs, and how out on the ranges they were so hated by ranchers that they were almost made extinct. Conestoga Wagons were once called “prairie schooners” crossing America long before the famed Pony Express. The indomitable courage of Sarah Winnemucca, the “Prairie Princess” rivals that of a tall Swede named Showshoe Thompson who skied the snowy river passes of the Sierra Nevadas for over twenty years packing the...

Our American West, Volume 4 completes this collection of stories written by Gary McCarthy. The Lewis and Clark Expedition proved once and for all that the storied and hoped for “River across America” didn’t exist. Long before the Forty-Niner Gold Rush a diminutive but courageous priest named Fr. Junipero Serra sacrificed everything to bring Christianity to the gentle coastal Native Americans while faithfully establishing a string of beautiful California missions. Old Time Snake Oil Peddler...

Mando Killion's world was shattered by Santa Anna's brutal invasion of Texas. Scion of a wealthy ranching dynasty, he saw his father die at the Alamo, his mother and brothers murdered, and his beautiful sister taken hostage by a debauched Mexican General. Mando came of age during the most violent days of Texas history, as a hearty band of patriots led by Sam Houston fought a bloody revolution for freedom from tyranny. But Mando had his own personal war to wage, he must free his sister and ...

The Gila River flows gently through the parched Sonoran Desert and along its banks fierce Apaches, Pima farmers, Spaniards and brash Americans all vie for control in a harsh and unforgiving land: Miguel Santana a young Spaniard abandoned by his comrades; his Pima son Vitorio; Jacova, a woman whose indomitable spirit tamed a mighty Apache warrior; and the "man of three bloods," belonging to all, and to none. On the banks of the Gila their lives all came together - in love and in war - as th...

In Our American West, Volume 1, discover humor, tragedy and courage in every one of these delightful stories. Gary McCarthy has been writing about the American West for thirty years and these are some of his favorite topics written not for the expert or scholar but for all the armchair admirers of thing historically written. Some of these exciting subjects are fairly well known such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but even here you will discover things about these daring outlaws tha...

THE HORSEMEN, is the story of the Ballou family's brave struggle to fulfill a dream. The Ballous were the finest horsemen in the South, a courageous Tennessee family famous for the training and breeding of glorious thoroughbreds. When the Civil War devastated their home and their lives, they headed west into the heart of Indian territory. As horsemen, they triumphed. As a family, they endured. But as pioneers in a new land, they faced unimaginable hardship, danger and ruthless enemies...

Haunted by the blood and bitterness of the Civil War, Houston Ballou escaped from Tennessee on the proud stallion High Fire, followed by his brother Ruff, his sister Dixie, and the last four mares from the Ballou farm, one of them heavy with foal. Threatened with extreme danger from either army, they head west to start a new life. Adding to their peril are deserters that stalk the roads. These men would kill for a few coins, more so for valuable horseflesh.

Two Colorado cowboys searching for strayed cattle during a harsh snow storm discover the remains of an ancient city built into the side of a huge cliff. It is the ruined city of the Anasazi Indians, a civilization lost for over a thousand years. This is the story of how Mesa Verde, the cliff city, came to be. It is 400 A.D. at the Animus river Valley in what is now Northwestern New Mexico, and Echata, the leader of the Raven Clan, was concerned for his people. They were starving because of...

For young Quinn Wallace, reaching the land called Yellowstone was a quest he would rather die for than abandon. For the courageous woman who fell in love with him, it was a reason to surrender everything she once held dear.

Ruff Ballou and his sister Dixie journeyed west with trouble at their heels. But luck is on their side in Rum River, New Mexico, where they race one of their champion thoroughbreds to victory. A rich man’s greed pits their good fortune against Ruff’s life and they must take up a money-making challenge to capture Blue Bullet, the legendary stallion that no man has yet tamed. But their worst enemy is time. A bounty has been placed on Blue Bullet, dead or alive, and savage killers are out to ...

They were on their way to the richest silver strike in human history. Six people who met in a Sierra blizzard enroute to the infamous Comstock Lode. Prim wallflower Holly York, and beautiful Julia Matson with a secret no one could forgive. Clayton James, hopelessly caught between the world of whites and Indians, and brilliant thwarted inventor Glenn Donovan. Fay Taylor, with a singing voice from heaven, and her brother Dade, evil enough to send them all straight to hell. Who among them cou...