The California Trail (Trail Drive) - Softcover

Ralph Compton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330334417 ISBN 13: 9780330334419

Publisher: St Martin's Paperbacks, 1994

Synopsis

Gil and Van Austin have been raising longhorn cattle in Texas with only one problem - no buyers. When gold is discovered is California thousands rush to the area to make their fortunes. While they search they must eat, and suddenly the Austins have their market.

About this title

From the Back Cover

From bestselling author Ralph Compton comes the bold and breathtaking saga of a trail-blazing cattle drive in the blistering heat of the California gold rush...

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 where the money was. But it all took a wild and dangerous turn in 1849, as the trail was overrun with dreamers, schemers, and gold...

THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL

Gold fever has hit California, and suddenly the land is full of hungry pioneers. For Texas brothers Gil and Van Austin, it means a chance to sell their well-grazed longhorns after years of hard ranching and a death-defying cattle drive up through Mexico. The only thing that stands between them and California is a scorching desert, swollen rivers, a barrage of Indian attacks, and a passel of outlaws. And while the Texans are ready and willing to take it all on, there's one thing they're not prepared for: the ultimate act of treachery, greed, and back-stabbing deceit...

"Very seldom in literature have the legends of the Old West been so vividly painted."

―Tombstone Epitaph

About the Author

Ralph Compton stood six-foot-eight without his boots. His first novel in the Trail Drive series, The Goodnight Trail, was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Medicine Pipe Bearer Award for best debut novel. He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series. A native of St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton worked as a musician, a radio announcer, a songwriter, and a newspaper columnist before turning to writing westerns. He died in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1998.

Scott Sowers has narrated numerous audiobooks, including books by Douglas Preston, Robert Ludlum, John Hart, and Nicholas Sparks. He was named the 2008 Best Voice in Mystery & Suspense by AudioFile magazine. AudioFile also awarded Sowers an Earphones Award for his narration of John Hart's Down River, writing, "[providing] a bewitching rhythm and pace, expertly capturing and elevating this story of redemption. The combination of Hart and Sowers provides the perfect marriage of prose and voice. Together they enable the book to transcend genre fiction and become something exceptional."

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martin's Paperbacks
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0330334417
• ISBN 13: 9780330334419
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384