Missing in Action: The Apache Campaign, 1885-1886

Missing in Action is the sequel to Reconstruction: Heal or Kill. By 1885, the army had subdued the Plains Indians, but Geronimo's Apaches were on the loose. They raided, looted, and murdered along the border between Arizona and Mexico and disappeared as if by magic. The army could not find the Apaches, let alone defeat them.

Tom Slocum, a doctor's apprentice in Reconstruction: Heal or Kill, has become a skilled surgeon. When his wife dies and his best friend is reported missing in action, Tom sets off, with Zeke, his teenage sidekick, to find his friend. During their journey down the Mississippi, Tom encounters crooked card sharks and an exploding steamboat. Zeke finds the girl who wears nothing but red bloomers, but gets drunk and loses his money.

When they arrive at Fort Bowie in the Arizona territory, Tom becomes a contract surgeon. He operates on soldiers and Indians, doesn't believe in killing, but uses his pistol when necessary. Indian myths and rumors lead him deep into Mexico to find his friend. When captured by a Mexican colonel, he, along with some Indian friends, fights to escape. He is there when Geronimo surrenders, Tom's friend says, "This is the end of the wild west."

About The Author:

John Raffensperger, MD, a former professor of surgery, portrays late-19th-century surgery and the last campaign to subdue Indians in the west. To ensure accuracy, he researched historic archives at the University of New Mexico and the Arizona Historic Society as well as visiting the locale. The story is fiction, but the author uses the names of army officers and the Apaches. There are enough gunfights, blood, and adventure to entertain lovers of western stories.