'Compton's convincingly detailed account of folks earning a living the hard way offers readers a chance to hit the trail and not even end up saddle sore' - PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY With a dream of building a ranching empire in Montana, Nelson Story set off on a most extraordinary journey. By his side was a bunch of misfits and renegades with nothing left to lose. On his tail were brutal outlaws, fixing to bleed his trail drive dry. Pushing his way through four harsh territories and three brutal seasons, Story would defy the Union Army and take on a thousand riled-up Sioux warriors, before he reached Virginia City - and came face-to-face with the man who wanted him dead.
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.