Captain's Rangers: In 1875, nearly forty years after the Mexican War, Mexicans and Texans are still spilling blood over ownership of the Nueces Strip--a hot, dry stretch of coastal prairie that bushwhackers and horse thieves have turned into a lawless hell. Captain L.H. McNelly, a complex and determined Confederate veteran, is brought into the Nueces Strip for one purpose: to keep the peace. His measures are harsh and controversial, but McNelly wasn't sent to be popular. In this boiling pot of killing and racial hatred, however, even his methods may not be enough to bring lasting peace. -- The Day the Cowboys Quit: 1883. Canadian River cowboy country is changing as a different breed moves in--big outfits backed by Eastern syndicates and run by power-hungry "managers" who figure to make a profit, even if it means crowding a cowboy too far. Wagon boss Hugh Hitchcock tries to keep the peace between rancher and cowboy. But when the ranchers steal his cattle, lynch his friend, and hire a back shooter to put him in his grave, he joins the fight himself. They may take everything he has, but they cannot touch his pride--or his willingness to fight to the bloody end.
adult
Elmer Kelton
