Central Kansas Library System

The time is 1883, the place is the Texas Panhandle. Cowboys refuse to be stigmatized as drinkers and exploited by the wealthy cattle owners who don't pay liveable wages. Those very same ranchers want to take away the cowboys' right to own cattle because this ownership, the ranchers believe, would lead to thieving. So, in 1883, the dictum is set: If you're a cowboy, you can't own a cow. When rumors of such legislation travel from wagon to wagon, the...

Confronted by the changes of the modern era, Hewey, an open range cowboy, had made decisions he felt would best suit the new world of the early twentieth century, yet four years later, he remains haunted by his choices and struggles to make things right once more.

It's the early 1900's and the weather-beaten cowhand, Hewey Calloway rides in from the vast Texas range after learning his brother's farm is in danger of foreclosure. Arriving in a nearby town, what the middle-aged roughrider finds amazes yet threatens him-- automobiles and civilized society. Soon the local schoolteacher catches his eye which places Hewey in a unique situation. Surrounded by his brother's family and with a strong attraction to the...

As a slave, Isaac Jefford went to war and saved the life of his master, Major Lytton. As a free man, Isaac became one of the major's top cowhands, respected-but never totally accepted-by fellow cowboys: when they gathered around the fire to eat their dinner, Isaac took his food and sat on the wagontongue alone. When Pete Runyan, a bitter southerner, joins the crew, Isaac has to swallow his rage more than once. But then Pete and Isaac are assigned...

"Shadow of a star: Deputy Sheriff Jim-Bob McClain isn't sure he's ready to follow in his father's footsteps as the law in Coldridge County. In fact, he has a hard enough time keeping the peace between the drunks in the local saloon. But with tough Sheriff Mont Naylor to back him up he figures he can handle whatever comes his way. Jim-Bob's first real assignment is no piece of cake. He must escort a ruthless outlaw into the hands of justice. All seems...

As in all of Elmer Kelton's work, readers will, once again, encounter the timeless strength of the human heart and the human spirit when everything else has gone awry. Filled with adventure and imbued with a love of the time, the people, and the place, these stories take us from the earliest days of the Wild West well into the twentieth century, each one embodying a passion for life that's as wide as Texas sky.