“Orphans preferred” was the call that went out to the daring of heart when the Pony Express was organized nearly 150 years ago in April 1860. Called “The Greatest Enterprise of Modern Times,” the endeavor—which lasted only nineteenth months—recruited young men willing to risk life and limb in a relay race that crossed the frontier on a route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, speeding the delivery of mail to an astonishing ten days. The Pony Express combines the legends and lore of this remarkable mail service with contemporary photography and archival images and documents from the past, and celebrates the sesquicentennial of the start—and end—of those daring rides, which ended with the completion of the transcontinental railroad. It is a befitting tribute to an American icon whose legacy is marked to this day by Pony Express museums all along the route from Missouri to California.

“A fascinating narrative with all the grace and power embodied in the wild horses that once populated the Western range . . . [A] magnificently told saga.” —Albuquerque Journal A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the Year Mustang is the sweeping story of the wild horse in the culture, history, and popular imagination of the American West. It follows the wild horse across time, from its evolutionary origins on this continent to its return with the conquistadors, its bloody battles on the old frontier, its iconic status in Buffalo Bill shows and early westerns, and its plight today as it makes its last stand on the vanishing range. With the Bureau of Land Management proposing to euthanize thousands of horses and ever-encroaching development threatening the land, the mustang’s position has never been more perilous. But as Stillman reveals, the horses are still running wild despite all the obstacles, with spirit unbroken. Hailed by critics nationwide, Mustang is “brisk, smart, thorough, and surprising” (Atlantic Monthly). “Like the best nonfiction writers of our time (Jon Krakauer and Bruce Chatwin come to mind), Stillman’s prose is inviting, her voice authoritative and her vision imaginative and impressively broad.” —Los Angeles Times “Powerful . . . Stillman’s talent as a writer makes this impossible [to stop reading], to the mustang’s benefit.” —Orion “A circumspect writer passionate about her purpose can produce a significant gift for readers. Stillman’s wonderful chronicle of America’s mustangs is an excellent example.” —The Seattle Times

Growing up, Jerry Thompson knew only that his grandfather was a gritty, “mixed-blood” Cherokee cowboy named Joe Lynch Davis. That was all anyone cared to say about the man. But after Thompson’s mother died, the award-winning historian discovered a shoebox full of letters that held the key to a long-lost family history of passion, violence, and despair. Wrecked Lives and Lost Souls, the result of Thompson’s sleuthing into his family’s past, uncovers the lawless life and times of a man at the center of systematic cattle rustling, feuding, gun battles, a bloody range war, bank robberies, and train heists in early 1900s Indian Territory and Oklahoma. Through painstaking detective work into archival sources, newspaper accounts, and court proceedings, and via numerous interviews, Thompson pieces together not only the story of his grandfather—and a long-forgotten gang of outlaws to rival the infamous Younger brothers—but also the dark path of a Cherokee diaspora from Georgia to Indian Territory. Davis, born in 1891, grew up on a family ranch on the Canadian River, outside the small community of Porum in the Cherokee Nation. The range was being fenced, and for the Davis family and others, cattle rustling was part of a way of life—a habit that ultimately spilled over into violence and murder. The story “goes way back to the wild & wooly cattle days of the west,” an aunt wrote to Thompson’s mother, “when there was cattle rustling, bank robberies & feuding.” One of these feuds—that Joe Davis was “raised right into”—was the decade-long Porum Range War, which culminated in the murder of Davis’s uncle in 1907. In fleshing out the details of the range war and his grandfather’s life, Thompson brings to light the brutality and far-reaching consequences of an obscure chapter in the history of the American West.

Can an orphan, with only her Mustang and a Cossack sword, survive alone on the frontier? From the deserts of Utah, through the gold mines of California, to the turbulent wilderness of Colonial New Zealand, Aleksandra rides, loves, and fights—with only her Cossack skills to keep her alive. ** From multiple award winning author Lizzi Tremayne ** This book contains all three of the following books! A LONG TRAIL ROLLING A dangerous job. Is it a convenient escape route... or a death trap? Winner of: True West 2016 Best Western Romance Romance Writers of New Zealand: 2014 Pacific Hearts Award and 2015 Koru Award UTAH TERRITORY, 1860. Alone. Aleksandra has spent her whole life training for the inevitable. So when a brutal Cossack tracks down and kills her father, she knows what she must do. Now orphaned, she flees, disguised as a Pony Express rider, in an attempt to keep her pa's killer from discovering their family's secret. Xavier has kept the world, especially women, at arms-length since he ran from his troubles as heir to his Californio rancho family. As a Pony Express Station Keeper, having a girl riding the Pony out of his station wasn't ever part of his plans... but somehow it happened, blackmail being what it is. Curiously, he didn't want to let this one out of his sight. They begin to let each other into their hearts, but the cards are stacking against them as the minutes tick by and Aleks rides full speed into the Indian Paiute War. Can they learn to trust in time to escape the Indians, evade the killer, and save both their love and Aleksandra's family legacy? A Long Trail Rolling is the first book in the sensational Long Trails historical fiction series. THE HILLS OF GOLD UNCHANGING As the Civil War rages, secessionists menace California. The Confederates want the state and they'll stop at nothing to take it. UTAH TERRITORY, 1860 On a wagon train headed for Xavier’s family rancho in the Golden State, Aleksandra makes a dangerous enemy of a gun-running Confederate when she fights her way out of his unwelcome embrace. After a late-night poker game, Xavier's new friends realize he’s heard too much to be allowed to live. Embroiled in the Confederates' fight to drag the new state from the Union and make it their own, can Aleks and Xavier survive? The secessionists mean business. The Hills of Gold Unchanging is the second book in the outstanding Long Trails historical fiction series. A SEA OF GREEN UNFOLDING They sail for the peace and calm of New Zealand, but they hadn’t counted on murderers, mutineers, and a land war in paradise. SAN FRANCISCO BAY AND NEW ZEALAND, 1863. Aleksandra and Xavier have finally found happiness on their Rancho de las Pulgas, but tragedy and death strike far too soon. Sickened further by the U.S. government’s treatment of their Native American friends, they only want out. Of everything. They are thrown a lifeline by an old friend of Xavier’s from the California goldfields. This Gustavus von Tempsky, with his shadowed past, is now a newspaperman in Coromandel, New Zealand. His invitation draws them to a new start, with a part to play in the development of the peaceful young country—but by the time they arrive in Aotearoa, everything has changed. Aleks thought mutineers and scoundrels aboard ship were the worst of their worries, but she hadn’t planned on disembarking into a turbulent wilderness and befriending the helpful local Māori, only to find von Tempsky leading the colonial troops into the bush against the natives who’d saved her life. A Sea of Green Unfolding is the third book in the fantastic Long Trails historical fiction series. If you like bold women, authentic multicultural settings, and a dash of Old West romance, then you’ll love Lizzi Tremayne’s fast-paced adventures! Click on the Ebook button to download a sample or buy now!

An in-depth history of the Oregon Trail follows the route used by fur traders, missionaries, and mountain men, offering colorful stories about the hardships and triumphs of the massive migration.