Showing results by author "William W. Johnstone" in All Categories

He came west to the Rockies as a young runaway and grew into a legend among the already legendary frontier mountain men. They called him Preacher - a name that would become a monument to all who sought adventure in the savage wilderness of America's untamed west. The only man with the skills to lead a wagon train on the last leg of the rugged Oregon trail, Preacher knows they're headed into trouble. It's hard enough for a hundred greenhorns to survive the wilds of the northwest; being pursued by thieving renegade outlaws and Indians with a thirst for gold makes it damn near impossible.

As a teenager, John McMasters won the Medal of Honor as a sniper for the Union Army during the Civil War. Thirty years later, McMasters lives a peaceful life in the Arizona Territory, raising a family and running cattle. These days, he needs eyeglasses to hit a distant target. But that doesn't stop his wife and four children from buying him a special present for his 50th birthday: a beautiful new Remington shotgun. Turns out, he's going to need it....The Butcher gang has come to town. By the time McMasters learns of their arrival, they've invaded his ranch and slaughtered his family.

The great state of Texas is a land of opportunity. For outlaws. And horse thieves. And cattle rustlers. Not to mention bank robbers, train robbers, and anything-that-ain’t-nailed-down robbers. The state’s governor, Richard B. Hubbard, is at the end of his rope. He wants to clean up Texas once and for all—and he’s desperate enough to try something crazy: hire a man who can do what the Texas Rangers can’t. A man not tied down by a wife or children. Or rules. Who’s not afraid to go outside the law.

Leaving their Pennsylvania home to forge a new life in the untamed Oregon Territory of 1845, the Colter family is ambushed by a kill-crazy gang of cutthroats on the Oregon Trail. Fifteen-year-old Tim Colter manages to escape and hide - only to return and find his parents butchered, his sisters Nancy and Margaret missing, and one last killer waiting for his return. Forced to fight for his life, the young Colter embarks on a perilous journey across a lawless frontier, hoping to save his sisters and salvage the dream they lived for.

Western icon William W. Johnstone, author of the acclaimed Mountain Man series, teams with J. A. Johnstone for this tale that brings together three of his most popular heroes. Preacher, Smoke, and Matt comprise the Jensen family - three generations of legendary frontiersman. When a ruthless cattle baron brings a small army of hired guns to Preacher’s neck of the woods, it falls to the Jensens to stand tall and return fire. And they intend to fight to the last man, because the Jensens never back down from a fight.

Crater City, New Mexico, is a bustling mining town brimming with the stench of men hungry to get rich the old fashioned way - by killing the competition. Dennis Conroy is the owner of the biggest saloon in town, and he needs a few good sharpshooters to help protect surveyors laying out a route for a spur line before his rival Hugh Thornton beats him to it. Joe Buckhorn's handy with a gun, so he takes the job. Against his best advice, he'll also take a liking to the boss's daughter. Worse, Buckhorn starts wondering exactly what kind of man he's working for.

In Tennessee, 17-year-old Breckinridge Wallace knew the laws of nature. When his life was in danger, he showed a fearless instinct to fight back. Killing a thug who was sent to kill him got Breckinridge exiled from his Smoky Mountain home. Brutally wounding an Indian attacker earned him an enemy for life....

In his mountain man days, Elwood "Firestick" McQueen was practically a living legend. His hunting, tracking, and trapping skills were known far and wide. But it was his deadly accuracy with a rifle that earned him the Indian name "Firestick". His two best buddies are Malachi "Beartooth" Skinner - whose knife was as fatal as a grizzly's chompers - and Jim "Moosejaw" Hendricks, who once wielded the jawbone of a moose to crush his enemies in the heat of battle.

There's nothing particularly unusual for a legendary gunman to be summoned to the lawless, bullet-riddled territory of Arizona. But when Frank Morgan, aka the Last Gunfighter, rides into Tucson, he finds himself ambushed and kidnapped by ruthless Mexican bandit Ramirez's army of thugs. The only way out is for Frank's son, Conrad Browning, heir to the vast Browning fortune, to ransom his father free. But Conrad isn't giving up one cent. He's got a far deadlier currency in mind.

Missouri, 1860. Rumors of war between the North and South are spreading across the land. In rural Green County, many of the farmers are already choosing sides. But not John Zachary. His loyalties lie with his family first - and his heart is telling him to go west. Hoping to build a new life in the fertile valleys of Oregon, he convinces his best friend, Emmitt Braxton, to pack up their families and join him on a wagon train across the Oregon Trail. The journey will be long and hard.

With just a single journey under his belt, first-time wagoneer Tomahawk Callahan became a national hero. It started as a challenge waged by a railroad mogul—a race between an old-time wagon train and a brand-new rail line—with the whole world watching. Against all odds, Tomahawk led his family business to victory. At the time, he thought it would be his first—and last—wagon train. But at his sister's urging, he's agreed to take on one final job, a never-before-attempted trip across the Mexican border....

To wealthy rancher Ira Dunellen, the frontier prairie land surrounding his spread is his for the taking. His cattle need room to roam and the one-horse town of Tinhorn, Texas is standing in his way. On the bank of the Neches River, the small community of merchants is just wasting a precious resource that Dunellen's growing range needs. As stray cattle wander into town, followed by rowdy cowboys, Sheriff Flint Moran and partner Buck Jackson start corralling up any man or beast disrespecting the citizenry and breaking the law.

Rollie Finnegan is a man of few words. As a former Pinkerton agent with two decades of experience under his belt, he uses his stony silence to break down suspects and squeeze out confessions. Hence the nickname Stoneface. Over the years, he’s locked up plenty of killers. Now he’s ready to make a killing - for himself.. There’s gold in the mountains of Idaho Territory. And the town of Boar Gulch is a golden opportunity for a tough guy like Finnegan. But when he arrives, the local saloon owner is gunned down in cold blood - and Finnegan makes a cold calculation of his own.

Preacher is heading home to the mountains when he's approached by a wealthy European with an unusual proposition. He wants the legendary mountain man to track down his missing cousin—a reckless young woman who fled to America with her lover—and he's willing to pay a small fortune to find her. Preacher isn't one to get mixed up in the affairs of fancy foreigners, but he reluctantly agrees. The search is on. Striking westward from St. Louis, Preacher quickly begins to suspect that this search party is doomed. And this trail will lead to some very dead ends.

A killer is on the loose in the Arizona Territory. One by one, Tonto Basin ranchers are being murdered for their livestock - and the Cattle Raisers' Association has hired two range detectives to catch the culprit. From the looks of them, Stovepipe Stewart and Wilbur Coleman are just another pair of high-plains drifters. But with their razor-sharp detective skills and rare talent for trouble, they're the last remaining hope for one young cowboy who's been arrested for the murders. Stovepipe and Wilbur believe the boy is innocent.

After spending most of his young life driving cattle from Texas to Nevada, Will Tanner is ready to wash the trail dust from his throat. Maybe it was fate that brought him to the Morning Glory Saloon on the border of Indian Territory - or just plain bad luck - because right after his sits down three rough-looking characters walk into the bar with vengeance in their eyes, guns at their sides...and fingers on their triggers. The trio's target is the famous US Deputy Marshal Dove who arrested one of their kin - and who's sitting in the bar near Will Tanner.

Once a respected lawman in Kansas and Oklahoma, Ty Brannigan ended his career as town marshal of Warknife while he was still young enough to marry, start a family, and raise cattle. Now nearly sixty, he’s a proud husband, father of four, and proprietor of the Powderhorn Ranch. He’s more content wrangling cows than criminals. But for every outlaw Brannigan put in jail, noosed, or left to the vultures, he made even more enemies. They’ve made the mistake of targeting his wife and children—only to discover that Ty Brannigan enforces his own law with a lightning-fast draw.

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But old cowboys? That’s a different story—especially when those cowboys are trail-hardened cattlemen like Casey Tubbs and Levi Doolin. When these longtime buddies learn that their bosses are getting out of the beef business, they figure it’s probably time to retire anyway. Nothing left to do now but deliver the last two-thousand cows to Albilene and collect their pay. There’s just one problem. Their bosses’ lawyer is skipping town with all the workers’ cash—which means Tubbs and Doolin have one last job to do...

It's the dawn of a new century. But on the vast Sugarloaf Ranch not much has changed since legendary gunfighter Smoke Jensen and his wife Sally tamed the land two decades ago. Raising cattle is still a dangerous business - and just as deadly as ever. When Smoke is injured swapping bullets with some cow thieves, Sally puts out a call for help to Matt, Ace, and the rest of the Jensen clan. But time is running out. The bloodthirsty rustlers are ready to strike again - and there are lots more of them. And the Sugarloaf's last defense is Smoke and Sally's next of kin....

A Rocky Mountain winter has left Breck reeling from the carnage unleashed by bloodthirsty trapper Judd Carnahan - and readying a quest for vengeance as ruthless as their prey. It gets even deadlier when Carnahan lays siege to a trading post on the Yellowstone River. He's left the owner dead and kidnapped a pretty hostage who can turn a nice profit once he puts her to work.