An extraordinary saga of the trail-blazing cowboys who made their fortune
driving cattle from Texas to the Great Frontier.
Across the Pecos, the Rio Colorado and La Panza mountains, the Texans and their longhorns kept charging-all the way to California gold!
Between The Bandera Range And California, They Faced All The Challenges Of Man And God, But Nothing Could Ever Make Them Quit.
The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million
maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them
north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives.
The California Trail
Gold fever had hit California, and suddenly, the land was full of hungry pioneers. For Gil and Van Austin, two Texas brothers, it meant the chance to sell well-grazed longhorns after years of hard ranching and a treacherous cattle drive up through Mexico. The only trouble was that California was on the other side of a searing desert, swollen rivers, a barrage of Indian attacks, and a whole passel of outlaw trouble. And while the Texans and their men were ready and willing to take it all on, there was one thing they weren't prepared for: the ultimate act of treachery and deceit in a land of schemers, dreamers and gold!
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“Although this is the fifth book of his Trail Drive series, The California Trail can stand alone with the action of the Austin brothers' exciting trailblazing adventures.
— Road King
Very seldom in literature have the legends of the Old West been so vividly painted.
— Tombstone EpitaphLovers of Louis L'Amour–type Westerns will welcome [this] series.
— Nashville BannerBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Ralph Compton (1934–1998) 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. A number of his later works also appeared on the USA Today bestseller list. Since his death, a number of works have been published under Compton’s byline, including The Alamosa Trail, Riders of Judgement, The Abilene Trail, The Bozeman Trail, and others.
Scott Sowers is an actor and audiobook narrator. AudioFile magazine named him the 2008 Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense. He is the winner of seven Earphones Awards.