G. Clifton Wisler

In 1862 Maryland, 13-year-old Ransom Powell watches his friends argue, then march off to war. Some put on gray uniforms, others wear blue. He is too young to fight, but when he hears a Union division in Virginia needs a drummer, he runs away from home and lies about his age. At first Ranse finds it thrilling to defend his country. His first skirmish changes that, however-suddenly war is more horrible than exciting. When his regiment is captured and...

Eight years ago, forty-year-old Caulfield Blake was run out of the West Texas town of Simpson by a lynch mob. As sheriff, he'd been called on to carry out justice. But the War was ending and upholding the law was a tough kind of business. And when it meant hanging 'Colonel' Henry Simpson's son for killing an unpopular federal judge, the community-including Blake's own wife and children-wanted no part of him. Now Colonel Simpson wants to expand...

When his father dies and the family scatters, Erastus ('Rat') Hadley hires on as a hand to a local farmer. Rat is abused and tortured in his new home, but a depression is on and it's a tough time for a young man to be on his own. When Rat's loyal childhood friend Mitch Morris intervenes and the sheriff rescues Rat, his luck changes. Landing a job at last, Rat rides shotgun for the Western Stage Company out of Fort Worth. He quickly picks up a reputation...