Book picks similar to
CALIFORNIA: A Trip Across the Plains, in the Spring of 1850 by James Abbey


history-california
dnf
history-american-west
history-nonfiction-fiction

Hawken Fury


David Robbins - 2000
    The brave swung his tomahawk at Nate’s face. Ducking, Nate pointed his flintlock and fired.“Struck in his left shoulder, the Blackfoot jerked with the impact. Spurting blood like a fountain, he grimaced, but otherwise ignored the wound. Nothing would stop him from sending the hated white man into the spirit realm.“Crimson drops sprinkled Nate’s cheeks and chin as he lunged to one side and tried to stab the Blackfoot in the ribs. Even though wounded, the brave was able to dodge nimbly out of harm’s way. For a heartbeat they faced one another, the Blackfoot crouched, ready to strike.“Growling like an animal, the Blackfoot sprang forward, his tomahawk aimed straight for Nate’s head …”Although he frequently had to battle savage Indians, wild beasts, and hostile elements, Nate felt the freedom he’d gained was worth it. But when an old love arrives, Nate learns that the deadliest foe can come in the guise of a trusted friend, and his hard-won freedom can be traded away for a few pieces of gold.ABOUT THE AUTHORDavid L. Robbins was born on Independence Day 1950. He has written more than three hundred books under his own name and many pen names, among them: David Thompson, Jake McMasters, Jon Sharpe, Don Pendleton, Franklin W. Dixon, Ralph Compton, Dean L. McElwain, J.D. Cameron and John Killdeer. Robbins was raised in Pennsylvania. When he was seventeen he enlisted in the United States Air Force and eventually rose to the rank of sergeant. After his honorable discharge he attended college and went into broadcasting, working as an announcer and engineer (and later as a program director) at various radio stations. Later still he entered law enforcement and then took to writing full-time. At one time or another Robbins has lived in Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Montana, Colorado and the Pacific Northwest. He spent a year and a half in Europe, traveling through France, Italy, Greece and Germany. He lived for more than a year in Turkey. Today he is best known for two current long-running series – Wilderness, the generational saga of a Mountain Man and his Shoshone wife – and Endworld is a science fiction series under his own name started in 1986. Among his many other books, Piccadilly Publishing is pleased to be reissuing ebook editions of Wilderness, Davy Crockett and, of course, White Apache. Check us out at www.piccadillypublishing.org

Cowboy Billionaires At Havenview Ranch


Hanna Hart - 2021
    Second chances, single dads, blinds dates, and ChristmasMiracles will keep you awake and smiling throughout this whole series! My Cowboy’s Second Chance SurpriseCowboy billionaire, Nash Haven, can deal with the actual storm, buthandling his ex-girlfriend’s secret will be much harder.He didn’t know that his neighbor was the one that got away. Singlemother, Sophia, was equally clueless. She had no idea that her ex-boyfriend owned a billion-dollar ranch.They’re both surprised, and also still heartbroken. Will Sophia’s babysecret tear them apart or bring them closer?My Cowboy Best Friend BodyguardAdeline Prince needed a bodyguard before moving to Dallas, Texas. Shedidn’t think that her new hire would be her ex-boyfriend who broke herheart.Hayes Haven didn’t know who had posted the job when he applied.Adeline had her concerns but hiring him was the right thing to do.Would she be able to protect her heart while letting Hayes guard herlife?My Cowboy Single Dad Blind DateCowboy billionaire Trent Sheldon is a heartbroken single dad, but ablind date with Grace Payne gives him hope.Trent was abandoned by his ex-wife and Grace had to go through anunexpected divorce in the past. The two of them have had terriblepasts, but they’re perfect for each other.The only problem is Trent’s secrets. Will they come in the way of theirsecond chance at love?My Cowboy Best Man BachelorViolet Kirschner is in a terrible place trying to pick between herchildhood crush and her family.Holden Hayes is the best man at her brother’s wedding, and she can’tkeep her hands off him. Holden is known to be a heartbreaker butthat’s not entirely true. He’s madly in love with her too, but herbrother’s overprotective nature could be the end of them. Can the twoof them keep their relationship hidden from the entire town?My Cowboy Bad Boy BossCowboy billionaire, Gage Haven had everything until it was all takenaway from him. His wife was killed in a tragedy and his son was leftmotherless.Gage hired a nanny thinking that will make his life easier. Well, it did,but it also made it more complicated. Lorde is an excellent nanny, butshe’s also his ex-girlfriend.Can the two of them keep their past aside and work as a team? Or isthis the beginning of another end?My Cowboy’s Secret BabyCowboy billionaire Wilder Haven ran into his ex from ten years ago andhis world turned upside down.Jade Harlow moved back to town to care for her mother. She neverexpected Wilder to step in and help her. It didn’t take long for them toforget them enmity and start falling in love again. Wilder even grewcloser to her daughter, not knowing that she was his own. Could heever forgive her for keeping this secret from him?My Cowboy Christmas MiracleJade didn’t want her first husband showing up after the death of herrecent ex-husband. A Christmas miracle didn’t save his life, but itbrought Finn back into the picture.Jade wasn’t sure why he’d returned but all Finn wanted to do was righthis wrongs and watch over Jade and her kids.A second chance was in the cards this Christmas season, but it wasn’tabout to come by so easily. Will the two of them realize that life is tooshort to hold a grudge?

Fifty Years on the Trail:: A True Story of Western Life


John Young Nelson - 2014
    Born in Virginia in 1826, Nelson ran away from home as a young teenager to escape a domineering father and to seek adventure in the west. He took odd jobs along with way working on farms, serving as a cabin boy on a Mississippi steamer, and becoming an apprentice with a group of traders traveling west from Missouri. After meeting a band of Sioux, he decided that the nomadic life of an Indian was the adventure he was looking for and got himself adopted into the tribe. Here he learned how to live off the land and acquired the skills of a Sioux warrior. His adopted father was the Chief Spotted Tail and his brother-in-law was Red Cloud—Chief of the Sioux Nation. As a young Sioux brave, Nelson participated in Indian raids and skirmishes. Later, he guided Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, worked as a military scout with William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), fought in the Indian Wars, and served as a lawman in North Dakota. In his many escapades he often narrowly escaped death from bullets, arrows, and knives. Nelson’s story is a fascinating view of the early American west in all its glory. This pre-1923 publication has been converted from its original format for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the conversion.

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains


Isabella Lucy Bird - 1879
    In this volume, she paints an intimate picture of the "Wild West," writing eloquently of flora and fauna, isolated settlers and assorted refugees from civilization, vigilance committees and lynchings, and crude table manners yet a gentle civility — even chivalry — among the men she encountered in the wilderness. Thoughtfully written, this captivating narrative provides a vibrant account of a bygone era and the people that forever changed the face of the frontier.

Across The Plains In 1844


Catherine Sager Pringle - 1989
    This enhanced version of her original manuscript adds explanatory notes, photos, maps, drawings, and 3d visualizations. The bonus material adds a layer of context to make Sager’s fascinating account even more vivid.Catherine Sager faced almost unimaginable hardship: both her parents died on the journey west on the Oregon Trail; a few years later her adoptive parents were brutally murdered before her eyes. She was even kidnapped and held for ransom. Yet Catherine was a survivor, and she lived a long life in Oregon. Her accounts of life on the Oregon Trail and the Whitman Massacre remain important historical documents. At the same time, she is an excellent writer who knows how to engage the reader.

The Second Star: A Christmas Western


C.J. Petit - 2017
    He was ashamed of himself for not standing up to his father and choosing his own career. But, now he was an ordained minister and wished something would happen to change the course of his life, not knowing that the two riders that would share the trail would do that and much more.

O'Rourke's Revenge


L.J. Martin - 2005
    And when one of The Kin is in trouble, a dozen men and women are ready to take up the cause. After surviving the most notorious prison in the West, Ryan O’Rourke sets out to settle scores with the men who put him there and winds up back in jail – but this time he is sentenced to die.

Four Years in the Rockies -- the Adventures of Isaac P. Rose--Hunter and Trapper in that Remote Region (1884)


James B. Marsh - 2010
    Rose (1815-1899) was a Rocky Mountain trapper and mountain man. No novel was ever written depicting more thrilling encounters with Indians or hair-breadth escapes than were experienced by Isaac Rose and his companions. These are fully recounted in a volume entitled, "Four Years in the Rockies," the authorship of which is accredited to James B. Marsh. It is a work full of interest for all readers. He was nineteen years old when he left his plough and, in company with a companion, Joe Lewis, he made his way to Pittsburg. The boys had cherished the hope of securing employment as stage drivers but, as they found no opening in that direction, they accepted berths at $15 per month as deck hands on a steamboat that was then loading for St. Louis. When they reached the latter city, Rose found employment as a hack driver in a livery stable, and Lewis a job of attending to the horses. Here the boys became acquainted with a number of "Rocky Mountain Boys," as they were called, and became fascinated with their stories of mountain life, of fights with bear and adventures in buffalo, elk and deer hunting, together with skirmishes with the Indians. Soon after this he joined a company formed by Nathaniel Wyeth, which started from Independence for the Rocky Mountains, with an outfit worth $100,000, sixty men and 200 horses and mules heavily loaded with goods. At the Gallatin River Isaac Rose and his party were joined by some trappers belonging to the American Fur Company, one of whom was Kit Carson. For years this noted trapper and Mr. Rose were closely associated in their adventurous life. Later, Mr. Rose became so expert a trapper himself that he won a prize of $300 as a trapper of beaver. In 1836 he had a thrilling experience with Indians, which almost caused the loss of his arm. The author writes: "The hunters and trappers of the far west, at the time when the incidents I am about to relate occurred, were a brave, hardy and adventurous set of men, and they had peculiarities in their characters that cannot be found in any other people. From the time they leave civilization they—metaphorically speaking—carry their lives in their hands. An enemy may be concealed in every thicket or looked for behind every rock. They have not only the wild and savage beasts to contend with, but the still more wily and savage Indian, and their life is one continual round of watchfulness and excitement. Their character is a compound of two extremes— recklessness and caution—and isolation from the world makes them at all times self-reliant. In moments of the greatest peril, or under the most trying circumstances, they never lose their presence of mind, but are ready to take advantage of any incident that may occur to benefit themselves or foil their enemies. "As, in the course of this narrative, we may have occasion to describe some of the trappers who were comrades of Mr. Rose, and who took part in many of his adventures, I wish my readers to be fully aware of the character of these men, and that their camp stories are not all idle boasting. A more hardy, fearless, improvident set of men can nowhere else be found." This book originally published in 1884 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.

Hangtown Creek: A tale of the California gold rush


John Rose Putnam - 2011
    The majestic landscapes of Brett Harte's California unite with Larry McMurtry's epic old west realism in an explosion of love, lust, murder and betrayal that comes to a powerful climax along a beautiful stream, home to the largest strike in the mines, where a burning barn ignites the passion of a gold rush boomtown and, in one dark night of revenge, earns that stream the name it bears to this day—HANGTOWN CREEK.

Into the Wind: A Love Story


Jaclyn M. Hawkes - 2018
    And deadly. Born into the finest of Danish aristocracy, lovely Brekka Toft is drawn to the untamed wilderness of the American West. After being told it is perfectly safe, she travels to see the legendary red rocks of the Utah Territory only to find that the glorious scenery comes with bandits, hostile Indians, fearsome animals, magnificent storms, and a terrifying wildfire. Even her trusted escort from home now feels threatening. Can she trust her life to a seemingly capable, well-respected local rancher? After all, he is dangerously handsome.

Persimmon Apricot, Gunfighter


Jason S Litz - 2020
    Resistant to the label of Gunfighter, Persimmon vehemently rejects offers to be a gun for hire, preferring to drift aimlessly in a futile effort to outrun his memories. It takes a young boy and his widowed mother to give Persimmon purpose once more. Befriended by a failed writer, the pair take a reluctant journey across the country to help her. What they discover is that happiness sometimes carries a steep price tag. Saving the widow will cost more than they could have imagined. Persimmon must decide whether or not to make the purchase, even if that means paying with his life.

Hank


R.O. Lane - 2019
    Henry's search takes him to Virginia City and all over the mining centers of southwest Montana. Eventually it leads him to Nevada. On the trip he finds love and romance and adopts a little boy that he learns to love. His journey is full of outlaws and crooked lawmen and politicians. Another classic western from the pen of R. O. Lane

Coldsmith


Ron Schwab - 2021
    

The Comanche Captivity of Sarah Ann Horn


James A. Crutchfield - 2015
    After spending several months in New York City, the family signed up for a journey to the Republic of Texas where they could homestead and eventually acquire 137 free acres for their efforts. Soon growing discontented with, not only the land, but also the management of the colony in which they had settled, the Horns decided to return to England. But, it was not to be. Attacked and captured by a party of Comanche Indians, Sarah Ann was faced with challenges and realities the like of which she never could have dreamed. Over a period of fifteen months of Comanche captivity, she and her captors rode endlessly across the Texas plains until finally she was purchased out of bondage and befriended by traders in New Mexico. This is the true story of a remarkable woman who endured an unimaginable amount of suffering and pain in her short lifetime.

Forget the Alamo: The True Story of the Myth That Made Texas


Bryan Burrough - 2021
    There's no piece of history more important to Texans than the Battle of the Alamo, when Davy Crockett and a band of rebels went down in a blaze of glory fighting for independence from Mexico, losing the battle but setting Texas up to win the war. However, that version of events, as Forget the Alamo definitively shows, owes more to fantasy than reality. Just as the site of the Alamo was left in ruins for decades, its story was forgotten and twisted over time, with the contributions of Tejanos, Texans of Mexican origin who fought alongside the Anglo rebels, scrubbed from the record, and the origin of the conflict over Mexico's push to abolish slavery papered over. Forget the Alamo provocatively explains the true story of the battle against the backdrop of Texas's struggle for independence, then shows us how the sausage of myth got made in the Jim Crow South of the late 19th and early 20th century. As uncomfortable as it may be to hear, celebrating the Alamo has long had an echo of celebrating whiteness.In the last forty-some years, waves of revisionists have come at this topic, and at times have made real progress toward a more nuanced and inclusive story that doesn't alienate anyone. But we are not living in one of those times; the fight over the Alamo's meaning has become more pitched than ever in the past few years, even violent, as Texas's future begins to look more and more different from its past. It's the perfect time for a wise and generous-spirited book that shines the bright light of the truth into a place that's gotten awfully dark.