In this thrilling installment in bestseller Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive series, a small ranch owner drives his herd into Mexico and is startled to find that human life comes cheaper than beef on the hoof. Andrew Buchanan has a problem. His modest ranch in Southern California is being pressured by an unscrupulous competitor and the encroaching wave of the future—orange growers. The only chance he has to sell his cattle for real money is to take them south into Mexico. The Empire Trail is five hundred miles of misery that crosses scorching deserts and clings to treacherous cliffs—and it's Andrew's job to find the best way across. But physical barriers are not the only thing he must contend with. A group of dangerous men are trailing the herd, determined to take the cattle or die trying. But this is Andrew's livelihood that hangs in the balance, and he won't go down without a fight.

In this thrilling installment in bestseller Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive series, a small ranch owner drives his herd into Mexico and is startled to find that human life comes cheaper than beef on the hoof. Andrew Buchanan has a problem. His modest ranch in Southern California is being pressured by an unscrupulous competitor and the encroaching wave of the future—orange growers. The only chance he has to sell his cattle for real money is to take them south into Mexico. The Empire Trail is five hundred miles of misery that crosses scorching deserts and clings to treacherous cliffs—and it's Andrew's job to find the best way across. But physical barriers are not the only thing he must contend with. A group of dangerous men are trailing the herd, determined to take the cattle or die trying. But this is Andrew's livelihood that hangs in the balance, and he won't go down without a fight.

Former Texas Rangers Benton McCaleb, Will Elliot, and Brazos Gifford ride with Charles Goodnight as he rounds up thousands of ornery, unbranded cattle for the long drive to Colorado. From the Trinity River brakes to Denver, they'll battle endless miles of flooded rivers, parched desert, and whiskey-crazed Comanches. And come face-to-face with Judge Roy Bean and legendary gunslingers like Clay Allison. For McCaleb and his hard-riding crew, the drive is a fierce struggle against the perils of an untamed land. A fight to the finish where the brave reach glory—or die hard.

In this Ralph Compton western, riding the hard trail isn't easy... At the EJ Ranch in Wyoming, Lin Bryce has found good, honest work for himself and his temperamental brother, Chancy. A widow with two young children has a herd of cattle over two thousand acres that needs tending, and Lin believes it’s the best opportunity to put their tragic and violent past behind them and start anew. But the widow and her property are coveted by a cattle baron determined to take over every ranch in the territory. And as the Bryce brothers find themselves in the crosshairs of an encroaching range war, a trio of merciless bounty hunters arrives to collect the price on their heads… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step in this Ralph Compton western... Some think he’s crazy. But Felix Dagstaff has signed on to drive 4,000 head of wild longhorns from his ranch near Quitaque, Texas, up the Palo Duro Canyon to Cheyenne, more than a thousand miles away. Even if the passage were flat, you couldn’t pay most men enough to take on such a job. But poor odds have never stopped Dag before… He’ll have to drive his cattle through blinding storms and swollen rivers. But the setbacks of Mother Nature pale in comparison to the sedition of his own men: one drover’s not who he claims to be; another tries to make off with part of the herd. With months of heat and hardship stretching before him like the treacherous but impossibly beautiful canyon, the chances of getting ahead are slim. But if he fails, Dag will lose everything he has fought for… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A man embarks on a hazardous journey for both body and soul in this Ralph Compton western... Ed Wright earned his reputation as a capable and principled man from years of driving cattle—and from wearing a Ranger’s badge. The Texan wants nothing more than to drown his memories in bottle after bottle of whiskey. Unita Nance is the owner of the Bar U Ranch, having inherited the spread after her husband’s death. She needs Ed to drive her stock from Texas to Newton, Kansas and won’t take no for an answer. Pulled out of his inebriated retirement against his will, Ed discovers that there are those who don’t want him riding herd any more than he does—and will stop at nothing to keep him off the trail… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

Bad blood runs deep in this Ralph Compton western... Jock Kane would do anything for his buddy Chad Becker—except drive the rancher’s longhorns to the Ellsworth railhead in Kansas. Having lost his fortune and his faith on the last trail, and his beloved wife, Twyla, to a killer, Jock’s not looking for adventure. What gets him off his tail is finding out who’s vying with Chad for the Kansas sale. It’s none other than Twyla’s cold-blooded killer himself—Jock’s own brother, Abel, now in cahoots with a Yankee carpetbagger. Now there’s no hailstorm violent enough, no Apache savage enough, and no trail-drive turncoat dirty enough to stop Jock from redefining justice and revenge… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A cattle drive faces long odds in this exciting new installment in Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive series. An outbreak of hostilities with Comanches has disrupted the usual trail routes. But Mase Durst must get his cows from his Texas ranch to the railway up in Wichita, Kansas, or face losing his land, which the bank is fixing to foreclose on. He's forced to take his herd on a little-used route called the Red Trail—little used for good reasons. It’s a tough trek: dangerous, narrow, and fraught with banditry. Along the way, Durst and his men face numerous obstacles thrown up by Mother Nature, cattle rustlers and crooked lawmen. But even their safe arrival in Wichita will offer no relief if he can’t make it home in time to save his ranch from the bank—and his wife from the predations of their rapacious neighbor. . .

In this Ralph Compton western, even the most rugged trailsman has to watch his steps... It’s called the Whoop-Up Trail. It’s a two hundred mile stretch of rough terrain between Montana and Canada, littered with spiky brushwood, crawling with clawed and fanged critters of all shapes and sizes, and traversed by hostile Indians and vicious outlaws. But for Luke Garrett—framed for a murder he didn’t commit, saddled with five mail-order brides, driving what’s left of his cattle herd, and pursued by vigilantes—it’s the only chance for survival… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A gunslinger gets bloody payback in this western from USA Today bestselling author Ralph Compton. Nathan Stone experienced the horror of Civil War battlefields. But the worst lies ahead. When he returns to Virginia, to the ruins of what was his home, he discovers his father butchered and his mother and sister stripped, ravished, and slain. The seven renegades who did it rode away to the West. Half-starved and afoot, he takes to their trail. Nathan Stone’s deadly oath—blood for blood—will cost him seven long years, as he rides the lawless trails of an untamed frontier. His skill with a Colt will match him with the likes of the Jameses and the Youngers, Wild Bill Hickok, John Wesley Hardin, and Ben Thompson. Nathan Stone will become the greatest gunfighter of them all, shooting his way along the most relentless vengeance trail a man has ever ridden to the savage end…and this is how it all begins. More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!