Lauran Paine

"In two western stories, when a stranger arrives in town, his actions will force people to choose between revenge and justice"--

"In two western stories, two town marshals are called upon to solve puzzling crimes--the theft of four thousand dollars from a disabled stage and the murder of a stranger whose body disappears before the marshal can have it buried"--

Prairie Guns: Homesteaders have taken up land on the plains of Colorado that were formerly free range. Cattle baron Colton Miller and his hired gun riders hate the homesteaders, especially Buff Brady and Luther Hart, two former cowboys who hope to eventually throw their quarter-sections together to form a cattle ranch, but are viewed as traitors by the cattlemen. When the two are framed for rustling, they're arrested and jailed and their buildings...

"In "Renegade Rifles," the hostile Apaches have attacked a wagon convoy at night, a time when traditionally the Apaches do not fight. In "Trouble Weather," the herd being driven from Montana to make up the beef ration for the local reservation has been unaccountably delayed, causing a possible uprising. Cattle thieves in the Old West were never easy to apprehend, but when, as in "Rain Valley," they are protected by a mountainous terrain, a lawman...

The massacre at Fort Mims is what spurred young Davy Crockett to leave his family and become a volunteer scout in the military campaign between American militias and the Creek Indians. It was while serving in this capacity that Crockett earned his reputation as a first-rate scout, which added to his already established reputation as a crack shot. Like many volunteers serving in militias, Crockett also had to concern himself with protecting his wife,...

Charley and Hank were sent to the south desert of Arizona to find and arrest an old outlaw named Peter Harkness. It was rumored he lived in Parral, a town that had a terrific water source, a boon in the desert. They found Pete, and when people heard who they were looking for, they found plenty of trouble, too.

"After the men of the Rafter M Ranch in Wyoming hang two rustlers, they discover that one was a woman and fear that someone is out for vengeance"--

Edson Black was taken away in the Yuma prison wagon seven years ago. When he returned he was a shell of a man whose every outward appearance seemed to have aged at least thirty years. In the place of his thrusting long stride, was a dogged shuffle. Edson Black had shot a man - and no one believed him when he swore he had done so in self-defense. Someone had doctored the evidence to make Edson look guilty - plain and simple. Edson's sons were now grown...