Armed with only a Colt rifle, a Bowie knife, and courage as big as the West, Ten Chisholm-the bold, illegitimate son of frontier scout and plains ambassador Jesse Chisholm and a Cherokee woman-arrives in the heart of Comanche country with a price on his head. His only crime: loving the beautiful daughter of a powerful New Orleans gambler who has promised her to a wealthy man she hates. Now that Ten has returned to the harsh Texas brakes with a team of battle-toughened cowboys and ex-soldiers-and a vow to return to Priscilla and make her his wife-he must round up wild longhorns, ward off angry Comanches, and survive treacherous outlaw attacks as he crosses the Red River and sets off on a brazen quest to open a new trail to Kansas on the savage frontier.

Ralph Compton 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. He died in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1998.