Western Indian Fiction

Larry McMurtry continues the story of Tasmin Berrybender and her family in the Wild West of the 1830s. This is the point in time when mountain men and trappers like Jim Bridger and Kit Carson, though still alive, are already legendary figures, and when the clash between the Indian tribes and the encroaching white Americans is about to turn into tragedy.

Tell Sackett had fought his share of Indians and managed to take something of value from his battles: a deep and abiding respect. But that respect is lost when Apache braves kidnap his nephew, forcing Tell to cross the border into the Sierra Madres to bring the boy back. What troubles Tell more, though, is the boy’s mother: Could she possibly be inventing a rescue mission to deliver her husband’s brother into an ambush?

Life has never been simple for Jennifer McBee. As if being shy and hard of hearing wasn’t enough, now Jennifer is faced with the humiliation of her failed wedding. Desperate to escape, Jennifer decides to leave heartbreak behind her and travels west to be with her brother, the pastor of a small Nebraska town called Daisy Creek. While her brother has hopes for her making some new friendships with the townsfolk of Daisy Creek, Jennifer still feels removed from the community of this close-knit town.

He came west to the Rockies as a young runaway and grew into a legend among the already legendary frontier mountain men. They called him Preacher - a name that would become a monument to all who sought adventure in the savage wilderness of America's untamed west. The only man with the skills to lead a wagon train on the last leg of the rugged Oregon trail, Preacher knows they're headed into trouble. It's hard enough for a hundred greenhorns to survive the wilds of the northwest; being pursued by thieving renegade outlaws and Indians with a thirst for gold makes it damn near impossible.

As a woman of the Lakota Indian tribe, Macha has often been encouraged to mingle with the townsfolk of Daisy Creek. That was how she came to know Mr. Dennis Forks, the town's new blacksmith who settled in Daisy Creek some months ago. Ever since she first saw him, Macha has found herself drawn to Dennis.

A Zuni Indian boy dies in a bizarre ritual slaying - and his best friend, a Navajo youth, is missing. Navajo police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn tracks the friend from Zuni village to Navajo hogan, from anthropological dig to hippie commune, across the desert of New Mexico and Arizona.

Wambleeska, the youngest son of the Lakota Chief, has grown up in a changing world. Gone are the days of his forefathers. Now, the future is bright with possibilities, and Wambleeska is ready to join his people in this exciting new world. There is just one problem. Unlike his brother, who recently found love and happiness, Wambleeska has felt no connection with any of the women from his tribe, or even the ladies belonging to the nearby settlement of Daisy Creek. Longing for a family of his own, Wambleeska decides to take matters into his own hands and advertise for a mail-order bride.

Ayasha is part Chippewa-Cree Indian and part White. Protected by her powerful father, the town of Waverly let her be. Now that he has passed, the town lets Ayasha know exactly how they feel about her. She has no family and no money. What can she do? In desperation, she answers an advert from an injured man looking for a bride. Farmer Joe Warner was injured in a plowing accident. His younger sister has been caring for him, but Joe knows that she is putting her own life on hold.

The year is 1870, and Fool's Crow, so called after he killed the chief of the Crows during a raid, has a vision at the annual Sun Dance ceremony. The young warrior sees the end of the Indian way of life and the choice that must be made: resistance or humiliating accommodation.

Rusty Sabin was a child when Cheyenne Indians raided the Sabin homestead and killed his mother. Just before she died, she put a rawhide cord with a green scabbard around his neck. Raised by Spotted Antelope and Bitter Root, Rusty, now known as Red Hawk, refuses the compulsory and brutal initiation into the tribe when he is 15. Abandoned as dead by his Cheyenne family, Red Hawk takes the advice of a white trader and rides to Witherell, the nearest settlement of whites.

Patrick Flint feels a calling to volunteer at the impoverished Indian Health Services clinic on the Wind River Reservation that he can't completely explain. His wife Susanne usually supports him, but her family is coming for their first Wyoming visit, 12-year-old Perry is stir crazy and looking for trouble, teenager Trish is dangerously in love, and Suzanne and Patrick are in the final stages of negotiations on their dream house. The Christmas holidays are not a convenient time for him to be gone, or to be out of communication.

The Indian, the Bookbinder & Abby: An Oregon Trail Journey, is a wonderful and emotional love story about one young woman traveling the Oregon Trail with her father. She is engaged to a self-centered, controlling, and very angry young man. When a young bookbinder spots her ancient family bible, which is falling apart, he tells her he'll restore it for her. Her fiancé becomes enraged and when the bible is completed there is an altercation and someone dear to Abby gets critically injured. This love story has a fulfilling and satisfying ending.

Will Cannon rides to west Texas looking for the Blackman Gang, but as soon as he gets there he finds a Texas Ranger, Duke Wills, being attacked by a group of Comanches. Will helps Duke fight off the Comanches and then he finds out about a gang of outlaws that have been making moonshine and selling the moonshine and rifles to the Comanches. Will has to ride into the No Man's Land known as the Indian Nations to find some of the outlaws. He also finds a beautiful woman in Amarillo that needs help.

A narrative of the unparalleled adventures of Matthew Brayton is compiled for the satisfaction of those who wished to preserve a memorial of his romantic history. Extraordinary as the incidents may appear, there is abundant proof of their entire truth. Living witnesses bear testimony to the circumstances of the mysterious loss of the hero, and his identity is established by incontrovertible proofs. Numerous circumstances also confirm the account given by him of his adventures during the 34 years spent among the Indians.

In September 1873, Elizabeth Coughlin, a widow bankrupted by her husband's folly and death, embarks on a buffalo hunt with her estranged and mysterious brother-in-law, Michael. With no money, no family, no job or security, she hopes to salvage something of her former life and the lives of the hired men and their families who depend on her. The buffalo hunt that her husband had planned, she now realizes, was his last hope for saving their land.

One love-struck businessman; one compassionate Sioux maiden; one heart-wrenching decision. Is the power of love enough to save an entire tribe? Five years ago, when Edward James settled in Bear Creek to manage the mines, he saw a future of business and opportunity. He didn’t plan to fall in love. But since the moment he met Morning Sun, his world has been turned upside down. If only her family would accept him, he could be the devoted husband he longed to be, but how can he convince them that he’s worthy of Morning Sun’s love?

16-year-old Charles Dobbs returned from hunting to find the family farm has been attacked by Indians, their home burned to the ground. His father’s tortured body lies tied to a wagon, and his mother is dying. The agony they have suffered makes a deep impression on Charlie’s young mind, one that would haunt him for many years to come. In this adventure, he becomes a man as he interacts with different tribes, builds lasting friendships...and even longer-lasting enemies.

This book takes place in the 1800s when the Native Americans were fighting for their way of life. During this time, many immigrants were arriving in America. This immigrant's name is Sheffy. He, too, had a dream of coming to America, and saved all his money to start a new life in the free world.

Left destitute and alone with her mother after her father abandoned them, Erin Saddler is shocked when she learns her mother has arranged for her to be a mail order bride to a Mr. Rich McNettle. But they are out of money, and marriage is their last chance for a stable life. So Erin agrees to travel west to wed this man she's never met. But when a stagecoach accident and a brave man step in to her destiny, she begins to believe that God has other plans for her.

When Jessie, a woman traveling west to an already established mission, finds a wounded Native American man, despite much opposition, decides to nurse him back to health because she knows it's what God wants. Despite hatred amongst some members of the train for the young man, she triumphs and is able to get him back on his feet, even though another attack almost kills him again.