Bitter Trail
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Bitter Trail
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Narrated by:
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Jason Culp
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By:
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Elmer Kelton
About this listen
In Bitter Trail, Kelton tells the story of a tough teamster named Frio Wheeler whose wagons haul cotton from Texas to Mexico. Sounds like a peaceable enterprise? The problem is that the Civil War is raging throughout the South and Wheeler's cotton is to be sold for gold--gold used to buy guns and ammunition for the Confederate army. And, added to his balky mules, the broiling heat, and killing drought of the Mexican dessert, Wheeler has even more serious matters to contend with: His wagons are attacked, his cotton bales are burned, he is captured and tortured by bandidos in league with Union sympathizers, and he is betrayed by his best friend--his former partner and brother of the woman he loves!
©1997 Elmer Kelton (P)2011 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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When former cattle man Dundee wanders into the town of Titusville, he's broke, tired, and itching for a fight. Instead, he gets a job offer...from none other than the top man in town, John Titus. Titus recruits Dundee to find out who's rustling his extensive herd of cattle. But for Titus, it isn't enough that Dundee find the missing cattle. He wants to place the blame on a specific person...Blue Roan Hardesty, a one-time friend turned sworn enemy of the powerful Titus clan.
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Good Western
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- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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-
5 out of 5 stars
-
True Western Stories
- By Sam on 04-21-25
By: Elmer Kelton
-
Sons of Texas [Dramatized Adaptation]
- Sons of Texas, Book 1
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Mordecai Lewis and his son Michael lead men from Tennessee into Spanish-ruled Texas, to hunt wild horses. The trip is fatal for Mordecai, leaving Michael and his family in danger, both from the soldiers of Spain and the evil Blackwood family back home in the Tennessee hills.
By: Elmer Kelton
-
Hewey Calloway Trilogy Bundle (Dramatized Adaptation)
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Bobby Aselford, Catherine Aselford, Christopher Graybill, and others
- Length: 21 hrs and 40 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great cowboy fun
- By Charlotte on 02-21-24
By: Elmer Kelton
-
Stand Proud
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
In Stand Proud, one of his most controversial novels, legendary Western writer Elmer Kelton takes on a character who is not as easy to like as he is to admire. Frank Claymore is cantankerous, stubborn, and intolerant - just the qualities that make him a success as an open-range cattle rancher on the West Texas frontier.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged, really abridged!
- By randy w ball on 08-23-20
By: Elmer Kelton
-
Pecos Crossing
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Johnny Fristo and Speck Quitman, young, hardworking cowboys from Fort Concho, Texas, have worked six months - at $20 a month - on the Devil's River. Their boss, a hawk-faced cow trader named Larramore, reneges on the money he owes the boys, sneaks out of the cow camp, and heads for San Angelo. Fristo is tall and thin, his mind a hundred miles away; Quitman is short, bandy legged, and "bedazzled by the flash of cards and the slosh of whiskey".
By: Elmer Kelton
-
Llano River
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
When former cattle man Dundee wanders into the town of Titusville, he's broke, tired, and itching for a fight. Instead, he gets a job offer...from none other than the top man in town, John Titus. Titus recruits Dundee to find out who's rustling his extensive herd of cattle. But for Titus, it isn't enough that Dundee find the missing cattle. He wants to place the blame on a specific person...Blue Roan Hardesty, a one-time friend turned sworn enemy of the powerful Titus clan.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good Western
- By Michael M. on 01-28-25
By: Elmer Kelton
-
Hot Iron
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In the early days of the Texas panhandle, starting a new life is hard - but keeping it is even harder. Espy Norwood is a troubleshooter who's got troubles of his own, and more troubles find him when he lands a job on a ranch on the Texas plains. Bitter landowners plot against him, determined cattle thieves sneak right under his nose, and his own son refuses to trust or even know him. Can he catch the thieves, save the ranch, and win his son's love?
By: Elmer Kelton
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Eyes of the Hawk
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Pete Bradbury
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 12
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
Thomas Canfield descends from a line of Texas's earliest settlers. A proud man with a fierce-eyed stare, he inspires the Mexican of Stonehill, Texas to call him el gavilan - "The Hawk". When Branch Isom - an insolent, dangerous newcomer - seeks to build his fortune at Canfield's expense, an all-out feud ensues. Hurtling the town toward a day of reckoning that will shake the entire town to its very roots. Eyes of the Hawk is a classic tale of Western history, told by one of the most critically acclaimed writers of the American West.
By: Elmer Kelton
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After the Bugles
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Joshua Buckalew has left behind the deserted battlefields that claimed his brother Thomas. The war has cost him much, but it has also given him a strong bond to the land and to the Mexican families who stood with him against the tyrannies of Santa Anna. Josh is travelling with Ramon Hernandez his best friend and the man who had fought with him, side by side. Where they are going, he isn't quite sure.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Supercharged Yarn
- By Jean on 08-12-16
By: Elmer Kelton
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Wagontongue
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18
As a slave, Isaac Jefford went to war and saved the life of his master, Major Lytton. As a free man, Isaac became one of the major's top cowhands, respected - but never totally accepted - by fellow cowboys: when they gathered around the fire to eat their dinner, Isaac took his food and sat on the wagontongue alone. When Pete Runyan, a bitter southerner, joins the crew, Isaac has to swallow his rage more than once.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I love Kelton but...
- By Amazon Customer on 07-18-19
By: Elmer Kelton
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Texas Rifles
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 151
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 133
In 1861, men are enlisting in the Texas Mounted Rifles to keep the land free from Indian raids. There are larger conflicts, however. Texas has seceeded from the union while war brews between the North and the South. Sam Houston Cloud has just joined the Texas Rifles. But he is deeply disturbed by the suffering he sees on all sides: White and Indian, Texan and immigrant. Elmer Kelton has an amazing talent for sweeping away stereotypes and filling his novels with unique, unforgettable men and women who know the ways of the frontier. Audie Award-winning narrator George Guidall's performance is superb.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great story, superb reading.
- By patti pressley on 05-21-18
By: Elmer Kelton
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Slaughter
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 287
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 285
In the 1870s, buffalo hunters moved onto the High Plains of Texas. The Plains Indians watched hunters slaughter the animals that gave them shelter and clothing, food, and weapons. The battles at and near the ruins of a trading fort, Adobe Walls, became symbolic of the struggles between hunters and the Comanche.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Kelton and western novels
- By Mitchell L. Harris on 09-04-19
By: Elmer Kelton
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Dark Thicket
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
One of America's greatest Western storytellers, Elmer Kelton has been voted the greatest Western writers of all time by the Western Writers of America. Dark Thicket is one of his many classic tales of the history of his home state of Texas. Young Owen Danforth rides home to Texas as a wounded Confederate soldier, at a time when his home state is as savagely divided as his nation. As a grievously wounded America staggers toward the inevitable end of the Civil War, secessionist "home guards" and staunch Union loyalists fight their own bloody battles on a more local scale.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Everything by Kelton it great
- By james sheffield on 05-27-24
By: Elmer Kelton
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The Buckskin Line
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 580
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 522
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 518
The Buckskin Line tells of Texas' chaotic early years, when a ragtag group of irregular volunteers fought to defend the far edges of settlement from incursion by Indians and frontier outlaws. In time, they would become known as the Texas Rangers.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Realistic West! A new favorite author!
- By Techie Type on 04-29-19
By: Elmer Kelton
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Manhunters
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
As he flees to the sanctuary of Mexico, Chacho Fernandez is unaware of the fuel he has added to the already simmering racial hatreds in and around the quiet town of Domingo, Texas. Through events set in motion by a misunderstanding, Chacho becomes a folk hero to his people and a dangerous fugitive to a group of zealous lawmen.
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4 out of 5 stars
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MAN HUNTER
- By Danny Harr on 08-11-24
By: Elmer Kelton
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Pumpkin Rollers
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 273
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 252
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 249
Six-time Spur Award winner Elmer Kelton was named the greatest Western author of all time by the Western Writers of America. In this novel, 18-year-old farmer Trey McLean aspires to be a cattle rancher. He leaves East Texas with four cows and heads west, but a corrupt sheriff quickly steals the animals. Helpless and confused, Trey finds trouble with a dangerous fugitive. But he also finds comfort and opportunity with a rancher’s lovely daughter.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Don't be thrown off by the title
- By I'm all ears on 07-16-19
By: Elmer Kelton
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Honor at Daybreak
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
Frontier mobster Big Boy Daugherty warns any who'd stand in his way: Get out or die. One man will do neither. Sheriff Dave Buckalew is a man too proud to give up and too stubborn to give in. He liked his town the way it was - before the bootleggers, brothels, and fortune-seeking roustabouts - and so did a lot of other hardworking, decent folk. Together they'll fight to win back their town - and their future. This is the story of their heroic stand.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not the same
- By Sam on 03-13-19
By: Elmer Kelton
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Cloudy in the West
- By: Elmer Kelton
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 193
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 191
In the Texas backlands in 1885, 12-year-old Joey Shipman's father dies under mysterious circumstances, and the boy is forced to live with his stepmother and Blair Meacham, a hanger-on at the farm. After the death of a black farmhand and friend, and another "accident" that almost takes Joey's life, the boy runs away and joins forces with his only kin - Beau Shipman, a drunk and a jailbird. Beau and three other characters become Joey's unlikely partners as he is trailed by their murderous Meacham, in league with Joey's stepmother in their scheme to inherit the Shipman farm.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another great Elmer Kelton & George Guidall Combo
- By Gene on 09-09-18
By: Elmer Kelton