Showing results by narrator "Rusty Nelson" in All Categories

Harrison Mandell had come to the Arizona outpost of Yuma, on the bug infested banks of the Colorado, to find out who was stealing money from an upriver mining company called Mina del Agua Mala. But from the moment a saloon girl came running naked into the dusty street, and a love-crazed Indian was driven off with a shotgun, Mandell knew this wasn’t going to be an ordinary case. Between him and the mine was a hard, muddy stretch of the swirling Colorado and a boat ride on the leaky Bad Water.

Our American West, Volume 2 begins with America’s first colonizers, the prairie dogs, and how out on the ranges they were so hated by ranchers that they were almost made extinct. Conestoga Wagons were once called “prairie schooners” crossing America long before the famed Pony Express. The indomitable courage of Sarah Winnemucca, the “Prairie Princess” rivals that of a tall Swede named Showshoe Thompson who skied the snowy river passes of the Sierra Nevadas.

Our American West, Volume 3 is filled with western frontier stories you’ll find entertaining. "The Roadrunner – Our Sagebrush Clowns" reflects on the speedy and often comical bird of our southwestern deserts. Wild and wicked Calamity Jane lived up to her reputation as the West’s most infamous outlaw woman. “The Donner Party – Frozen Horror” describes the horror that led to cannibalism. The 49er Gold Rush ruined the lives of two ambitious and well-intentioned men, John Augustus Sutter and John Marshal...

Our American West, Volume 4 completes the collection of historical stories written by Gary McCarthy. These include tales of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which proved once and for all that the storied and hoped for river across America didn't exist. That long before the Gold Rush of 1849, a diminutive but courageous priest, Fr. Junipero Serra, sacrificed everything to bring Christianity to the coastal Native Americans, while faithfully establishing a string of beautiful California missions.

In the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, there are the hunters and the hunted. Legendary mountain man Nate King has taught his son to be an excellent hunter. But now Zach finds himself the prey as a vicious killer stalks his every move. Athena Borke will stop at nothing to take vengeance upon the man she believes killed her brothers. Her goal: to capture Zach King and make him suffer a slow death. And she's concocted a plan sure to bring her bitterest enemy straight into her trap.

With skills and ability unrivaled by any in the West, Kit Carson felt truly at home among the wonders - and dangers - of the vast American frontier. But when he arrived in the rich fur-trapping country of the Flatheads, he found unexpected enemies waiting for him. A renegade British fur agent had been stirring the local tribes into a war of vengeance against the Americans, including their new captive - Kit. Suddenly it fell to Kit to stop the war before it started...or become the first casualty.

Evelyn King longs to marry the man she loves. She won't let anything stand in her way. But the frontier is a dangerous place. Killers and hostiles and beasts abound. As Evelyn is reminded when she and her beloved become the prey of two-legged wolves—and something far worse.

The canyon of death. To survive the untamed wilderness a man needs all the friends he can get. No one can battle the continual dangers for long on his own. Even a fearless frontiersman like Nate King needs help now and then and he’s always ready to give it when it's needed. So when an elderly Shoshone warrior comes to Nate asking for help, Nate agrees to lend a hand - no matter how strange the request may be. The old warrior knows he doesn't have long to live and he wants to die in the remote canyon where his true love was killed many years before, slain by a giant bear straight out of Shoshone myth.

When Artemis Borke opens a trading post in Nate King's territory, both settlers and Shoshone have access to goods and supplies. But Borke also begins to sell liquor, which has severe consequences for the Shoshone warriors - even more so when bloodthirsty Crows target the village.

Zach King, son of legendary mountain man Nate King, is at home in the harshest terrain of the Rockies. But nothing can prepare him for the perils of civilization. Locked in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with his sister's kidnapper, Zach wends his way through the streets of New Orleans like the seasoned hunter he is. Yet this is not the wild, and the trappings of society offer his prey only more places to hide.

Gold Dust Fever! Penniless old trapper Ben Frazier is just about ready to pack it all in when an Arapaho warrior takes pity on him and shows him where to find the elusive gold that white men value so greatly. His problems seem to be over, but then another band of trappers finds out about the gold and force Ben to lead them to it. It’s up to Zach King to save the old man, but can he survive a fight against a gang of gold-crazed mountain men?

With the speed of the great apes, Tarzan rushed through the jungle toward his home and family. But he was already too late. The marauders had been there before him. His farm was in shambles and no one was left alive. Of his beloved wife there was only a charred, blackened corpse, still wearing the rings he had given her. Silently, he buried the body and swore his terrible vengeance against those who had done this terrible deed. Then he set out grimly to track them...

In 1806, Frederick and Katherine Stockman land their family in a forlorn swamp at the mouth of the Trinity River of Spanish Texas. They try to start a new life surrounded by menacing wildlife, debilitating maladies, hostile people, and a growing threat of war. As "Texicans" they are accepted neither by their Spanish overlords or those in favor of independence.

Nate King and his family are accustomed to dealing with the perils of the wild. It's the spread of civilization that sends them farther into the rugged Rocky Mountains to find a more secluded home. Along the way, fighting off attacks from rattlesnakes and wild buffalo, Nate becomes separated from the rest of the group. And only then does he realize that civilization isn't so ready to be left behind.

The unforgiving wilderness of the Rocky Mountains forced a boy to grow up fast, so Nate King taught his son, Zach, how to survive the constant hazards and hardships--and he taught him well. With an Indian war party on the prowl and a marauding grizzly on the loose, young Zach was about to face the test of his life, with no room for failure. But there was one danger Nate hadn't prepared Zach for--a beautiful girl with blue eyes.

The King family wouldn't have lasted as long as they have in the remote, perilous Rockies if they didn't know a thing or two about survival. But even after all these years, the wilderness has a few surprises for them. There's something not quite right about a glacier high atop a peak near their valley. The Indians claim it’s bad medicine and won't go near it. Of course, that doesn't stop Louisa King from cajoling her husband to go on a getaway up to the high country. But something terrible lives on that glacier....

For frontiersman Nate King, the Rockies are the last untamed wilderness, a place of magnificent beauty and unparalleled danger, a place to respect and call home. He and his family begin a trek through this harsh terrain with no wish but to see their cabin at journey's end. But a chance encounter with a deranged settler leads Nate to the startling discovery that the man has big plans for this wild land.

A perfect afternoon soon descends into an outdoor fight for life when a cunning and vicious mountain lion relentlessly stalks Evelyn King and Dega through an unexplored valley.

The Vengeance Trail. Kit Carson knew trouble could be brewing as he tracked a band of Blackfeet, but he wasn't expecting to come upon the remains of a brutal massacre. The Blackfeet had butchered a small group of Shoshone, leaving behind nothing but maimed bodies - and one crying baby. Kit set out to bring the baby back to his people, but the Shoshone found him first. They had found the bodies of their families and friends, and had just one thing on their minds - revenge. And with Kit holding one small survivor of the massacre, he's their only suspect!

In late fall of 1892, outlaw Eddie Mole gallops down the main street of Jericho Springs, Kansas, where he robs and shoots dead the freighter Barney Kreider. Some urge Barney's son Ulysses (“Euly”) to take revenge, but Euly is a Mennonite and Mennonites don't seek revenge. Instead, Euly plots how to make his fortune with the aid of his half-Osage sister, Kate, and his friend Johnny, an Osage farmhand. The three make a plan to sell goods and livestock to the settlers converging on Caldwell, Kansas, for the land run going on in the Cherokee Outlet.