First published 2017
The frontier stretches endlessly before settlers, outlaws, and drifters in these ten tales of the American West. Jack Schaefer brings readers into dusty towns and remote homesteads where ordinary people face extraordinary choices. A rancher confronts rustlers threatening his livelihood. A woman waits for news from a husband who rode out weeks ago. A young man learns what it means to stand his ground when violence erupts. Each story reveals how the harsh landscape and lawless times test human character. Some find courage they never knew they possessed. Others discover that survival demands compromises they never imagined making. The wilderness offers both freedom and danger to those bold enough to claim it.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: ordinary-people-in-extraordinary-circumstances, survival
Setting: American West
Period: 19th Century
224 pages · Paperback · UNM Press