End the Year With a Book

Join Chris Enss in her Biggest Giveaway EVER!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift Amazon gift card.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift Amazon gift card.

All you have to do to enter is using form below. You must be a subscriber of the blog (signed up to the email newsletter) to win.

Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it.

Here’s a sample of just one of the books in the collection.

The Death Row All Stars: A Story of Baseball, Corruption, and Murder

It was the golden age of baseball, and all over the country teams gathered on town fields in front of throngs of fans to compete for local glory. In Rawlins, Wyoming, residents lined up for tickets to see slugger Joseph Seng and the rest of the Wyoming Penitentiary Death Row All Stars as they took on all comers in baseball games with considerably more at stake. Teams came from Reno, Nevada; Klamath Falls, Oregon; Bodie, California; and throughout the west to take on the murderers who made up the line-up. This is a fun and wildly dramatic and suspenseful look at the game of baseball and at the thrilling events that unfolded at a prison in the wide-open Wyoming frontier in pursuit of wins on the diamond.

Winners will be chosen on Thursday, December 31.

Ready, set, GO!

Join Chris Enss in her Biggest Giveaway EVER!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift Amazon gift card.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift Amazon gift card.

All you have to do to enter is using form below. You must be a subscriber of the blog (signed up to the email newsletter) to win.

Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it.

Here’s a sample of just one of the books in the collection.

Sam Sixkiller: Frontier Cherokee Lawman

Sam Sixkiller was one of the most accomplished lawmen in 1880s Oklahoma Territory. And in many ways, he was a typical law enforcement official, minding the peace and gunslinging in the still-wild West. What set Sam Sixkiller apart was his Cherokee heritage. Sixkiller’s sworn duty was to uphold the law, but he also took it upon himself to protect the traditional way of life of the Cherokee. Sixkiller’s temper, actions, and convictions earned him more than a few enemies, and in 1886 he was assassinated in an ambush. This new biography takes a sweeping, cinematic look at the short, tragic life of Sam Sixkiller and his days policing the streets of the Wild West.

 Winners will be chosen on Thursday, December 31.

Ready, set, GO!

Christmas is next Friday and I find myself missing my brother more at this time of year than any other. It’s because of him that I am setting aside my usual book blog today in order to share a tale about family loyalty and the duties we perform out of love.

One of two brothers fighting in the same company in France fell by a German bullet. The one who escaped asked permission of his officer to go and bring his brother in.

“He is probably dead,” said the officer, “and there is no use in your risking your life to bring in his body.”

But after further pleading the officer consented. Just as the soldier reached the lines with his brother on his shoulders, the wounded man died.

“There, you see,” said the officer, “you risked your life for nothing.”

“No,” replied Tom. “I did what he expected of me, and I have my reward. When I crept up to him and took him in my arms, he said, ‘Tom, I knew you would come-I just felt you would come.’”

There you have the gist of it all; somebody expects something fine and noble and unselfish of us; someone expects us to be faithful.

Join Chris Enss in her Biggest Giveaway EVER!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift Amazon gift card.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift Amazon gift card.

All you have to do to enter is using form below. You must be a subscriber of the blog (signed up to the email newsletter) to win.

Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it.

Here’s a sample of just one of the books in the collection.

More Tales Behind the Tombstones: More Deaths and Burials of the Old West’s Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Lawmen

More Tales Behind the Tombstones tells the stories behind the deaths (or supposed deaths) and burials of even more of the Old West’s most nefarious outlaws, notorious women, and celebrated lawmen. Readers will learn the stories behind these legendary characters and visit the sites of tombs long forgotten while legends have lived on.

Read about the lives (and deaths) of fearless, famous lawmen such as Bass Reeves, Chalk Beeson, Bill Tilghman, and Pat Garrett; learn about the dauntless women who blazed new paths for their sex in medicine, journalism, entertainment, and voting rights; and discover the intriguing facts and myths that continue to circulate about these and other infamous characters long after their grave markers have become worn down or simply lost to time.

More Tales Behind the Tombstones: More Deaths and Burials of the Old West’s Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Lawmen

Winners will be chosen on Thursday, December 31.

Ready, set, GO!

Join Chris Enss in her Biggest Giveaway EVER!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift Amazon gift card.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift Amazon gift card.

All you have to do to enter is using form below. You must be a subscriber of the blog (signed up to the email newsletter) to win.

Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it.

Here’s a sample of just one of the books in the collection.

Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

More than six decades have passed since Roy Rogers and Dale Evans first rode the celluloid range together, yet they continue to be loved and admired in a way few–if any–celebrities can claim. They co-starred in twenty-nine motion pictures and recorded more than 200 albums together, and they brought their talents to television in the 1950s, entertaining a large audience with The Roy Rogers Show.

Happy Trails shares intimate photographs of the lives and fifty-six-year partnership of this famous couple, both on and off the screen. From their first singing jobs to their successful film careers, the photographs chronicle the duo’s early struggles and slow rise to stardom. On the home front, their faith was constantly tested by the struggles in their personal lives. Roy’s first wife died, leaving him with three children to bring up alone. After Roy and Dale were married, their two-year-old daughter died, a second daughter died in a tragic accident, and a son died suddenly overseas. The family photographs show the family’s steadfast faith and endurance during tough times and their love and warmth during happier times, when the children were very young and their parents were not only superstars, they were “Mom” and “Dad.”

Winners will be chosen on Thursday, December 31.

Ready, set, GO!

Join Chris Enss in her Biggest Giveaway EVER!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift Amazon gift card.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift Amazon gift card.

All you have to do to enter is using form below. You must be a subscriber of the blog (signed up to the email newsletter) to win.

Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it.

Here’s a sample of just one of the books in the collection.

More Tales Behind the Tombstones: More Deaths and Burials of the Old West’s Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, and Celebrated Lawmen

More Tales Behind the Tombstones tells the stories behind the deaths (or supposed deaths) and burials of even more of the Old West’s most nefarious outlaws, notorious women, and celebrated lawmen. Readers will learn the stories behind these legendary characters and visit the sites of tombs long forgotten while legends have lived on.

Read about the lives (and deaths) of fearless, famous lawmen such as Bass Reeves, Chalk Beeson, Bill Tilghman, and Pat Garrett; learn about the dauntless women who blazed new paths for their sex in medicine, journalism, entertainment, and voting rights; and discover the intriguing facts and myths that continue to circulate about these and other infamous characters long after their grave markers have become worn down or simply lost to time.

Winners will be chosen on Thursday, December 31.

Ready, set, GO!

Only 23 days left until the Biggest Giveaway EVER.

I’m cleaning out the office and getting ready for a library of new books—AND I want you to subscribe to this blog so you never miss an update, a giveaway or an appearance in your area! And speaking of appearances, I’m adding two more to the 2016 calendar:

The weekend of June 11 at the Buffalo Bill State Historic Park in North Platte, Nebraska and August 18-19 at the Adams Museum in Deadwood, South Dakota. Details I’ll be coming soon, and if you’re interested in hearing more about future appearances register to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter.

Now, back to the big giveaway!!!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift card to Amazon.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift card to Amazon.

All you have to do to enter is use the registration form below. You’ll also provide your mailing address and you must be a subscriber of the blog to win. Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it!

How the West Was Worn: Bustles and Buckskins on the Wild Frontier: Fashion that was in vogue in the East was highly desirable to pioneers during the frontier period of the American West. It was also extraordinarily difficult to obtain, often impractical, and sometimes the clothing was just not durable enough for the men and women who were forging new homes for themselves in the West. Full hoopskirts were of little use in a soddy on the prairie, and chaps and spurs were a vital part of the cowboy’s equipment.

How the West Was Worn: Bustles and Buckskins on the Wild Frontier: examines the fashion that shaped the frontier through short essays; brief clips from letters, magazines, and other period sources; and period illustrations demonstrating the sometimes bizarre, often beautiful, and frequently highly inventive ways of dressing oneself in the Old West.

Winners of the BIG GIVEAWAY will be chosen on Thursday, December 31 and will be posted in the comments of THIS blog, so watch for news on that day! Ready, set, GO!

Only 27 Days Left until the Biggest Giveaway EVER

I’m cleaning out the office and getting ready for a library of new books—AND I want you to subscribe to this blog so you never miss an update, a giveaway or an appearance in your area! And speaking of appearances, I’m adding two more to the 2016 calendar:

The weekend of June 11 at the Buffalo Bill State Historic Park in North Platte, Nebraska and August 18-19 at the Adams Museum in Deadwood, South Dakota. Details I’ll be coming soon, and if you’re interested in hearing more about future appearances register to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter.

Now, back to the big giveaway!!!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift card to Amazon.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift card to Amazon.

All you have to do to enter is use the registration form below. You’ll also provide your mailing address and you must be a subscriber of the blog to win. Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it!

Love Lessons from the Old West: Wisdom from Wild Women is just one of the books in this BIGA GIVEAWAY. From Calamity Jane’s relentless pursuit of Wild Bill Hickok to Emma Walters, who gave it all up for the dashing Bat Masterson—and learned to regret it, these romantic stories from the Old West are still familiar and entertaining to readers today. Meet Agnes Lake Hickok, the intrepid wife of Wild Bill Hickok and learn about the last love letter he sent before being dealt the dead man’s hand. Learn the story behind the charming performer Lotta Crabtree’s heartaches. And discover the tale of the dashing Kit Carson and his beautiful bride. This collection features the lessons learned by and from the antics of the women who shaped the West

Winners of the BIG GIVEAWAY will be chosen on Thursday, December 31 and will be posted in the comments of THIS blog, so watch for news on that day! Ready, set, GO!

Biggest Giveaway EVER

I’m cleaning out the office and getting ready for a library of new books—AND I want you to subscribe to this blog so you never miss an update, a giveaway or an appearance in your area! And speaking of appearances, I’m adding two more to the 2016 calendar:

The weekend of June 11 at the Buffalo Bill State Historic Park in North Platte, Nebraska and August 18-19 at the Adams Museum in Deadwood, South Dakota. Details I’ll be coming soon, and if you’re interested in hearing more about future appearances register to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter.

Now, back to the big giveaway!!!

GRAND PRIZE: Win a copy of ALL of my books in print including: Entertaining Women: Actresses, Singers, and Dancers of the Old West, Hearts West: Mail Order Brides of the Frontier, The Young Duke: The Story of John Wayne’s Early Life, The Cowboy and the Senorita: The Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails: A Pictorial of Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger, Sam Sixkiller: Cherokee Frontier Lawman, and fifteen other titles about women of the Old West. For a total of 20 books!! PLUS a western book bag and $50 Amazon gift card! Now is that a prize or what??

Second prize: You choose TEN of my books and a $25 gift Amazon gift card.

Third prize: You choose FIVE of my books and a $15 gift Amazon gift card.

All you have to do to enter is using form below. You must be a subscriber of the blog (signed up to the email newsletter) to win.

Easy enough, right? If you want to comment and tell me where you’d put that big collection of books in your home, I’d love to hear about it!

Winners will be chosen on Thursday, December 31 and will be posted in the comments of THIS blog, so watch for news on that day! Ready, set, GO!

Last chance to enter to win a copy of the book Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek. Purchase a copy and help support the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

One hundred fifty-one years ago today the full impact of the tragedy at Sand Creek was just being realized. Colonel John Chivington and his Colorado volunteers massacre a peaceful village of Cheyenne camped near Sand Creek in Colorado Territory, setting off a long series of bloody retaliatory attacks by Indians.

Chivington, a former Methodist preacher with ambitions to become a territorial delegate to Congress, saw in the Indian wars an opportunity to gain the esteem he would need to win a government office. Disappointed that the spring of 1864 failed to produce any major battles, Chivington apparently determined to burn villages and kill Cheyenne whenever and wherever he could, making little distinction between peaceful or aggressive bands. Angered by frequent Indian attacks on settlers and the theft of their horses and cattle, many Colorado settlers supported Chivington’s methods, and a number of men volunteered to join his forces on hundred-day enlistments, forming the 3rd Colorado Volunteers.

Fearing that U.S. troops might mistakenly identify his band of peaceful Cheyenne as having participated in the attacks on settlers, Chief Black Kettle traveled to Denver under escort of U.S. Army Major Edward Wynkoop to affirm his non-hostile intentions. Chivington and the territorial governor of Colorado clearly did not want peace, yet they could not openly reject the overtures of Black Kettle. Believing that he had a promise of safety if he brought his people into Fort Lyon, Black Kettle lead the band of Cheyenne to a spot designated by Major Wynkoop near the fort along a small stream known as Sand Creek. The tribe flew an American flag and a white flag at the camp to indicate their alliance with the U.S. and alert all to their generally peaceful intentions.

Determined to have his glorious battle, Chivington refused to recognize that Black Kettle’s settlement was peaceful. At daybreak, Chivington and his 700 volunteers, many of them drunk, attacked the sleeping village at Sand Creek. Most of the Cheyenne men were away hunting, so the women, children, and elders were largely defenseless. In the frenzied slaughter that followed, Chivington and his men killed more than 100 women and children and 28 men. Black Kettle escaped the attack. The soldiers scalped and mutilated the corpses, hacking off body parts that included male and female genitals, and then returned to Denver where they displayed the scalps to approving crowds during intermission at a downtown theatre.

Because of Chivington’s depraved slaughter, the central plains exploded with retaliatory attacks from Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho Indians. Fortunately, not everyone applauded Chivington’s behavior–many Americans, particularly in the east, strongly condemned Chivington’s attack and the barbaric mutilations. Subsequent congressional and military investigations denounced Chivington, but claimed they could not punish him because he had resigned from the army and was no longer under military jurisdiction. Nonetheless, Chivington spent the rest of his life trying to escape the stigma of his deplorable behavior at Sand Creek.

Mochi, a Cheyenne woman who survived the massacre, went on to avenge the death of her husband and parents who were slaughtered by Chivington’s men.

To learn more about Mochi read Mochi’s War: The Tragedy of Sand Creek.

A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.