Blazing West #9

A rodeo showdown awaits in this tale of Buffalo Belle Trent, a quick-witted Cherokee Strip deputy who discovers a sabotage scheme when she spots soap-laced salt scattered across the Bent Bar range. When she uncovers the three wranglers behind the theft rustling Jim Lester's entire herd, Belle pursues them across open country in a desperate race to stop the crime—but finds herself cornered and outgunned by desperate men with plans far darker than simple cattle theft.

Charley Reynolds, the legendary scout and chief guide to General Custer, accepts a perilous mission to carry a dispatch 150 miles through hostile Sioux territory to Fort Laramie—a journey he insists on making alone despite Custer's reservations. Over four grueling days, Reynolds outwits and outfights countless warriors trying to stop him, relying on his unmatched skills and nerve to reach his destination. When he arrives at the fort's gates at dawn, parched and exhausted, his successful delivery speaks volumes about the scout the Indians called "the white hunter that never fails."

This non-fiction piece explores the ingenious hunting methods that Western tribes used to take down buffalo herds—from the coordinated "surround" that packed animals into a tight circle, to elaborate log-and-brush traps, cliff drives, and the most dangerous technique of all, the mounted "running" where a skilled horseman would loose multiple arrows into a thundering herd while keeping his seat on an unguided horse. It's a fascinating look at the practical cunning and horsemanship that made these hunters masters of the Great Plains.