High Rider by Bill Gallaher

He started life as a slave in South Carolina and became one of the pioneering cattlemen in that part of Canada’s North West Territories which eventually became the Province of Alberta.

            In 1867 with the US Civil War at and end John Ware struck off to the west, a new land and a new life. Due to his unsurpassed ability to break and train mules he found work on a ranch near Fort Worth where he remained for a decade. Eventually he went north as the horse wrangler on a cattle herd, lost good friends and found others, panned for gold, became a drover again and rode into Canada.

            This is a novel but as is usual with Bill Gallaher’s work it is well researched and faithfully follows the life of one of Canada’s pioneers. John Ware is a legend among those who study the history of horse trainers, cattlemen, bronc riders and the beef industry. With his entertaining and informative writing Gallaher should be.

            High Rider by Bill Gallaher is deserving of high praise and as many stars as are available.

Facing down a bully

The third published novel for me a continuation of the life of Hank James and a look at Calgary in the mid 1880s. It also includes mention of a stage coach holdup that actually did occur north of Calgary and a winter that changed the way livestock is handled in North America.
I also had Hank use one of the big bore Winchester calibers released that year with the '86 model. Depicted here is a Model 86 in 45-70 as used by Hank but it was available in even larger calibers.

Facing down a bully

“Homesteader: Finding Sharon”

Hank James and riding partner Harry Gilmore ride the rails east to look for the woman Hank thought would be his mate for life. They unload their horses and gear at Canmore and immediately make an enemy.

Riding on into Calgary they find Sharon but Hank is suddenly not sure if she is who he thought she was. He does decide to stay around long enough to see if she is or isn’t.

If they are staying around for awhile anyway Hank and Harry become homesteaders. When they met Portis Martin east of Canmore he did not think they showed him proper respect but as homesteaders they became threatening enemies.

Hank and Harry’s new enemy is manager of a very big cattle ranch. He has the money, the livestock and the manpower. He does not have time for saddle tramps. He also doesn’t have a conscience that will interfere with getting them out of the way by any means possible – including attacking this woman that seems to interest them.

From the same vault that holds the work of William Johnstone, Matt Braun, Max Brand, and Louis L’Amour.

Watch a video trailer for “Homesteader” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viYLd3u_4AM   

  

Praise for “Homesteader: Finding Sharon”

From Brenda Casto for Reader's Favorite (5 stars of 5)
"I found myself absorbed not only in the story, but the history lesson that I felt I was getting ...”

 From Paul Johnson for Reader's Favorite (5 stars of 5)

"All in all, a satisfying plot with enough action to keep the reader turning the pages to see what will happen next."

 From author Barbara Martin

I will say that I didn't want to put the book down once I began it because each chapter urged me on.

 From author Clayton Bye

I enjoyed Homesteader. Narrative is conversational and easy to read. Best of all, the book appears to be historically accurate, and the story plausible.

Finally, my new release

Well, the publisher has been busy and there have been a few hold-ups here and there, but my new historical fiction novel is available. It could have been a lot worse; ‘Homesteader’ only took about 3 weeks longer than it took for ‘Partners’. Considering that Strategic is now up to 700 titles and has some new people, that timing is actually pretty good.
As with everything I’ve done (including news paper articles) I always manage to find mistakes that I and the editor have missed despite numerous attempts to avoid them. In the case of ‘Homesteader’ I found six mistakes but nothing that should require production to come to a halt.
As the title suggests it’s about trying to start your own agricultural enterprise on the cheap with the help of the government. In this case it’s the Canadian Federal Government, the time is 1866 and the area is Fort Calgary, (already being called Calgary in 1866) North West Territories (now Alberta).
Along with the choosing and registration of a homestead it also includes some information about the attitudes of the day, some crime and the end of the open range.
Here is an excerpt from the first few pages where Hank and Harry meets a man who will prove to be a problem for them …

The way the three of them charged right up to us and stopped so close didn’t add to my feeling of comfort. They were crowding us and had an arrogant manner about them. I didn’t like the look in their eyes, and I was glad I had taken the pack horse lead shank.
Even though he was a few years older than me, Harry Gilmore always followed my lead. Part of the reason was that, up until the fall before, I had been his boss for about a year. Mostly, though, it was because he was part Sioux - although few ever knew that - and several years of folks tramping on him and his people meant that he generally followed and kept his mouth shut. What that meant for me at the time was that I knew I would be handling the conversation with the fat man, and I could depend on Henry to back me up, whatever happened.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the fat man asked.
Maybe my confidence in Harry's loyalty and ability made me a little too mouthy in my response to the big man's arrogant manner. And, as I said, I was paying too much attention to the gun man and not enough to the fat man. "East," I replied.
He tried to stare me down. I smiled and he shifted his gaze to Harry, rolling his chew around in his mouth.
He forced his big horse forward a few steps so that its head was on Blackie's off side, its nose about a foot from my right knee. "Where did you come from?" he asked, bringing his gaze back to me.
"West," I replied.
He spit tobacco juice at Blackie's cheek.
Blackie was a good horse but he wouldn't put up with very much foolishness, even from me. He was also one of the fastest animals I ever rode. It seemed that stream of tobacco juice was still in the air when he turned and bit the fat man's horse on the shoulder.
Sixteen hundred pounds of horse squealed and jumped to the left, blood flowing down its leg from a three inch gash. The horse ridden by the young gunfighter, at least six hundred pounds lighter than the fat man's horse, was too close and no match for the bigger animal. Rider and horse hit the ground hard.
The mustang grunted, squealed, and jumped to its feet. The rider's left foot was caught in the stirrup as the horse lunged away from another collision.
The fat man put his hand on his pistol and turned his gaze from the donnybrook back to me. His hand froze when he found my Colt was already in my hand. I didn't point it at him, just let it hang there, muzzle down, my forearm resting on the horn. Very slowly he put his right hand back on top of his left which rested on his own saddle horn.
At the same time, the third rider shook out a loop and turned his mount toward the bucking mustang and dragging rider. Within a hundred feet he had the animal roped. It stood on the end of the lariat with legs spread wide and vibrated. The bundle attached to the stirrup didn't move.
"I'm Portis Martin," the fat man said.
I was doing my best to maintain a calm, this-is-an-everyday-thing appearance, but was in fact having a tough time with that. Not only had I been approached poorly in a generally friendly land, but one of my best friends had just been spit on.
"Henry James," I responded. "Some folks call me Hank, but you can call me Mr. James." Without taking my eyes from him, I inclined my head to indicate my saddle partner. "This here is Mr. Gilmore."

You can take a look at the cover by going to www.StrategicBookPublishing.com/Homesteader
or simply click on the link to the right.