Back Trail — Lewis B. Patten

Alex Longmire very early earned a reputation for being fast with a gun. He never hired out his ability, but his reputation served to isolate him from everyone. When an attack against Alex by Rod Zellman ends with Zellman's death, Alex and Bud Purvis are pursued by Zellman's father and other hired guns for over 700 miles. When the two men are surrounded in an old line shack, Bud is mortally wounded. Before he dies, he devises a way in which Alex can escape. Even while the old line shack is burning around them, Purvis helps Alex bury himself beneath the dirt floor, breathing through a rusted tin can with a table placed over him to protect him when the roof caves in.

Lewis B. Patten was born in Denver, Colorado, educated at the University of Denver and served in the U.S. Navy. He wrote more than ninety Western novels in thirty years and three of them won Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. He also received the Golden Saddleman Award.