Courage of the Mountain Man — William W. Johnstone

BLOODY CATTLE TRAIL TO MONTANA

Clint Black ran the biggest cattle operation In Montana -- and didn't take kindly to competition from any other rancher in the territory. His Circle .45 spread controlled the best water and the best graze, and he had a bunch of rough ol' boys who weren't shy about backin' the brand with burnin' powder and hot lead. Only a man who couldn't think too swift would fail to see that trouble was brewing when Smoke Jensen and his trail herders headed north out of Colorado with 3,500 head and a purchase order from a cattleman who neighbored next to the Circle .45.

Raised in the ways of wilderness survival by an old mountain man named Preacher, Smoke Jensen could fill his hands with Colts faster'n any man, and soon gained a reputation for trigger-nometry that no one with an ounce of sense would dare challenge. But Clint Black was more hardheaded than sensible, and when he heard Smoke's beeves had crossed Into Big Belt country, he planned a reception party hosted by a small army of the orneriest gun-toughs in the territory. It wouldn't be long before the high country meadows would be scattered with unmarked graves to serve as a warning to anyone else who had thoughts about messin' with the likes of Smoke Jensen!