Akron Public Library

Kirsten and her family celebrate their first Christmas in their new home on Uncle Olav's farm in mid-nineteenth-century Minnesota.

A journal of the "tour" of an Eastern journalist through the American West in 1846.

They said his hands moved like the raw edge of lightning. Utah Blaine was a big man, a fighting man, fast with a gun. Very fast. He had to be to face the vigilante terror of the greedy ranchers of Red Creek who were willing to destroy anyone or anything to get at the rich range land of his friend. There were already a lot of stories about Utah Blaine and his guns. After Red Creek they would have to write some new ones - or his epitaph.

Barnabus Pike is no gunfighter and not much of a street fighter. Eddie Holt is a black boxer in a white man's world. They've both taken their share of hard knocks. Now they're looking to survive a brutal winter in a remote Montana line shack, collect their pay, and settle down for good. Then they cross paths with a hardworking Irish immigrant and his beautiful, spirited sister, who've been burned off their land. It's a fight Pike and Holt don't want,...

Contains ten stories of war, mystery, romance, crime, and punishment, from the wide-open range of the American West to the frozen seas of the Siberian coast.

"He blew into town like a tornado--a mysterious stranger with money to burn and a sadistic streak as wide as the Rio Grande. He says his name is Benson and he's come to invest in the town's future. First, he showers the banks and local businesses with cash. Then, he hires a pair of drunks to fight and get arrested so he can check out the local lawmen. After that, he warms up to a lady of the evening--with deadly results. That's just the beginning....

While traveling in 1883 with her Italian-American family (including a meddlesome little sister) and other immigrant pioneers to a utopian community in Idaho, fourteen-year-old Teresa keeps a diary of her experiences along the way.

When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay.

Galloway and Flagan Sackett decide to settle down and take up ranching, but the territory they are interested in has already been claimed by the tough and ruthless Dunn family. Many dead Dunns later, the Sacketts are able to put up their guns and concentrate on their new ranch.