The Goodnight Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 1
Written by Ralph Compton
Narrated by Scott Sowers
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Former Texas Rangers Benton McCaleb, Will Elliot, and Brazos Gifford ride with Charles Goodnight as he rounds up thousands of ornery, unbranded cattle for the long drive to Colorado. From the Trinity River brakes to Denver, they'll battle endless miles of flooded rivers, parched desert, and whiskey-crazed Comanches. And come face-to-face with Judge Roy Bean and legendary gunslingers like Clay Allison. For McCaleb and his hard-riding crew, the drive is a fierce struggle against the perils of an untamed land. A fight to the finish where the brave reach glory—or die hard.
Ralph Compton
Ralph Compton stood six-foot-eight without his boots. His first novel in the Trail Drive series, The Goodnight Trail, was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Medicine Pipe Bearer Award for best debut novel. He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series. A native of St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton worked as a musician, a radio announcer, a songwriter, and a newspaper columnist before turning to writing westerns. He died in Nashville, Tennessee in 1998.
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Titles in the series (10)
The Goodnight Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Western Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bandera Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 4 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shawnee Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 6 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ralph Compton's Trail Drive: The First Three Adventures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dodge City Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 8 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Oregon Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 9 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Virginia City Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 7 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The California Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 5 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chisholm Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for The Goodnight Trail
11 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At the end of the Civil War, Texas was a wide open frontier with millions of unbranded, wild cattle. The Goodnight Trail tells how three former Texas Rangers gather a herd of cattle and join with Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving and drive these cattle over new territory in order to reach the new market of Denver, Colorado. Colorado was mining country and miners needed beef. Others were driving their herd north to Kansas, but the Goodnight Trail promised good water, with fresh grazing , and a ready market at the end.Like an old time Saturday matinee, this book is a true cowboy adventure. With Indian battles, cattle stampedes, and gunplay, the plot follows this small band through all their ups and downs on this journey and even manages to throw a romance into the mix. For pure escapism, I found The Goodnight Trail to be an enjoyable, action packed story, loosely based on actual history. Written by prolific western author, Ralph Compton, this is one of his earlier works, which is important to note, as since his death in 1998, his publishers continue to release books under his banner, but written by other authors.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Compton is good, but the simpleton who commissioned this abridged abomination ruined any semblance of a half decent story. What a shame.