Powder River: A Jeston Nash Adventure - Hardcover

In this entertaining follow-up to While Angels Dance, Cotton offers the further adventures of Jeston Nash, former Quantrill Raider, outlaw and look-alike cousin of Jesse James. This time, Nash and some friends have stolen a herd of horses, which they intend to drive up to the Dakota Territory and to sell to the Army for a handsome sum. Arriving in the area, however, they find that everyone else is headed in the opposite direction, fleeing the turmoil of Red Cloud's War, the only Indian War that the U.S. lost. To make matters worse, Nash is being pursued by a lawman on a murder charge. Determined to get the horses through and avoid arrest, Nash makes it to Fort Phil Kearny, where he encounters the braggart Captain William Fetterman, who believes that his 80-man troop can ride roughshod through the entire Sioux nation. When his herd is pilfered by the Indians, Nash meets with Red Cloud and Crazy Horse and, while forced to work for them to obtain rifles, comes to believe that Red Cloud is the only decent man in whole territory. How the slippery Nash can manage to escape this precarious situation with his skin intact becomes the central question. With a light touch, Cotton incorporates the events leading up to the Fetterman Massacre. As in the previous novel, his historical personages and details are authentically recreated. The book will delight readers already acquainted with the roguish Nash, and have newcomers rooting for his success.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

YA?Readers are advised to tighten the reins and hang onto their hats when they read this Western. Partners Jeston Nash and Jack Smith have stolen a few horses and plan to head up the Powder River, sell them to the army, and make a little money. It's a simple plan, but one that becomes more convoluted with each of their escapades. By the time the two men outrun bounty hunters, steal an army payroll, meet Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux, are kidnapped by opposing Indians and hunted by the Army, rescue two drunken cowboys, and have a mangy cur following close on their heels, readers will be holding their breath. But then history is much more palatable when read as an adventure tale. Although the tale is an improbable one, it doesn't matter, for the escapades gallop right along.?Pam Spencer, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.