Elmer Kelton

By 1873, the great buffalo herds have been all but wiped out, and the hide hunters are looking for other work. So when Gage Jameson hears of one remaining herd, he sees a final opportunity to make a huge profit. But to find the buffalo, he will have to take his line of wagons deep into Comanche territory, where death lurks behind every rock...

Hewey Calloway may be pushing 45, but he can still rope and outride most things on four legs. But as he rides the West Texas plains, automobiles are beginning to dot the landscape. When Hewey is critically injured by a wild horse, he must admit that his world - and an age - are passing away.

The time is 1883, the place is the Texas Panhandle. Ranchers want to take away the cowboys' right to own cattle because the ranchers believe this would lead to thieving. When rumors of such legislation travel from wagon to wagon, the cowboys decided to rally and fight for their rights - they gather together and strike.

Hewey Calloway has a problem. In his West Texas home of 1906, the way of life that he loves is changing too quickly for his taste. Barbed wire and newfangled contraptions threaten his world, and he's dead-set against progress - until he meets a pretty little teacher...