"Ross Hardy had made his decision. He sat in the middle of all he owned, a splendid Appaloosa gelding, a fine California saddle, a .44 Winchester rifle, and two walnut-stocked Colt .44 pistols. These were his all.

It was a life that had left him rich in experience, but poor in goods of the world. The experience was the hard-fisted experience of cold winters, dry ranges, and the dusty bitterness of cattle drives. He had fought Comanches and rustlers, hunted buffalo and horse thieves.

Now he was going to ride for himself, to fight for himself."

Louis L'Amour (1908-1988), born in Jamestown, North Dakota, began his career as a writer in the 1940s and became a best-selling author of more than one hundred books that were authentic portrayals of frontier life. More than thirty of his books formed the basis of films. In 1983, he was awarded a National Gold Medal by the U.S. Congress for lifetime literary achievement, and in 1984 he received the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the nation.

Austin native Jim Gough's distinctive voice is well known in the Southwest through his hundreds of commercials and radio shows. He has also appeared in feature films including Urban Cowboy, Places in the Heart, and JFK. When not entertaining folks with his western swing band, The Cosmopolitan Cowboys, Jim is recording audiobooks and writing.