'He's reckless, irresponsible and can't - or won't - avoid getting involved in fights no matter what duty he's supposed to be carrying out!'That was the sort of comment which the senior officer of the Texas Light Cavalry might, with some justification, have made about the hot-headed Lieutenant Red Blaze during the War between the States. However, it was uttered by Colonel William Barrett Travis shortly before his departure to take command of the garrison at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio de Bexar early in 1836.He was speaking about a young officer to whom Major General Sam Houston intended to entrust a dangerous mission. The officer in question was to become famous as the iron-hard disciplinarian who commanded the Confederate States Army of Arkansas and Northern Texas. His name was Jackson Baines Hardin - the man who became known as the 'lil ole devil' for fighting.

In the violent and lawless days following the Civil War many infamous outlaws cut a bloody swathe across the West ... John Wesley Hardin, Bad Bill Longley, Sam Bass, Frank and Jesse James, the Daltons ... all rode and shot their way to notoriety ....But, with one exception, the women were less well known in the annals of frontier legends. The exception was a beautiful, shapely, intelligent wildcat, quick in a fight, and deadly with a gun. Before she had ridden the owlhoot trails for long the posters began to appear on the sheriff's notice boards from Canada to the Rio Grande, from the Mississippi to the Pacific ...Wanted! Belle Starr, the Oklahoma Outlaw.

No man walks away . . .For years, there have been none better at the trade than buffalo-skin hunter Kerry Barran. But he's taken part in too much killing -- of beast and man alike -- and now he wants to lay down his gun for good. But the hunter's got powerful enemies in Otley Creek -- and a "partner" who's unhappy about Kerry's refusal to finish one more job. If teaching the stubborn loner a lesson means breaking his bones, then so be it. In a town owned by his adversaries -- with a ruthless gang of toughs on his tail -- Kerry Barran's going to need all the help he can muster. And he's found it in the most unlikely quarters: with a dapper English dude and his sister . . .with a Texas gunslinger ...and with a whip-wielding hellcat who goes by the name "Calamity."

MANTRAPThey met in a New Orleans alleyway in the dark days following the Civil War.His name was Philippe St Andre—a peace officer—and he was in the process of being beaten up by a gang of hardcases. Her name was Martha Jane Canary, and with a few unladylike tricks she dispersed the thugs with an ease that belied her boyish appearance.That meeting proved providential for the good citizens of New Orleans and fatal for the maniacal killer who had been terrorising the streets of the city. Already seven girls had fallen into the clutches of the notorious “Strangler”. What the police needed was a girl with courage enough to act as bait for the killer, and who better, thought St Andre, than the slim girl who had saved his life and who was known throughout the West as Calamity Jane.

Despite being on very good terms with Freddie Woods, Dusty Fog knew no more about her past than anybody else in the trail end town of Mulrooney. But with the coming of the British Railroad Commission to the town the secret of the beautiful and talented Freddie was disclosed. And as a result, she was threatened with extradition to stand trial for murder. Dusty Fog had to face the decision of his life. As Town Marshal, should he arrest the woman he loved? Or should he betray his oath of office and prevent the course of justice?

When Waco moseys into Two Forks, Utah, he orders up more than the cowhand special. What he gets for his two bits is a double dose of fast-shooting trouble. Five of the meanest toughs to ever saddle a stool at the Twin Bridge Saloon are hell-bent on pumping lead into Waco's hide. And a few well-aimed slugs teach them that the quick-drawing Texan is the wrong man to tangle with.Obliging a passel of no-account gunslingers with a shooting lesson is only a start to the troubles waiting for Waco in Two Forks. Aiming to rid the lawless town of every pistol-packing varmint, Waco fixes to pin on a sheriff's tin star. But first he's gotta face a rattlesnake of a rival whose venom has already sent one sheriff to his grave...

Doc Leroy could patch up a wound or cure a fever. He was the best sawbones that ever rode the range. And he could rope, brand, and work a heard like God's own cowboy. Doc was mighty handy with a gun, too. And those that crossed him, no doctoring would help. 'Cause that's when Doc Leroy cured all their ills with a lightning draw and a blast from his Colt...

The Pilar Hide and Tallow Company were in trouble—their enormous profits looked like dropping if Colonel Charles Goodnight's scheme of driving cattle across country came to fruition. In order to protect their interests the five partners came to an agreement—an agreement that Mark Counter had to break.This was all fine and dandy, except that the hide and tallow men were ruthless, unscrupulous and had small regard for the sanctity of human life. Their women were even worse. And Mark Counter found himself in the middle of the conflict, with lead likely to be thrown his way from every side...

Six feet three and built like Hercules, Mark Counter was certainly the most handsome of all the Floating Outfit's members. Independently wealthy, he dressed elaborately, using the fancy clothes to set off his handsome and virile features. But Mark was more than just a Beau Brummell of the West. He could handle a rifle, or his matched guns, with more than ordinary skill. And he could handle women, too—as he proved when he met up with such charming ladies as Madame Bulldog, Calamity Jane, Poker Alice and Madame Moustache ...

To Dusty Fog's eye, it seems like a killer's conventionis set to convene in Corpus Christi in honor ofthe arrival of a European crown prince. And it's Dusty's job -- along with fast-draw artist Waco, a knife master called the Ysabel Kid, and other members of Ole Devil Hardin's Floating Outfit -- to keep his highnessbreathing while on American soil. But things are threatening to get seriously out of hand, because there're a lot more than just a few hired gunswho want a shot at this royal target. And it's looking like Fog's going to be facing an old adversary again -- the world's most feared assassin -- even though Dusty's already killed him once!

Jack Tragg, sheriff of Rockabye County, Texas, was a powerful, sun-bronzed six foot one. Although he owned traditional cowhand style outfits, he usually wore a business suit or khaki uniform. His gunbelt was a modern combat-shooter's rig, with a single Smith & Wesson .41 Magnum. Jack had a stable of fine horses at his disposal, but most of the time he travelled by car, airplane or helicopter.Like his Old West predecessors, Jack's duty was to keep the peace and maintain law and order in his bailiwick. Tough—fast with a gun—Jack was the jet-aged lawman!

They were all at Tombstone to try and win the matched pair of gold-inlaid Colt Cavalry Peacemakers.Bat Masterson was there, in dude dress and with a fancy hat.Tom Horn was there, looking like a bold Apache war chief.Burt Alvord was there, the ex-deputy who never brought in a living prisoner.Wyatt Earp was there, looking like a prosperous trail-end town undertaker.On the contest day nine men stood on the line, eight of them tall, and who could draw and shoot in half a second.The ninth man was small, an insignificant Texan against whom the bartender of the Bucket of Blood Saloon gave odds of ten to one.His name was Dusty Fog.

When the man rode into the town of Two Forks, there was trouble waiting for him. Trouble in the persons of five gun-happy hardcases who didn’t like drifters and were ready for a lead-slinging showdown to prove it.But the hardcases had picked the wrong man to tangle with. Few hombres who knew a really fast man when they saw one called down the man whose name was Waco.

The sudden drumming of hooves mingling with the crackle of revolvers' shots, accompanied by a ringing shout of 'Yeeah! Texas Light!' Following them, smoke and flames might rise from a Quartermasters' Corps depot; a supply train would be found, its wagons wrecked, their loads carried off and teams driven away; a cursing Artillery officer could find the guns in his battery spiked and his magazine exploded.That was how the men who rode under the Stars and Bars flag of the Confederate States fought against the Yankees in Arkansas. One name ranked high when such incidents were mentioned. That of an eighteen-year-old captain, the commanding officer of the Texas Light Cavalry's Company 'C'.His name was Dusty Fog.