Pete "Mack" McAlester leaves his home in Virginia during the civil war and heads west to follow a childhood dream to travel the Oregon Trail where he encounters Indians, cutthroats, thieves, miscreants and renegades, and deals with everyday life and perils as he grows into a man. His desire to avenge his parent's death leads him on a path even he could not fathom as he travels through the Midwest. Along the way he meets the love of his life and together they survive overwhelming odds, betrayal, attacks not only from Indians but renegades as well. They would join a wagon train where they would build friendships with other travelers whom they would later partner with and build one of the largest ranches in all of Colorado Territory.

About the Author

With a love for reading, Barth Parkes grew up reading from such authors as Clive Cussler, John Sandford, Michael Connelly, and David Baldacci. Then a friend introduced him to westerns where he enjoyed such authors as William W. Johnstone, Ralph Compton and Ralph Cotton among others. An over-the-road truck driver for most of his life, he found time to write in his spare time. Leaving his birth state of Michigan for such places as Texas and Kentucky. He and his wife now live in central Iowa. In his spare time, Barth and his wife, Carmen, enjoy traveling throughout the US to see the US national parks and monuments.