Tom Candy Ponting was no ordinary trail boss. He didn’t smoke, chew, cuss, or even carry a gun. Unlike his competitors, he learned how to herd cows on a farm back in England—and how to handle cowboys in bareknuckle prizefights. But his skills and know-how were really put to the test when he accepts a bet he might live to regret: lead a cattle drive from Texas to New York City. Not one to back down on a dare, Ponting assembles the motliest crew of cowboys ever seen—Texans, Englishmen, Mexicans, Freemen, Cherokee—and charts a course through the unfriendliest country to move seven hundred head of cattle, never easy in the best of times. Along the way, they’ll cross railroads and rustlers, hucksters and hustlers, with detours and dead ends aplenty. But if they succeed, the team will make more than just a whole lot of money. They will make history. . . .
Inspired by the real-life adventures of legendary cattleman Tom Candy Ponting, Longhorns East takes readers on an unforgettable journey as big and bold as the American Dream itself.
Author
Johnny D. Boggs
Booklist has called Johnny D. Boggs “among the best western writers at work today.” He won the prestigious Spur Award from Western Writers of America in 2006 for his novel Camp Ford, and in 2002 for his short story “A Piano at Dead Man’s Crossing.” In 2012, West Texas Kill was awarded the Spur Award for Best Original Paperback. His novels Ten and Me and The Hart Brand were Spur finalists in 2000 and 2007, and he won the Western Heritage Wrangler Award in 2004 for his novel Spark on the Prairie. He was also awarded True West Magazine’s Best of the West Award “Best Living Fiction Writer,” 2008. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife, Lisa Smith; son, Jack Smith Boggs; and basset hound, June.
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