Dane Coolidge

Dane Coolidge was a Western writer and photographer. He grew up on a citrus ranch in Riverside County, California, and knew old-time cowboys first hand. "The languid quiet of midday lay upon the little road-house that stood guard by Verde Crossing. Old Crit and his wild Texas cowboys had left the corral at dawn, riding out mysteriously with their running irons in their chaps; the dogs had crawled under Jos Garcia's house and gone to sleep; to the north the Tonto trail stretched away vacant and only the brawling of the Verde as it rushed over the rocky ford suggested the savage struggle that was going on in the land. Within the adobe fort that served for both store and saloon Angevine Thorne, Old Crit's roustabout, sat tipped back in his chair breathing thoughtfully through a mouth-organ while a slender Mexican girl, lingering by the doorway, listened in childish adoration."

WRONGLY ACCUSED Abner Meadows was only trying to get out of the storm when he sought shelter in the cave. Little did he realize he was about to be embroiled in an even greater maelstrom with one of the most notorious bandits of the West--Butch Brennan. Brennan just happened to be in the same cave...with the loot from his latest holdup. Meadows knows better than to accept Brennan's offer to join his gang, but he still gets stuck with the robber's recognizable horse and a few gold pieces. Back in town, the sheriff has raised a posse that's hot on Brennan's trail. When they catch Meadows on Brennan's horse and then find his double eagles, they're convinced they've got their man. But Meadows will do anything to prove his innocence, including risking his life on the outlaw trail to track down the wild bunch that framed him.

They were two men driven by desperation--and the promise of a $10,000 payday. All they had to do was burn a few bridges and take out railroad communications along the Mexican border. General Montano had promised his army would be able to hold off any Federal pursuit. But the general was wrong. And now the chase is on as two men try to outfox, outmaneuver and outrun the U.S. Cavalry forces hot on their trail.