In three books I tried to capture all aspects of the Old West—the rowdy towns, saloons, prostitutes, homesteaders, cattle ranchers, cattle rustlers, cattle drives, stampedes, canvas-covered wagons, wagon trains, wild horses, cowboys, Indians, miners and prospectors, fur traders, claimjumpers, sheriffs, outlaws, gunfighters, railroads and trains, stagecoaches, banks and holdups, love, life, and death—when I wrote the trilogy of “Once Upon A Time In The Past”.

Book One of Once Upon A Time in the Past, subtitled “The Sons Of Sam Logan”—involves four young boys, Chance William, Burt Wiley, Peter Wallace and Jesse Lee “Boots” Logan, a black youth who adopts the Logan name, who grows up and become outlaws—opens circa 1890 in Payton, Kansas:

Rancher Clay Miller sat behind his desk staring at four miniature porcelain horses: a black and white piebald; black, white-rump appaloosa; golden palomino with a white blazed face; and a black stallion with a diamond-shaped white dot on its forehead.

The rancher’s eyes then stared down at a necklace made with pure gold nuggets wedged together on a long string of rawhide-leather with a black, genuine Indian arrowhead at the end. He reached down and picked the necklace up. A shadow of sudden gloominess crossed his face as he gazed at the necklace. A finger fiddled unconsciously with the arrowhead dangling at the end of it, as he held the necklace in his hands, staring into space. The necklace brought back memories of the past—good times and bad times. His thoughts wiggled and waggled as his recollections took him back into time long before he was a man:

In three books I tried to capture all aspects of the Old West—the rowdy towns, saloons, prostitutes, homesteaders, cattle ranchers, cattle rustlers, cattle drives, stampedes, canvas-covered wagons, wagon trains, wild horses, cowboys, Indians, miners and prospectors, fur traders, claimjumpers, sheriffs, outlaws, gunfighters, railroads and trains, stagecoaches, banks and holdups, love, life, and death—when I wrote the trilogy of “Once Upon A Time In The Past”.

Book One of Once Upon A Time in the Past, subtitled “The Sons Of Sam Logan”—involves four young boys, Chance William, Burt Wiley, Peter Wallace and Jesse Lee “Boots” Logan, a black youth who adopts the Logan name, who grows up and become outlaws—opens circa 1890 in Payton, Kansas:

Rancher Clay Miller sat behind his desk staring at four miniature porcelain horses: a black and white piebald; black, white-rump appaloosa; golden palomino with a white blazed face; and a black stallion with a diamond-shaped white dot on its forehead.

The rancher’s eyes then stared down at a necklace made with pure gold nuggets wedged together on a long string of rawhide-leather with a black, genuine Indian arrowhead at the end. He reached down and picked the necklace up. A shadow of sudden gloominess crossed his face as he gazed at the necklace. A finger fiddled unconsciously with the arrowhead dangling at the end of it, as he held the necklace in his hands, staring into space. The necklace brought back memories of the past—good times and bad times. His thoughts wiggled and waggled as his recollections took him back into time long before he was a man:

Jake Shaw was an old army veteran of the Civil War turned lawman shortly after the war ended. He was just twenty-two years old when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in April of 1865, just twenty-one years ago. He had hung up his uniform for a deputy’s badge and later became sheriff of Clayton County.

He been wearing a Silver Star every since.

Jake Shaw had not lost brothers, uncles or cousins in the war as other soldiers he had known and, therefore, he held no drudge toward his fellow man of the Gray. Before the war, it had been just him and his maw. He knew nothing of his paw, only that he had been a riverboat operator on the Mississippi. His maw had traveled with his paw on every route, carrying him, Shaw, in her womb until the day he was born on the river.

She had been there when he left to join the war, standing in the yard waving goodbye. And she was there when he came home four years later.

He had stood over her with his head bowed, his Union hat in hand, to say goodbye to her again. A headstone said Sally Shaw had died in 1863. But her son hadn’t learned of her death until he came home from the War of the Lost

Jake Shaw was an old army veteran of the Civil War turned lawman shortly after the war ended. He was just twenty-two years old when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in April of 1865, just twenty-one years ago. He had hung up his uniform for a deputy’s badge and later became sheriff of Clayton County.

He been wearing a Silver Star every since.

Jake Shaw had not lost brothers, uncles or cousins in the war as other soldiers he had known and, therefore, he held no drudge toward his fellow man of the Gray. Before the war, it had been just him and his maw. He knew nothing of his paw, only that he had been a riverboat operator on the Mississippi. His maw had traveled with his paw on every route, carrying him, Shaw, in her womb until the day he was born on the river.

She had been there when he left to join the war, standing in the yard waving goodbye. And she was there when he came home four years later.

He had stood over her with his head bowed, his Union hat in hand, to say goodbye to her again. A headstone said Sally Shaw had died in 1863. But her son hadn’t learned of her death until he came home from the War of the Lost