Rancho Bravo

Ex-Confederate Lucius Calhoon is on the trail of the Yankee officer who tortured him in jail, leaving him without his right hand. With his plantation is gone, the cotton confiscated, and the money pocketed by crooked Federal agents. All he has left is his hatred for the Yankee officer. Tracking him to Texas, Calhoon prevents Elias Whitten being lynched and teams up him and his partner against a crooked judge who just happens to be the father of the man he's hunting. The scene is set for a bloody and exciting confrontation. Thorne Douglas was the pseudonym for Benjamin Leopold Haas born in Charlotte , North Carolina in 1926. In his entry for CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, Ben told us he inherited his love of books from his German-born father, who would bid on hundreds of books at unclaimed freight auctions during the Depression. His imagination was also fired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction told by his Grandmother, who had lived through both. "My father was a pioneer operator of motion picture theatres", Ben wrote. "So I had free access to every theatre in Charlotte and saw countless films growing up, hooked on the lore of our own South and the Old West." A family friend, a black man named Ike who lived in a cabin in the woods, took him hunting and taught him to love and respect the guns that were the tools of that trade. All of these influences – seeing the world like a story from a good book or movie, heartfelt tales of the Civil War and the West, a love of weapons – register strongly in Ben's own books. Dreaming about being a writer, 18-year-old Ben sold a story to a Western pulp magazine. He dropped out of college to support his family. He was self-educated. And then he was drafted, and sent to the Philippines. Ben served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946. Returning home, Ben went to work, married a Southern belle named Douglas Thornton Taylor from Raleigh in 1950, lived in Charlotte and in Sumter in South Carolina , and then made Raleigh his home in 1959. Ben and his wife had three sons, Joel, Michael and John. Ben held various jobs until 1961, when he was working for a steel company. He had submitted a manuscript to Beacon Books, and an offer for more came just as he was laid off at the steel company. He became a full-time writer for the rest of his life. Ben wrote every day, every night. "I tried to write 5000 words or more everyday, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity", Ben said. His son Joel later recalled, "My Mom learned to go to sleep to the sound of a typewriter".

He charged among them, rifle empty now and thrown aside, Starr six-shooters drawn. A Lipan came at him, holding neither gun nor bow, but a long-bladed lance, putting his mount straight at Gannon's, his objective to slam his horse into the Steel Dust while he skewered Gannon with the spear. Gannon thumbed two shots-the first missed; the second caught the Lipan's horse and knocked it down. The Indian landed running, made for Gannon with lance out, ready to ram it in the Steel Dust's belly. Gannon fired again, blew the man's face apart, and rode over him as he went down.Turning in the saddle he saw an Indian bearing down from the other flank. He fired and never knew whether he hit or missed, but the threat vanished; then, somehow, he was through their line. Ahead of them; and now they were chasing him, and the circle of dead horses was only a hundred yards away, still sprouting white flowers of gun smoke as at least two Hussars fired at the Lipans, and the blot of red was still moving there, still alive. Gannon's heart lifted, and he let out an exultant yell. Thorne Douglas was the pseudonym for Benjamin Leopold Haas born in Charlotte , North Carolina in 1926. In his entry for CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, Ben told us he inherited his love of books from his German-born father, who would bid on hundreds of books at unclaimed freight auctions during the Depression. His imagination was also fired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction told by his Grandmother, who had lived through both. "My father was a pioneer operator of motion picture theatres", Ben wrote. "So I had free access to every theatre in Charlotte and saw countless films growing up, hooked on the lore of our own South and the Old West." A family friend, a black man named Ike who lived in a cabin in the woods, took him hunting and taught him to love and respect the guns that were the tools of that trade. All of these influences – seeing the world like a story from a good book or movie, heartfelt tales of the Civil War and the West, a love of weapons – register strongly in Ben's own books. Dreaming about being a writer, 18-year-old Ben sold a story to a Western pulp magazine. He dropped out of college to support his family. He was self-educated. And then he was drafted, and sent to the Philippines. Ben served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946. Returning home, Ben went to work, married a Southern belle named Douglas Thornton Taylor from Raleigh in 1950, lived in Charlotte and in Sumter in South Carolina , and then made Raleigh his home in 1959. Ben and his wife had three sons, Joel, Michael and John. Ben held various jobs until 1961, when he was working for a steel company. He had submitted a manuscript to Beacon Books, and an offer for more came just as he was laid off at the steel company. He became a full-time writer for the rest of his life. Ben wrote every day, every night. "I tried to write 5000 words or more everyday, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity", Ben said. His son Joel later recalled, "My Mom learned to go to sleep to the sound of a typewriter".

"Nobody does what they did to Rancho Bravo and gets away with it. Not while I'm alive."Killraine had killed men before. He had been a captain in the Union Army. But he had never had a passion for killing.Then Jethro Lawrence and his band of thieving cutthroats ambushed the Rancho Bravo wagons and made off with over a hundred thousand hard-earned dollars. Worse, Lawrence had taken Killraine's girl, Jenny, and kept her prisoner.Killraine was filled with a hate that shocked him. Never before had he known such an overwhelming desire to kill.Now nothing could stop him from going after the Lawrence gang. Not even the fact that the odds were fifty-to-one, and their hideout was a fortress from which no stranger had ever returned... alive. Thorne Douglas was the pseudonym for Benjamin Leopold Haas born in Charlotte , North Carolina in 1926. In his entry for CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, Ben told us he inherited his love of books from his German-born father, who would bid on hundreds of books at unclaimed freight auctions during the Depression. His imagination was also fired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction told by his Grandmother, who had lived through both. "My father was a pioneer operator of motion picture theatres", Ben wrote. "So I had free access to every theatre in Charlotte and saw countless films growing up, hooked on the lore of our own South and the Old West." A family friend, a black man named Ike who lived in a cabin in the woods, took him hunting and taught him to love and respect the guns that were the tools of that trade. All of these influences – seeing the world like a story from a good book or movie, heartfelt tales of the Civil War and the West, a love of weapons – register strongly in Ben's own books. Dreaming about being a writer, 18-year-old Ben sold a story to a Western pulp magazine. He dropped out of college to support his family. He was self-educated. And then he was drafted, and sent to the Philippines. Ben served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946. Returning home, Ben went to work, married a Southern belle named Douglas Thornton Taylor from Raleigh in 1950, lived in Charlotte and in Sumter in South Carolina , and then made Raleigh his home in 1959. Ben and his wife had three sons, Joel, Michael and John. Ben held various jobs until 1961, when he was working for a steel company. He had submitted a manuscript to Beacon Books, and an offer for more came just as he was laid off at the steel company. He became a full-time writer for the rest of his life. Ben wrote every day, every night. "I tried to write 5000 words or more everyday, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity", Ben said. His son Joel later recalled, "My Mom learned to go to sleep to the sound of a typewriter".

His name was Elias Whitton. Once a slave, he was now a partner in the Rancho Bravo. A man respected, even feared. Part Comanche himself, Elias had pledged guns and supplies to the Indians to help them through the winter. But the Rancho Bravo wagon train loaded with the promised goods was a thousand miles away, perhaps lost or destroyed by looters. When Elias suggested they give the Comanches their guns the others said it was madness, that the Indians would kill them all; but Whitton swore it was their only chance - little knowing that two vicious killers in the territory, Plumb and Devlin, had the power to dash their last remaining shred of hope.ABOUT THE SERIESThey were an odd mixture: a rancher whose ranch was about to be taken from him by Yankee carpetbaggers ... a former slave ... a Confederate officer who'd lost his right hand ... and a Yankee captain who'd sooner join them that fight them. Together Henry Gannon, Elias Whitton, Loosh Calhoon and Philip Killraine were going to drive four thousand head of wild longhorns smack into the heart of Comanche country and establish the biggest and best ranch in the entire west ... Rancho Bravo! Thorne Douglas was the pseudonym for Benjamin Leopold Haas born in Charlotte , North Carolina in 1926. In his entry for CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, Ben told us he inherited his love of books from his German-born father, who would bid on hundreds of books at unclaimed freight auctions during the Depression. His imagination was also fired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction told by his Grandmother, who had lived through both. "My father was a pioneer operator of motion picture theatres", Ben wrote. "So I had free access to every theatre in Charlotte and saw countless films growing up, hooked on the lore of our own South and the Old West." A family friend, a black man named Ike who lived in a cabin in the woods, took him hunting and taught him to love and respect the guns that were the tools of that trade. All of these influences – seeing the world like a story from a good book or movie, heartfelt tales of the Civil War and the West, a love of weapons – register strongly in Ben's own books. Dreaming about being a writer, 18-year-old Ben sold a story to a Western pulp magazine. He dropped out of college to support his family. He was self-educated. And then he was drafted, and sent to the Philippines. Ben served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946. Returning home, Ben went to work, married a Southern belle named Douglas Thornton Taylor from Raleigh in 1950, lived in Charlotte and in Sumter in South Carolina , and then made Raleigh his home in 1959. Ben and his wife had three sons, Joel, Michael and John. Ben held various jobs until 1961, when he was working for a steel company. He had submitted a manuscript to Beacon Books, and an offer for more came just as he was laid off at the steel company. He became a full-time writer for the rest of his life. Ben wrote every day, every night. "I tried to write 5000 words or more everyday, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity", Ben said. His son Joel later recalled, "My Mom learned to go to sleep to the sound of a typewriter".

He had been a horse thief once. His name was Shan Tyree, and sometimes it seemed that he'd known nothing but trouble all his life. Coming into Texas, he encountered Rancho Bravo and found what he'd been looking for. A place to belong, where he could use his abilities on the new horse ranch being put together. Then a new passion emerged. The manager was married to a younger woman. A connection was there, but Tyree was determined to play it straight.When the old partner turned up, after the fine Spanish herd they'd bought to upgrade the wild mustangs they were gathering, it screwed up everything that had been going Tyree's way.He didn't like the threat to his new way of life. Thorne Douglas was the pseudonym for Benjamin Leopold Haas born in Charlotte , North Carolina in 1926. In his entry for CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, Ben told us he inherited his love of books from his German-born father, who would bid on hundreds of books at unclaimed freight auctions during the Depression. His imagination was also fired by the stories of the Civil War and Reconstruction told by his Grandmother, who had lived through both. "My father was a pioneer operator of motion picture theatres", Ben wrote. "So I had free access to every theatre in Charlotte and saw countless films growing up, hooked on the lore of our own South and the Old West." A family friend, a black man named Ike who lived in a cabin in the woods, took him hunting and taught him to love and respect the guns that were the tools of that trade. All of these influences – seeing the world like a story from a good book or movie, heartfelt tales of the Civil War and the West, a love of weapons – register strongly in Ben's own books. Dreaming about being a writer, 18-year-old Ben sold a story to a Western pulp magazine. He dropped out of college to support his family. He was self-educated. And then he was drafted, and sent to the Philippines. Ben served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946. Returning home, Ben went to work, married a Southern belle named Douglas Thornton Taylor from Raleigh in 1950, lived in Charlotte and in Sumter in South Carolina , and then made Raleigh his home in 1959. Ben and his wife had three sons, Joel, Michael and John. Ben held various jobs until 1961, when he was working for a steel company. He had submitted a manuscript to Beacon Books, and an offer for more came just as he was laid off at the steel company. He became a full-time writer for the rest of his life. Ben wrote every day, every night. "I tried to write 5000 words or more everyday, scrupulous in maintaining authenticity", Ben said. His son Joel later recalled, "My Mom learned to go to sleep to the sound of a typewriter".