William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone celebrate the guts, glory, and often deadly exploits of the pioneering fur trappers who tracked and tamed the wild and lawless American frontier.

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. IF YOUR HORSE DOESN’T WANT TO GO THERE, NEITHER DO YOU.

Luke Ransom and Jug Sartain, trappers for the American Fur Company, made a formidable team when they partnered up in the grueling winter wilderness of Blackfoot Country. No hostile raids by man, no brutal obstacles of nature could stop them from snaring what they came for. The nicest surprise was that Luke came home with a wife—Willow, a lovely young Crow woman. Now, one year later, in this new trapping season of 1834, it’s Luke, Jug, and Willow who become the hunted . . .

They’re heading farther to the northwest in the mountain valleys of the Beaverhead and Pioneer Range. It’s a known risk. The fearsome, kill-crazy Blackfoot claim exclusive rights to the territory—even the hardcase Hudson Bay trappers think twice about crossing that line. But it’s an unknown risk that’s putting the lives of Luke, Jug, and Willow in danger. A kill-crazy, vengeance-seeking hound named Jake Purcell is following their every move. He aims to make a big killing in the High Country—and take Willow alive for his feral own needs. A cold and bloody day in hell is storming on the horizon.