A High Sierra Christmas

A Jensen family holiday takes a dark and dangerous turn—on the infamous Donner Pass—in this epic adventure from the USA Today bestselling authors. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the High Sierras. But Smoke Jensen and his children, Louis and Denise, won’t let a little snow stop them from heading to Reno for the holidays. There are two ways for them to get there: the long way, going around the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or the short way, going right through them. Smoke decides to take a gamble. They’ll follow the trail that, decades earlier, brought the legendary Donner Party to a gruesome, tragic end . . . And so the journey begins. The Jensens share a stagecoach with a stranger who’s planning to rob a bank. Smoke wants to stop him, as well as his notorious gang of outlaws. But he’s outgunned and outnumbered. And when a blizzard traps them in the mountains, he’s out of luck too. Like the Donner Party before them, the Jensens will be forced to do whatever it takes to survive. This time, they’re hoping history doesn’t repeat itself. But sometimes, the ghosts of the past just won’t stay buried . . .

Outlaws, snowstorms, rugged terrain—nothing will stop them from making it to Montana Territory in time for Christmas . . . “A masterful storyteller.” —Publishers Weekly From the masters of frontier fiction comes a holiday tale set in the very heart of America—a Western saga of courageous souls coming together, with a little help from the Jensen family . . . In the fall of 1873, a wagon train of immigrants sets off from Kansas City, Missouri, bound for the Montana Territory. Leading the group is newly elected wagonmaster Jamie Ian MacCallister, a giant of a man and frontier legend who swears he can get them there by Christmas—come hell or high snow drifts . . . Plagued by brutally harsh storms and rugged terrain, outlaws and hostile Indians, the journey will be the greatest challenge these pioneers will ever face. But when things look nearly hopeless, help arrives in the form of two unlikely saviors: an old mountain man known as Preacher and legendary frontiersman Smoke Jensen. Two hard-willed men who believe in the settlers' dreams with all their hearts—and who will get them to their destination by Christmas. Even if it takes a miracle . . .

*HOLIDAY EDITION: 'A High Sierra Christmas' is a tale of the West, narrated in the 'old west' style. It's a story of Jeremiah Johnson and his 'later in life' adventures in the High Sierra-Nevada mountain range of California. Two old cowboys, looking for gold, seek out Johnson and ask him to guide them to their dreams across the rugged High Sierra. In this fireside tale, Jeremiah and his Indian friend, John Windwalker, embark on that adventure with his visiting young nieces, Carrie and Hannah, and his nephew, Marc. The group rides out on a difficult journey up the east side of the majestic, white graniterange, headed toward Mineral King on its western slopes. But, when the bank in Big Pineis robbed, three lawless men in their getaway head up the trail right behind them. What happens next is a long way from what you might expect. For young and old alike, it's for sure a Christmas to remember. You'd best saddle up and ride along!

When an avalanche derails a train three days before Christmas, Smoke Jensen and Duff MacCallister try to get to the scene, while Matt Jensen battles against armed and desperate outlaws as he struggles to save the survivors.

USA Today bestselling author: After the war, a Confederate doctor returns to Texas—and fights to reclaim his life . . . Bestselling authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone give the classic American hero a real shot in the arm—in this epic story of a Rebel doctor fighting for justice in the aftermath of the Civil War . . . Vengeance with a scalpel On the blood-stained battlefields of a divided nation, Dr. Samuel Knight used his surgical skills to treat wounded Confederate soldiers. In the brutal prison camps of the Union Army, he offered his healing services to fellow captives who'd given up hope. But now, with the war over and the South in ruins, the good doctor faces his hardest challenge yet: to save himself . . . Penniless and hungry, Knight has to beg, borrow, and steal to survive in a post-war hell that used to be his country. By the time he reaches his home in East Texas, it's been taken over. Ruthless Union soldiers rule over the town with an iron fist. A Yankee carpetbagger is living in his old house—and the jackal has forced Knight's wife to marry him. A normal man might give up, but Dr. Samuel Knight is going to take back what belongs to him. With a heart full of grit, a hunger for revenge, and swift, surgical precision, he'll stick a bullet in every dead man walking . . .

The mid-19th century mining town of Bodie, California located at 8,369 feet, atop the Sierra Nevada Mountains, just 3 1/2 miles from the Nevada border, was considered one of the richest gold and silver mining towns in the west. Geologists who know of its present rich ore deposits, say it could have been again, but since it became a California historic state park in 1962, that possibility was terminated. The old town, now the best preserved ghost town in the Nation, is maintained in a state of arrested decay by the State of California, meaning it will never be restored to its once rough and tough condition of the 1870s, but it is prevented from further deterioration through a system of constant repair. The public is encouraged to visit the old town, and this book is a compilation of stories, news items, historic information, and reports of its past, some true, some possibly true, and some probably outright lies by citizens of the past and news reporters who wrote for the many old newspapers that described life as it was lived in the years immediately following the Civil War. Authors Jim Watson, photographer, and Doug Brodie, former newspaper reporter, have obtained items heretofore never explained nor described in writings about the old town. Their research has made this book a one of a kind publication.

This beautifully illustrated and user-friendly book presents the most up-to-date information available about the natural histories of birds of the Sierra Nevada, the origins of their names, the habitats they prefer, how they communicate and interact with one another, their relative abundance, and where they occur within the region. Each species account features original illustrations by Keith Hansen. In addition to characterizing individual species, Birds of the Sierra Nevada also describes ecological zones and bird habitats, recent trends in populations and ranges, conservation efforts, and more than 160 rare species. It also includes a glossary of terms, detailed maps, and an extensive bibliography with over 500 citations.