The Trail Driver

by Zane Grey

First published 1936

Amazon

2.5(5)

In 1871, a trail boss leads a cattle herd north from Texas toward Dodge City, managing men and animals through swollen rivers, bad weather, thieves and the exhaustion of weeks on the trail. Every delay threatens the herd, and every crossing requires decisions that can cost cattle, horses or lives.

Among the outfit is a young woman travelling in disguise, adding a private complication to a job already dependent on discipline and trust. The novel evokes the practical organisation of the great cattle drives: night watches, river crossings, stampede risk and the constant need to keep a scattered herd moving toward the railheads of Kansas.