The only riches Texans had after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history blazing trail drives.

THE SHAWNEE TRAIL

Long John Coons, the Cajun son of a conjuring woman, was driving 2,000 head of cattle north from Texas to the railroad in Kansas - through Indian Territory and outlaw strongholds. At his side was a beautiful woman with a sordid past, three ex-cattle rustlers, some renegade Indians, Mexican vasqueros and a straight-laced young trail boss. And while Long John tried to keep his hot-headed crew from killing each other before they reached the end of the line, the biggest danger was waiting up ahead where an all-out war in Kansas make the Texans fight together, or die at the same time.