Alone on Pasture Ridge/J. R. Hightower

It is the late 1870s in East Texas. Rob Wilson is a teenager who has just lost his entire family to typhoid fever. In an attempt to put his pain behind him, Rob sells the family ranch and travels with his friend, Jessie Hatfield, to Southern New Mexico to seek a new beginning. While searching for land to start a ranch, their paths cross with that of a valiant coyote, a Mexican cook, a gringo rancher and his foreman, an Apache chief and a young brave, teenage Mexican cowboys, and a stowaway Mexican orphan. As their dreams become reality, they embark on a wild adventure to the Llano Estacado to find a lost herd of cattle. Along the way, Rob meets a beautiful Mexican girl who quickly captures his heart. As Rob attempts to win her for his own, news of their adventures reaches an El Paso newspaperman whose articles eventually transform them from ranchers into heroes. But just when Rob finally adjusts to being a hero, he must use his newfound fame to discourage outlaws and rustlers from exploiting the gringos, Mexicans, and Indians who have more cattle than they can handle. In this historic western tale, a young rancher must create a new life in New Mexico after losing his family to typhoid fever. About the Author: J. R. Hightower Grew up in Southern New Mexico where he hunted deer, antelope, birds, and Indian artifacts for forty years. He currently resides in Yorktown, Virginia. Alone on Pasture Ridge is his debut novel.