A Story of the West by Susan Spence

From the Back Cover:

Matt Daly and his father first came to Montana Territory driving a herd of Texas longhorns in the 1880s. They, like many others, were determined to make a living on the lawless frontier. Life was hard, but fulfilling, as there was money to be made selling beef to the exploding population back east.
When the train came through, it made life easier and it also brought more people. Lavina Lavold rode out with her family seeking adventure, which she found when she met Matt and fell in love.

Susan Spence has written a fabulous history of the transition of the 'wild' west into more modern times. The story is told by following the life of Matt Daly as he lives through the times. Ms Spence relies on description to take us through the story. There is not a lot of conversation, and time moves quickly. At first I found it hard to become engaged with this style of writing but I employed the '50 page rule' used by other bloggers and it was enough to move me past my expectations and I became very interested in the history of it all.

Tomorrow I will have Susan here for an interview and we'll find out more about her and the process of creating A Story of the West.

A Taste from page 33:
Big John remembered the worst stampede he'd ever experienced. A horse being ridden on the night shift snorted at a rabbit that jumped out from underneath him. The sound brought the herd to their feet and they were running in an instant. The cattle ran for miles, scattering into small bunches as they fled. It had taken days of tracking to locate them all. And it was luck that the handful of men was able to round the steers up into one herrd again on the rolling prairie.