Stir Up the Dust — William Colt MacDonald

The lonely Texan had fought on the losing side in the Civil War. His father and brother had been killed, and his home had been burned to the ground. All that remained was the neglected land and the half-wild cattle. He had friends who joined him in a desperate scheme to drive Texas cattle over the hundreds of miles of perilous Kansas country. Stir Up the Dust is the whiplash story of that cattle drive -- and the opening of the Abilene Trail.