First Herd To Abilene — Preston Lewis

HISTORICALLY SOUND AND HILARIOUSLY FUNNY!H.H. Lomax meets Wild Bill Hickok in Springfield, Missouri, and is responsible for Hickok's legendary gunfight with Davis Tutt. Fearing Hickok will hold a grudge, Lomax escapes Springfield and agrees to promote Joseph G. McCoy's dream of building Abilene into a cattle town, ultimately leading the first herd to Abilene from Texas. Along the way, he encounters Indians, rabid skunks, flash floods, a stampede and the animosities of some fellow cowboys trying to steal profits from the drive. Lomax is saved by the timely arrival of now U.S. Marshal Hickok, but Lomax uses counterfeit wanted posters to convince Hickok his assailants are wanted felons with rewards on their heads. Lomax and Wild Bill go their separate ways until they run into each other a decade later in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, where Hickok vows to kill Lomax for getting him fired. First Herd to Abilene stands as an entertaining mix of historical and hysterical fiction.