The Women of Bandit Bend — C.C. Harrison

Give a woman a challenge and see what happens. Straitlaced Tally Tisdale and her free spirited sixteen-year-old sister Ivy arrive in Sutton Creek, Colorado in 1863 to take over their missing father's rugged homestead on secluded Bandit Bend. Land Agent Goodnight Pettyjohn warns them of unimaginable hardships—days of backbreaking work, deadly mountain storms, dangerous wild animals, and ruthless, trigger-happy outlaws. He doesn't mention that landgrabbers also covet their father's claim and are willing to resort to violence to get what they want. But Carl Henry Tisdale made sure that both his daughters know how to shoot a gun, ride a horse and drive a wagon, so strong willed and adventurous Tally welcomes the challenge. But not so Ivy, and when bandit Birch Quinn returns to dig up stagecoach loot he'd secretly buried on their father's claim, Ivy sees him and the gold as a way to escape the drudgery and boredom of homesteading.