Set Texas Back on Her Feet

Colonel Charles Goodnight believed that herds of cattle could be driven to the railroad in Kansas and sold for high prices to supply people in the East with beef. If it could be done, the money for the cattle would help to set Texas back on her feet after being ruined by the War Between the States. Not everybody approved of Goodnight’s ideas. As things stood, the owners of hide and tallow factories could buy all the cattle they wanted at between one and four dollars a head. If he should succeed, their vast profits would be brought to an end. Austin Viridian a partner in the Pilar Hide & Tallow Company, went to Fort Worth with the intention of preventing Goodnight’s ideas from being circulated. Soon after his arrival, he came upon a small, insignificant-looking blond cowhand who was talking of driving herds to Kansas. Although he did not expect to need them, Viridian had two hard-cases with him when he went to silence the cowhand. The hide and tallow man was about to make a serious mistake. His ‘victim’s’ name was Dusty Fog! ...