Trailin'!

In Short

When Anthony Woodbury—alias Anthony Bard—privately conquers an unrideable horse at a New York Wild West show, he inadvertently triggers a sequence of events that shatters his comfortable life. Following the mysterious murder of his wealthy father, Anthony heads West to trace a cryptic clue leading straight into mountain wilderness. Armed with quick instincts and a cool head, he navigates treacherous floods, hostile gunfighters, and local range politics. Along the way, he allies with the fierce, independent Sally Fortune. Max Brand’s fast-moving narrative survives on its swift pacing, sharp character confrontations, and classic frontier suspense.

The Story

The tale begins in New York, where young Anthony Woodbury seeks to cover up his impulsive act of jumping into a Madison Square Garden arena to ride a wild mustang. Fearing social ruin and publicity, Anthony bargains with a reporter to keep his name out of the press. That very night, however, dark shadows fall across his home. Anthony detects a sinister presence threatening his father, John Woodbury. Tragedy strikes immediately after, upending Anthony's world and sending him on an urgent quest.

Left with only a mysterious photograph depicting a lone ranch house, a giant tree, and two distant peaks known as the Little Brothers, Anthony sets out for the West under the name Anthony Bard. He enlists the aid of seasoned frontiersman Marty Wilkes, who deciphers the subtle details in the photograph to pinpoint the location in the rugged country near Eldara. Anthony quickly discovers that the Western range is a deadly place for an Easterner, but his smooth horsemanship and steady nerve shock the locals who mistake him for a helpless tenderfoot.

Arriving in Eldara, Anthony steps into a web of local rivalries and ancient grudges. He encounters Steve Nash, a tough cowboy determined to win the hand of Sally Fortune, an independent local woman who runs an eatery with a strong hand and a sharp tongue. Nash accepts a proposition from William Drew, a powerful and imposing local figure who wants Anthony captured and bound for an unknown purpose. Drew dispatches Nash and a gang of local cutthroats to track Anthony down, setting off a relentless hunt across the mountains.

Despite the mounting danger, Anthony holds his ground. He earns Sally Fortune's respect and affection after facing down local bullies in her establishment without drawing a weapon. When Nash and his allies try to trap Anthony, Sally steps in to help him escape into the wilderness. Together, they flee across swollen rivers, including the roaring Saverack, as Nash and a posse of outlaws close in.

The pursuit drives the characters toward the ruined ranch house depicted in Anthony’s photograph. Through intense standoffs and dangerous trail encounters, the truth behind William Drew’s obsession comes to light. Drew is not merely a hostile range baron; he was once the partner of John Bard, and a bitter history of love, betrayal, and vengeance binds the older generation to Anthony's past.

In the final confrontation at the old homestead, the gunfire clears to reveal the deep tragedy behind the feud. Facing the gravestones of those who came before, Anthony and William Drew finally recognize their true relationship and set aside their lingering hatred. Anthony embraces his future alongside Sally Fortune, leaving the bitter inheritance of the past behind them.

How It Unfolds

The arena challenge At a Manhattan Wild West show, Anthony Woodbury leaps into the ring on an impulse to conquer a vicious horse, then scrambles to keep the stunt out of the newspapers.

Shadows in the hall Night brings a strange threat to the Woodbury household, leading directly to a sudden tragedy that forces Anthony to take up a mystery left behind in a single photograph.

Reading the landscape In the West, Anthony meets Marty Wilkes, a veteran woodsman who studies the picture and calculates the location of the hidden ranch house near the Little Brothers peaks.

Arrival in Eldara Anthony rides into town on a piebald mustang, instantly stirring up jealousy among local cowpunchers and drawing the quiet attention of the formidable William Drew.

Crossing the Saverack With Steve Nash giving chase and an ambitious bounty on his head, Anthony recklessly swims his horse across a dangerous, debris-filled mountain river to keep his word.

Standoff at the table Cornered in an eating house, Anthony maintains a cool, mocking calm against a room full of armed men until Sally Fortune intervenes to side with the brave outsider.

Flight through the hills Sally and Anthony head into the wilderness with Nash and a band of recruited outlaws trailing their tracks, testing the tenderfoot's endurance against native ruggedness.

The old homestead The chase reaches its climax at the ruined ranch house, where long-buried secrets regarding John Bard, William Drew, and Anthony's true parentage are laid bare.

The People

• Anthony Bard (Woodbury): A wealthy Easterner raised in comfort who possesses a hidden reservoir of frontier grit. He seeks the truth behind his father's fate, facing wilderness dangers with steady nerves, and ends up transformed from a restless city youth into a grounded man of the West.
• Sally Fortune: A sharp-witted, independent woman in Eldara who runs her own eating house. She wants a partner worthy of her respect rather than a man who tries to intimidate her; standing up to local gunfighters, she falls for Anthony's quiet courage and commits her life to him.
• Steve Nash: A hot-headed foreman and fast draw who desperately wants to win Sally Fortune. Hindered by his jealousy and greed for a thousand-dollar reward, he relentlessly pursues Anthony, only to realize that force cannot command a woman's heart.
• William Drew: A powerful, stern figure whose past is shadowed by a bitter feud over a woman named Joan and a former partnership with John Bard. Driven by vengeance and old grief, he seeks to capture Anthony, but ultimately breaks under the weight of past mistakes to seek reconciliation.

In Its Own Voice

The smaller, brown as if a thousand fierce suns and winds had tanned and withered him, looked up at last to his burly companion with a faint smile. An early observer watches the crowd at the New York exhibition before the trail moves West.

"They's a pretty steady north wind that blows in them parts. It's cold and it's strong... The trees live because they got protection from that north wind." Marty Wilkes explains how he reads the faint details of a photograph to locate a hidden range.

"There was our chance to get him, while he was walking out of that place without a gun, but somehow nobody moved for him." A local cowpuncher describes the quiet authority Anthony commands even when completely unarmed.

What It's Really About

Beneath its frontier chase sequences, the book explores how the unyielding past shapes the present generation. It contrasts the refined, superficial codes of Eastern society with the stark, elemental survival rules of the mountain West. The narrative questions whether vengeance can ever truly settle an old debt or if it simply destroys those who nurse it. Ultimately, the story centers on identity and inheritance—how a young man must shed his given position to discover his true strength, and how love and mutual respect can finally break a cycle of inherited hostility.

Why Read It Today

Fans of traditional Western fiction and classic adventure tales will find a fast-paced, highly readable story filled with crisp dialogue and high-stakes confrontations. Max Brand captures the raw atmosphere of the mountain West, delivering vivid set pieces ranging from river crossings to tense saloon standoffs.

The reading experience is swift and energetic, propelled by sharp dramatic irony as the Eastern hero repeatedly outsmarts the rugged locals who underestimate him. While readers should expect standard period conventions of early twentieth-century popular fiction—including occasionally melodramatic dialogue, romanticized frontier justice, and rough dialect among the range hands—the core narrative moves with clean momentum. What remains with the reader is the compelling evolution of its hero and the vibrant, uncompromising presence of Sally Fortune, who stands out as a memorable and fiercely capable character in her own right.

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