Book excerpt: After watching his father's murder, fourteen-year-old Eongus "Gus" McIntyre suddenly is orphaned and alone in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory, the wildest and most untamed lands in 1876 America. Luckily he is befriended by a group of cattlemen, who are driving 100 Texas Longhorn steers to Deadwood to feed hungry gold miners. An ornery trail cook, named Toots, and the boss' son, Junior Hamilton, take him under their wing and change is life forever.