Bob Baxter
Short Stories of the Old West:
(1) Beyond the River
(2) Rustlers, Thieves & Pirates
(3) Play the Hand You're Dealt
(4) Cowboy Dreams
(5) Tumbleweed Trails
(6) The end of the Trail

All six of these books by Bob Baxter, an octogenarian who lives in Blairsville, Georgia, depict the lives of assorted western characters who spend large portions of their time searching for greener pastures and more permanency on the other side of the next river or the next mountain range while enduring all sorts of extreme conditions on the trail, including abject loneliness, fierce storms, and an occasional fast-gun shootout.
These stories depict the everyday lives, loves and aspirations of the restless tumbleweed cowboy always on the lookout for the next big cattle round-up or a town to settle down in or even the possibility of hitting it big in a gold mine.
Bob Baxter grew up in the horse and cattle country of New York State. After four years aboard a ship in the U.S. Navy, his travels in the Southwest took him around and through the deserts and mountains of Arizona and neighboring states and across Indian lands, with a stop at Apache Junction. Traveling through the pristine high country around Lake Tahoe was a memorable experience. To add some local color to his notes for his stories, he dropped down to Carson City and then over to Virginia City. A swing into Mexico, then up north through California to see the giant redwoods, completed his research journey. His primary disappointment was that he couldn’t see the West while sitting in a saddle thrown across Old Smokey with a pack mule on a tag line trailing behind.
In the 1990s, Bob and his wife moved to the scenic mountains of North Georgia, to the picturesque town of Blairsville. Here, in his home located on the side of a mountain, he creates his stories of people searching for their lifelong dreams in the Old West.
These stories depict the everyday lives, loves and aspirations of the restless tumbleweed cowboy always on the lookout for the next big cattle round-up or a town to settle down in or even the possibility of hitting it big in a gold mine.
Bob Baxter grew up in the horse and cattle country of New York State. After four years aboard a ship in the U.S. Navy, his travels in the Southwest took him around and through the deserts and mountains of Arizona and neighboring states and across Indian lands, with a stop at Apache Junction. Traveling through the pristine high country around Lake Tahoe was a memorable experience. To add some local color to his notes for his stories, he dropped down to Carson City and then over to Virginia City. A swing into Mexico, then up north through California to see the giant redwoods, completed his research journey. His primary disappointment was that he couldn’t see the West while sitting in a saddle thrown across Old Smokey with a pack mule on a tag line trailing behind.
In the 1990s, Bob and his wife moved to the scenic mountains of North Georgia, to the picturesque town of Blairsville. Here, in his home located on the side of a mountain, he creates his stories of people searching for their lifelong dreams in the Old West.