Desert Crossing

By Paul Hunter

The young cowhand Joe Mays buys his first horse at auction with a flaw--he won't go into a trailer, though Straiter is otherwise sound and willing. Thus begins this contemporary account of Joe's journey across the deserts and badlands of Nevada, looking for part-time ranch work. On his trackless way over several seasons he meets other cowboys and wanderers in this dry, rugged and forbidding country, who choose or are forced to endure the desert, and take to it for their own reasons. He also lends an occasional hand to ranchers, prospectors and other fellow travelers, including a young scientist in search of a dissertation and a young Navaho woman and her child on foot fleeing trouble at home. Meeting these new challenges Joe finds the desert growing on him, with its life-and-death mysteries, that seem to suit its unpredictable weather and ways. The barren desert seems to tolerate, maybe even welcome the high-tech experiments of Burning Man, and occasional law-breakers who ride the badlands with their own agendas. He is particularly taken with the patience imposed upon all plants and living creatures, that must wait for conditions to be right to give the living their moment to mature, to flower and bear fruit. Finally Joe is joined by another horse, a level-headed and magical mare who helps bring his wary young horse back around to a changing of mind and ways.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1885210434
• ISBN13: 9781885210432
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Small Farmer's Journal Inc.
• Length: 164 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.0" x 9.0"