Ralph Compton The Abilene Trail

A former local TV news anchor, Dusty Richards now works as an announcer at rodeos. He was inducted into the Arkansas Writers’ Hall of Fame and has published more than 100 books under his name as well as under pseudonyms. His books include Chaparral Range War, North to the Salt Fork, and The Sundown Chaser.

Ralph Compton stood six-foot-eight without his boots. He worked as a musician, a radio announcer, a songwriter, and a newspaper columnist. His first novel, The Goodnight Trail, was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Medicine Pipe Bearer Award for best debut novel. He was the USA Today bestselling author of the Trail of the Gunfighter series, the Border Empire series, the Sundown Rider series, and the Trail Drive series, among others.