The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vanguards of the Plains, by Margaret McCarter

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Title: Vanguards of the Plains

Author: Margaret McCarter

Release Date: August 31, 2004 [EBook #13345]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Transcriber's note: The spelling irregularities of the original have
been preserved in this etext.]

VANGUARDS
OF THE PLAINS

[Illustration: I COULD NOT SPEAK THEN, FOR ONE SENTENCE WAS RINGING IN
MY EARS--"I WAS ALWAYS THINKING OF YOU"]

VANGUARDS OF
THE PLAINS

A ROMANCE OF THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL

BY
MARGARET HILL McCARTER

AUTHOR OF
_The Price of the Prairie_

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON

[Illustration]

VANGUARDS OF THE PLAINS

1917, Harper & Brothers
Printed in the United States of America

DEDICATION

This story of the old Santa Fe Trail would do honor to the memory of
those stalwart men who defied the desert, who walked the prairies
boldly, and who died bravely--_vanguards_ in the building of a firm
highway for the commerce of a westward-moving Empire.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

PART I

CLEARING THE TRAIL

I. THE BEGINNINGS OF A PLAINSMAN
II. A DAUGHTER OF CANAAN
III. THE WIDENING HORIZON
IV. THE MAN IN THE DARK
V. WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
VI. SPYING OUT THE LAND
VII. "SANCTUARY"
VIII. THE WILDERNESS CROSSROADS

PART II

BUILDING THE TRAIL

IX. IN THE MOON OF THE PEACH BLOSSOM
X. THE HANDS THAT CLING
XI. "OUR FRIENDS--THE ENEMY"
XII. THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE PLAINS
XIII. IN THE SHELTER OF SAN MIGUEL
XIV. OPENING THE RECORD
XV. THE SANCTUARY ROCKS OF SAN CHRISTOBAL
XVI. FINISHING TOUCHES
XVII. SWEET AND BITTER WATERS

PART III

DEFENDING THE TRAIL

XVIII. WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN
XIX. A MAN'S PART
XX. GONE OUT
XXI. IN THE SHADOW OF THE INFINITE

PART IV

REMEMBERING THE TRAIL

XXII. THE GOLDEN WEDDING

FOREWORD

Westward, along the level prairies of a kingdom yet to be, my memory
runs, with a clear vision of the days when romance died not and strong
hearts never failed. The glamour of t