To the Last Man: A Story of the Pleasant Valley War is a western novel. It is a story of a family feud healed by young love. The story is based on a factual event involving the notorious Hashknife gang of Northern Arizona. The story follows an ancient feud between two frontier families that is inflamed when one of the families takes up cattle rustling.
“Seventeen years ago miners working a claim of Belllounds's in the mountains above Middle Park had found a child asleep in the columbines along the trail. Near that point Indians, probably Arapahoes coming across the mountains to attack the Utes, had captured or killed the occupants of a prairie-schooner. There was no other clue. The miners took the child to their camp, fed and cared for it, and, after the manner of their kind, named it Columbine. Then they brought it to Belllounds.” — Zane Grey, “The Mysterious Rider”
«A face haunted Cameron—a woman's face. It was there in the white heart of the dying campfire; it hung in the shadows that hovered over the flickering light; it drifted in the darkness beyond.» — Zane Grey, “Desert Gold”
Zane Grey (1872–1939) was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that were a basis for the Western genre in literature and the arts. With his veracity and emotional intensity, he connected with millions of readers worldwide, during peacetime and war, and inspired many Western writers who followed him. Grey was a major force in shaping the myths of the Old West; his books and stories were adapted into other media, such as film and TV productions. He was the author of more than 90 books, some published posthumously and/or based on serials originally published in magazines.
