Author William Jay Taylor
Explore the worlds of historic fiction with Vikings and Cowboys
Explore Timeless Tales of Cowboys and The Old West
Dive into the world of William J. Taylor, where historical fiction meets vivid storytelling. Discover the passion for bringing iconic eras like the Wild West alive through captivating narratives that inspire and entertain readers worldwide.
Prelude
Thomas Quinn was born in the year 1818 in the dark woods of Tennessee deep in the back of a hallow in a cabin next to a small stream the oldest of ten children; his mother a slave to her children and their father, a hard working, hard drinking Irish Woodsmen.
Tom, quick to develop a dislike for felling trees, his arms and legs aching and his hands constantly blistered and bloody, watched more than one man crushed by a badly felled tree, or mangled by a fragment of broken chain shot through the air as if fired from a cannon, severing parts of a body as if they were butter.
One night in the early spring of 1835 after an especially hard day of work Tom’s father came home in a disagreeable disposition; he’d been drinking. The old man couldn’t afford liquor, but wouldn’t hesitate if one of the men offered moonshine, nor could he hold his liquor well, having a tendency to become violent.
He and Tom fought often, usually with fists. This time, he was particularly violent, beating Tom’s mother, bloodying her face, her right eye swollen shut, nose bleeding, lying on the dirt floor, sobbing. The old man grabbed a poker from the fireplace to strike her again. Tom could take no more. Pulling his hunting knife he grabbed his father spinning him around. The enraged man went after Tom with the poker, missing when Tom ducked. Turning back around Tom stabbed the old man in the belly. His father went wild, dropping the poker, backing away, not realizing at first what caused his pain. Realizing what Tom had done, he struck out wildly with his fist, hitting Tom on the side of the head. Stumbling away, falling, rolling on the floor, Tom saw stars dance before his eyes.
His old man bent over, picked up the poker and came at Tom, a crazed look on his face, he was bent on killing his son. But once again Tom ducked from the wild swing and circled around behind his father. Filled with fury, anger and fear, Tom grabbed his father by the hair, spinning him around, yanking his head back, throwing him off balance, then reaching around with his razor sharp knife, he slit the old man’s throat, cutting deeply into the flesh. The poker dropped to the floor with a thud, as blood splattered about the room. His mother’s screaming filled his ears. The old man turned toward Tom, a moment of fear still left in his eyes as death enveloped him in its arms, he coughed through the open wound, tried to grab for Tom who thrust his knife up under the old man’s ribs into his heart. His father dropped to his knees, motionless, and fell face first into the dirt, life gone from him. Shaking with rage, not completely understanding what just happened, Tom could only stand over his father, knife dripping with blood, hanging in his hand at his side.
His mother continued to scream and sob along with his younger brothers and sisters. Eventually, his fear and anger wore off and shock set in, sitting, stunned, silent for long time. Finally, Tom told his little brother to fetch a pick and a shovel. “We need to bury him,” he said and picked up his father’s limp arm, dragging him out behind the barn where, to the light of a lantern, they wrapped him in a blanket and rolled him into the fresh dug grave.
Tom tried to assume the place as head of the family. He told the lumber men that his father never came home that fateful night. No one questioned him, but someone must have been suspicious because one evening about a month later a neighbor from over the hill came by. “Laws headed this way Tom, looking for you. Don’t care to know anything more bout what’s none of my business, but you might take cover, if you know what I mean.”
Tom had to leave. “Mama,” he told his mother, “when they come, show them where your husband is buried, and you can tell them I was the one killed him, and I’m gone now – you don’t know where.” She cried.
To Jamie, his fifteen year old brother, he said, “You’ll be the man of the house now. Go out and take daddies’ place on the wood pile. I’ll send money when I can.”
In 1830 President Andrew Jackson, never a friend of the Indians, signed the Indian Removal Act intended to encourage Indians to move west of the Mississippi. The President enforced the law well beyond its intended purpose forcibly and thoroughly sending the Indians south and west into Indian Territory, what is now the state of Oklahoma. The result was The Trail of Tears, the beginning of The United States effort to exterminate the Indians.
By 1835 Tom’s many Cherokee friends were now gone down the trail. A government man Tom ran into told him that there was opportunity in Indian Territory for a white man doing government work.
With the clothes on his back, his father’s pistol, and his hunting knife Tom Quinn set off on foot, following the same trail his friends had followed through Arkansas and into Oklahoma’s north east corner where the Cherokee made their home. But when he got there the few jobs had already been taken. So Tom took to trading with the Indians, moving west over time, and settling with the Kiowa where he assimilated into the tribal life, marrying a Kiowa woman.
During this time the white men in Texas were pushing west into Comanche territory and in 1836 the Indians attacked the Parker Fort, just west of present day Fort Worth, massacring or enslaving members of the Parker family, prompting Washington to establish a series of forts on the Texas western frontier, and in 1851 Fort Mason was built on the upper Llano River.
In that year Tom’s wife gave birth to a boy they named Clayton (Clay for short), and sometime shortly afterward Tom took a job as a guide for the army at Fort Mason, moving his little family to the hill country of Texas.
Dive Into ‘Lord of the Plains’
Discover a thrilling excerpt from William J. Taylor’s historical novel.
Captivating Storyline
Experience an engaging glimpse into a rich, historical narrative.
Seamless Book Purchase
Easily buy your copy by clicking the link.
Exclusive Sneak Peek
Get a firsthand look at the novel’s compelling opening chapters.
Join Our Mailing List
Subscribe to receive updates and special offers from the author.
“If you are a fan of Western history, especially of the early statehood of Texas and the Pre-state Territory you will enjoy this book! The characters are “believable” and true to the time and culture in this setting. Begin reading early in the day because this is a hard one to put down without picking it up again.”
Dennis Noblett
Reader