British Bart

Bartholomew Cunningham, son of a British viscount, flees from trouble in England and finds even more trouble in Americas Old West. British Bart, as he quickly would be called, joins a wagon train to California around 1880, seeking adventure. Exceptionally skillful with guns, he can shoot the ears off a mouse, and he faces hostile Indians, comancheros and assorted other bad guys, often in defense of the Railroad C****e, the exploited Chinese workers who lay rails at this time in the American West. But trouble is not all he finds in his exciting new world. He also finds love.

British Bart by Don Lipman was published posthumously. The author, a lifelong student of Old West lore, died in 2003 at age 73. His first western novel, Easter Sunday, in which gunfighter Billy the Kid plays a role, was published in 1999. His second western, 2004s British Bart, features the legendary Wyatt Earp and a cast of other colorful characters.

Also, British Bart contains a long but charming back-of-the-book section called Down Home. This is Don Lipmans recollection of his boyhood in the small East Texas town of Jefferson, which also offers colorful characters.