Shoshone Pass - Book One of the Cooper Family Series (Electronic book text)

The bitter years of the American Civil War are fading into memory, and two brothers yearn for a new life. Emmett and Charles Cooper want something more, and they know that life as the next generation to run their father's Virginia MorningStar Farm is not enough. Em is a survivor of the war, hungry for a more hopeful future. His younger brother's unrealized dream of fighting alongside his brothers ended when the war did, and now he's disillusioned. Tempers flare as traditions and expectations are destroyed by ambition. Eventually, their stubborn father relents, and the two set off for the Wyoming Territory. After several weeks of unsuccessful efforts, neither can find work. Their money and hope running out, they sign up to work at the Flaming Creek Ranch in Wyoming. The pay is low, but Em and Charlie figure that with hard work and tenacity, they can make themselves useful to Thad Olsen, the ranch owner.

Once they establish themselves at Flaming Creek, their dreams begin to come true. The work is hard, the dangers are real, and the demands of their new lives are unforgiving; even so, the brothers know that they are truly at home as they build a new Cooper family legacy in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.

But when things take a turn at the ranch and Thad presents them with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the brothers must now risk everything to see their dreams realized against the spectacular backdrop of the frontier.